H. B. 2390


(By Delegates Hunt, Faircloth, Amores and
Givens)
[Introduced January 26, 1999; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]



A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-seven, article five,
chapter twenty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to deduction from sentence for good conduct; and requiring that an inmate convicted of a felony involving violence against a person must serve at least eighty percent of his or her maximum sentence.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-seven, article five, chapter twenty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. THE PENITENTIARY.
§28-5-27. Deduction from sentence for good conduct.

(a) All adult inmates now in the custody of the commissioner of corrections, or hereafter committed to the custody of the commissioner of corrections, except those committed pursuant to article four, chapter twenty-five of this code, shall be granted or denied commutation from their sentences, or a portion thereof, for good conduct in accordance with this section.
(b) Such Any commutation of sentence based upon the good behavior of an inmate during his or her confinement, hereinafter called "good time," shall be deducted from the maximum term of indeterminate sentences or from the fixed term of determinate sentences.
(c) Except as specifically provided in this section and notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, each inmate committed to the custody of the commissioner of corrections and incarcerated in a penal facility pursuant to such commitment shall be granted one day good time for each day he or she is incarcerated, including any and all days in jail awaiting sentence and which is are credited by the sentencing court to his or her sentence pursuant to section twenty-four, article eleven, chapter sixty-one of this code or for any other reason relating to such the commitment. No inmate may be granted any good time for time served either on parole or bond or in any other status whereby he or she is not physically incarcerated.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary, on and after the effective date of the amendment to this section, any inmate who is committed to the custody of the commissioner of corrections on the basis of a felony conviction for a crime of violence to a person shall serve, at a minimum, eighty percent of his or her maximum sentence, regardless of any good time earned for good conduct in excess of twenty percent of the inmate's maximum sentence.
(d) (e) No inmate sentenced to serve a life sentence shall be is eligible to earn or receive any good time pursuant to this section.
(e) (f) An inmate under two or more consecutive sentences shall be allowed good time as if the several sentences, when the maximum terms thereof are added together, were all one sentence.
(f) (g) The commissioner of corrections shall promulgate separate disciplinary rules for each institution under his or her control in which adult felons are incarcerated. which These rules shall describe acts which inmates are prohibited from committing, procedures for charging individual inmates for violation of such rules rule violations, and procedures for determining the guilt or innocence of inmates an inmate charged with such violations a rule violation and the sanctions which may be imposed for such violations therefor. A copy of such these rules shall be given to each inmate. For each such violation of these rules, by an inmate so sanctioned, any part or all of the good time which has been granted to such an inmate pursuant to this section may be forfeited and revoked by the warden or superintendent of the institution in which the violation occurred. The warden or superintendent, when appropriate and with approval of the commissioner, may restore any good time so forfeited.
(g) (h) Each inmate, upon his or her commitment to and being received into the custody of the commissioner of the department of corrections, or upon his or her return to custody as the result of violation of parole pursuant to section nineteen, article twelve, chapter sixty-two of this code, shall be given a statement setting forth the term or length of his or her sentence or sentences and the time of his or her minimum earliest discharge computed according to this section.
(h) (i) Each inmate shall be given a revision of the statement described in subsection (g) of this section if and when any part or all of the his or her good time has been forfeited and revoked or restored pursuant to subsection (f) of this section whereby if the time of his or her earliest discharge is changed as a result.
(i) (j) The commissioner of corrections may, with the approval of the governor, allow extra good time for inmates who perform exceptional work or service.
(j) (k) In order to ensure equitable good time for all eligible inmates now in the custody of the commissioner of corrections or hereafter committed to the custody of such commissioner, except as to those persons committed pursuant to article four, chapter twenty-five of this code, all good times time shall be computed according to this section and all previous computations of good time under prior statutes or regulations are hereby voided. All inmates who have previously forfeited good time are hereby restored to good time computed according to this section and all inmates will receive a new discharge date computed according to this section. All inmates that who have been awarded overtime good time or extra good time pursuant to sections twenty-seven-a and twenty-seven-b of this article which are repealed simultaneously with the amendment to this section during the regular session of the Legislature in the year one thousand nine hundred eighty-four, shall receive such good time be credited with any amount of good time previously granted under those sections in addition to the good time computed according to this section.
(k) (l) There shall may be no grants or accumulations of good time or credit to any inmate who is now or hereafter serving a sentence in the custody of the department of corrections except in the manner provided in this section.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require that inmates who have been convicted of a felony offense involving violence against a person must serve at least eighty percent of their maximum sentence, regardless of any good time credits earned for good conduct.

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