Senate Bill No. 606

(By Senators Love, Schoonover, Helmick and Ross)

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[Introduced February 22, 1999;

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]

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A BILL 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article four, chapter twenty-five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be repealed; and that sections one, two, three, four, six, seven, eight, nine and ten of said article, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows: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.

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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to update the law that provides for centers for the confinement of youthful male law offenders. The bill clarifies that the centers are for young adult offenders.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language further that would be added.)