Senate Bill No. 364
(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President) and Sprouse
By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced January 29, 1999; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend article five, chapter twenty-eight of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twenty-eight, relating to the establishment of a mandatory
supervision program for adult felony offenders; requiring
all adult inmates who are released from custody prior to the
completion of the maximum term of their sentence to either
be paroled or placed under mandatory supervision;
establishing credits toward early release for inmates who
are in compliance with correctional institutions' rules;
prohibiting inmates who are sentenced to serve life from
participating in the mandatory supervision program;
establishing eligibility criteria for the mandatory
supervision program; authorizing the commissioner of
corrections to establish disciplinary rules for correctional institutions; authorizing the commissioner to promulgate
rules for a mandatory supervision program; establishing
guidelines for inmates under multiple consecutive sentences
to be eligible for the mandatory supervision program;
requiring statements to be given to inmates setting forth
the term of the inmate's sentence and the time or length of
time until they are eligible for the mandatory supervision
program; requiring that a revised statement of eligibility
for the mandatory supervision program be given to an inmate
when circumstances change; requiring a one-year supervision
period under the mandatory supervision program; authorizing
the board of parole to release inmates who are eligible for
mandatory supervision; subjecting inmates on mandatory
supervision to the same rules as inmates released on parole;
requiring the commissioner to issue a discharge certificate
upon an inmate's satisfactory completion of the mandatory
supervision program; prohibiting inmates who violate the
terms of their parole or the mandatory supervision program from further participating in the mandatory supervision
program; and authorizing the commissioner, with the approval
of the governor, to adjust an inmate's eligibility date for
the mandatory supervision program when the inmate performs
exceptional work or services.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article five, chapter twenty-eight of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twenty-eight, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. THE PENITENTIARY.
§28-5-28. Mandatory supervision programs for adult felony
offenders.
(a) There is hereby created a mandatory supervision program
for adult felony offenders in the department of military affairs
and public safety. The commissioner of corrections is authorized
to promulgate rules to implement a mandatory supervision program
consistent with the provisions of this section.
(b) On or after the first day of January, two thousand, all
adult inmates who are sentenced and committed to the custody of
the commissioner of corrections and who are released from custody prior to the completion of the maximum term of their sentence,
except those committed pursuant to article four, chapter
twenty-five of this code, shall be released to either parole or
the mandatory supervision program: Provided, That the inmate has
an approved home plan. The provisions set forth in section
twenty-seven, article five, chapter twenty-eight shall not apply
to inmates sentenced after the first day of January, two
thousand.
(c) Each inmate committed to the custody of the commissioner
of corrections and incarcerated in a correctional facility
pursuant to such commitment shall be granted one day credit for
each day he or she is incarcerated and is in compliance with the
rules of the institution. The incarceration period shall include
any and all days the inmate is in jail awaiting sentencing and
all days which are credited by the sentencing court to the
inmate's sentence pursuant to section twenty-four, article
eleven, chapter sixty-one of this code. An inmate sentenced to
serve a life sentence shall not be eligible for the mandatory
supervision program.
(d) After one half of the maximum term of an inmate's
sentence or sentences has been served, plus any added time for misconduct, the inmate will be eligible for the mandatory
supervision program. Any time added to the mandatory supervision
program for misconduct cannot exceed the maximum term of the
inmate's sentence or sentences.
(e) The commissioner of corrections shall promulgate
disciplinary rules for each institution under his or her control
in which adult felons are incarcerated, which rules shall
describe acts which inmates are prohibited from committing,
procedures for charging individual inmates for violation of such
rules and for determining the guilt or innocence of inmates
charged with such violations and the sanctions which may be
imposed for such violations. A copy of such rules shall be given
to each inmate. For each violation by an inmate so sanctioned,
the chief executive officer of the institution in which the
violation occurred may extend the eligibility date for the
mandatory supervision program by adding time for the misconduct.
The chief executive officer of the institution, when appropriate
and with approval of the commissioner, may remove any time added
for misconduct.
(f) An inmate under two or more consecutive sentences shall
be eligible for the mandatory supervision program as if the several sentences, when the maximum terms thereof are added
together, were all one sentence.
(g) Each inmate, upon his or her commitment to and being
received into the custody of the commissioner of the division of
corrections, shall be given a statement setting forth the maximum
term or length of his or her sentence or sentences and the date
when he or she will first become eligible for the mandatory
supervision program as computed according to this section.
(h) Each inmate shall be given a revision of the statement
described in subsection (g) whenever the time of his or her
eligibility for the mandatory supervision program is changed.
(i) Each inmate released on mandatory supervision shall be
under supervision for a minimum of one year. The board of parole
is hereby authorized to release inmates who are eligible for
mandatory supervision and the inmates released on mandatory
supervision shall be subject to the same rules as inmates
released on parole and shall be subject to the same
revocation process. Upon satisfactorily completing the mandatory
supervision program and sentencing requirements, the commissioner
shall issue a discharge certificate.
(j) Inmates being returned to custody as a result of violation of mandatory supervision rules or parole, pursuant to
section nineteen, article twelve, chapter sixty-two of this code,
will no longer be allowed to participate in the mandatory
supervision program, but will be eligible for parole under the
provisions of other applicable laws.
(k) The commissioner of corrections may, with the approval
of the governor, adjust the mandatory supervision eligibility
date for an inmate who performs exceptional work or service.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require all adult
inmates who are released prior to the completion of the maximum
term for their sentence to be supervised for at least one year
after they are returned to our communities.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.