ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 581
(By Senators Wooton, Ball, Bowman, Dittmar, Fanning,
Hunter, Kessler, Oliverio, Ross, Schoonover,
Snyder, White,
Buckalew, Kimble and Scott)
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[Passed March 14, 1998; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact section nineteen, article twelve,
chapter sixty-two of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to clarifying
that authority to issue parole violator warrants rests in the
commissioner of corrections; and authorizing division of
corrections to assess costs for returning violators where
parolee is able to pay.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nineteen, article twelve, chapter sixty-two of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 12. PROBATION AND PAROLE.
§62-12-19. Violation of parole.
(a) If at any time during the period of parole, there shall be
reasonable cause to believe that the parolee has violated any of
the conditions of his release on parole, the parole officer may arrest him with or without an order or warrant, or the commissioner
of corrections may issue its written order or warrant for his
arrest, which written order or warrant shall be sufficient for his
arrest by any officer charged with the duty of executing an
ordinary criminal process. The commissioner's written order or
warrant delivered to the sheriff against the paroled prisoner shall
be a command to keep custody of the parolee for the jurisdiction of
the division of corrections, and during the period of custody, the
parolee may be admitted to bail by the court before which the
parolee was sentenced. If the parolee is not released on a bond,
the costs of confining such paroled prisoner shall be paid out of
the funds appropriated for the division of corrections.
(b) When a parolee is under arrest for violation of the
conditions of his parole, he shall be given a prompt and summary
hearing, at which the parolee and his counsel shall be given an
opportunity to attend. If at the hearing, it shall appear to the
satisfaction of the board that the parolee has violated any
condition of his release on parole, or any rules and regulations
for his supervision, the board may revoke his parole and may
require him to serve in prison the remainder or any portion of his
maximum sentence for which, at the time of his release, he was
subject to imprisonment: Provided, That if the violation of the
conditions of parole or rules and regulations for his supervision
is not a felony as set out in section eighteen of this article, the
board may, if in its judgment the best interests of justice do not require that the parole be revoked, release him from custody and
continue him on parole.
(c) When a parolee has violated the conditions of his release
on parole by confession to, or being convicted of any of the crimes
set forth in section eighteen of this article, he shall be returned
to the custody of the division of corrections to serve the
remainder of his maximum sentence, during which remaining part of
his sentence he shall be ineligible for further parole.
(d) Whenever the parole of a paroled prisoner has been
revoked, the commissioner shall upon receipt of the board's written
order of revocation, convey and transport the paroled prisoner to
a state penal institution from which he was granted a release on
parole. A paroled prisoner whose parole has been revoked shall
remain in custody of the sheriff until delivery to a corrections
officer sent and duly authorized by the commissioner for the
removal of the paroled prisoner to a state penal institution; the
cost of confining such paroled prisoner shall be paid out of the
funds appropriated for the penitentiary from which he was paroled.
(e) When a paroled prisoner is convicted of, or confesses to,
any one of the crimes enumerated in section eighteen of this
article, it shall be the duty of the board to cause him to be
returned to this state for a summary hearing as provided by this
article. A warrant filed by the commissioner shall stop the
running of his sentence until the paroled prisoner is returned to
custody. Whenever a paroled prisoner has absconded supervision, the commissioner shall issue a warrant for his apprehension and return
to this state for the hearing provided for in this article:
Provided, That the board may, if it be of opinion the best
interests of justice do not require such hearing, cause the paroled
absconder to be released to continue on parole.
(f) Whenever a parolee, who has absconded supervision or has
been transferred out of this state for supervision pursuant to
section one, article six, chapter twenty-eight of this code is
returned to West Virginia due to a violation of parole and costs
are incurred by the division of corrections, the commissioner may
assess reasonable costs from the parolee's inmate funds as
reimbursement to the division of corrections for the costs of
returning him to the state of West Virginia.