ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 606
(By Senators Love, Schoonover, Helmick and Ross)
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[Passed March 11, 1999; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to repeal section five, article four, chapter twenty-five
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact sections
one, two, three, four, six, seven, eight, nine and ten of
said article, all relating to the operation of centers for
housing young adult offenders.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article four, chapter twenty-five of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be repealed; and that sections one, two, three, four,
six, seven, eight, nine and ten of said article, be amended and
reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. CENTERS FOR HOUSING YOUNG ADULT OFFENDERS.
§25-4-1. Purpose of article.
The purpose of this article is to provide appropriate
facilities for the housing of youthful male young adult offenders convicted of
or pleading guilty to violation of law before courts with
original jurisdiction, or juvenile courts who are amenable to discipline other than
in close confinement, to secure a better classification, and
segregation of such persons according to their capabilities,
interests, and responsiveness to control and responsibility; to
reduce the necessity of expanding the existing grounds and
housing facilities for the confinement of such persons and to give better opportunity to youthful young
adult offenders for reformation and encouragement of self- discipline.
§25-4-2. Establishment of centers.
The West Virginia commissioner of public institutions corrections is authorized
to establish, operate and maintain centers to be operated in
connection with the state penal correctional system as herein provided in this
article.
§25-4-3. Authority of commissioner of corrections.
The West Virginia commissioner of public institutions is
hereby given corrections has the
authority to acquire land and other property by purchase, grant,
gift or otherwise in connection with the establishment of centers
and to construct such buildings, fences and other facilities, and to
acquire such personal property as is necessary for the maintenance and
operation of such the centers; to direct all needed improvements and
repairs necessary for the proper upkeep of such the centers, and to
provide for the necessary food, medical treatment and safekeeping of persons confined therein in the centers; and to employ personnel to
operate the centers and to provide the necessary work and other
programs for the offenders assigned to the centers.
§25-4-4. Warden.
Each center shall be under the direction of a superintendent warden, who
shall have the minimum qualification of a college degree with a
major in sociology criminal justice or a related field. and be trained and
experienced in dealing with youths He The warden shall
be paid an annual salary to be fixed by the commissioner of
corrections. The warden, subject to the authority of the
commissioner, has the responsibility for the overall operation of
the center.
At each center the superintendent warden shall provide a training program administer programming which
shall include the following four separate, well-integrated components: (1) A work program; (2)
an educational program in accordance with section thirteen-f,
article two, chapter eighteen of this code; (3) a recreational
program; and (4) individual and group a counseling program with an emphasis on
substance abuse and life skills.
§25-4-6. Assignment of offenders to center; period of center
confinement; return to court; sentence or
probation; revocation of probation.
The judge of any court with original criminal jurisdiction
may suspend the imposition of sentence of any male youth young adult, as defined in this section, convicted of or pleading guilty to a
criminal offense, other than an offense punishable by life
imprisonment, who has attained his sixteenth or her eighteenth birthday but
has not reached his or her twenty-first birthday at the time of
the commission of the crime, and commit him the young adult to the
custody of the West Virginia commissioner of public institutions corrections to be
assigned to a center. Young adult offenders who have previously
been committed to a young adult offender center are not eligible
for commitment to this program. The period of confinement in the
center shall be for a period of not less than six months, or
longer if it is deemed advisable by the center superintendent warden, but in any
event such the period of confinement shall may not exceed two years. The
court shall provide the warden with a copy of the presentence
investigation report, along with the commitment order.
If, in the opinion of the superintendent such male warden, the young adult offender
proves to be an unfit person to remain in such a the center, he the
offender shall be returned to the committing court which
committed him to be dealt
with further according to law. In such that event, the court may
place him on probation or sentence him for the crime for which he
has been sentence the offender for the crime for which the offender was
convicted. In his or her discretion, the judge may allow the
defendant credit on his the sentence for time he has the offender spent in the center.
A young adult offender shall be returned to the jurisdiction
of the court which originally committed the offender when, in the
opinion of the superintendent any boy warden, the young adult offender has
satisfactorily completed the center training program. such male
offender shall be returned to the jurisdiction of the court which
originally committed him. He shall be The
offender is then eligible for probation for the offense with
which he the offender is charged, and the judge of the court shall
immediately place him the offender on probation. In the event his the
offender's probation is subsequently revoked, by the judge he shall be
given
impose the sentence he the young adult offender would have
originally received had he the offender not been committed to the
center and subsequently placed on probation. The court shall,
however, give the defendant offender credit on his or her sentence for the
time he spent in the center.
Any male youth between the ages of ten and eighteen
committed by the judge of any court of competent jurisdiction for
any of the causes, and in the manner prescribed in article five,
chapter forty-nine of this code, may, if such youth is or has
attained the age of sixteen, be placed in a center or transferred
from the industrial school or like facility to a center and back
to such facility by the commissioner of public institutions, if he deems it proper for the youth's detention and rehabilitation.
§25-4-7. Physical, educational and psychological examinations;
transfer and placement.
Every youthful young adult offender committed hereunder under this article
shall be given complete physical, educational and psychological
examinations in the same manner and under the same protections
and requirements of subsections (b) and (c), section two, article
one, chapter twenty-eight of this code. In addition thereto to those requirements, all admission, transfer and placement requirements
and authority provided to the commissioner in subsections (d) and
(e), section two, article one, chapter twenty-eight of this code
shall be are applicable.
§25-4-8. Labor, study or activities may be required.
Offenders assigned to centers may be required to labor on
the buildings and grounds of the center, in the making of forest
roads, for fire prevention and fire fighting, on forestation and
reforestation of public lands, on the making of fire trails and
firebreaks, on fire suppression, on building or improving public
parks or lands, or engage in any studies or activities prescribed
or permitted by the superintendent warden, subject to the approval of the
commissioner of public institutions corrections.
§25-4-9. Wages of offenders.
The West Virginia commissioner of corrections may provide
for the payment of wages to the offenders assigned to centers for
the work they perform. which wages shall not exceed two dollars
for each day's work performed, the sums earned to be paid to the
parents or dependents of the offender or to the offender himself,
in such manner and in such proportions as the superintendent
directs
§25-4-10. Authority to arrest inmates.
All officers and employees of a center shall have the power of
peace officers so far as necessary to arrest take into custody center
inmates.