ENGROSSED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4340
(By Delegate Sparks)
(Originating in the Committee on Finance)
[February 23, 2000]
A BILL to amend and reenact section four hundred six, article
four, chapter sixty-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
increasing the length of incarceration for persons convicted
of selling drugs to minors by making them ineligible for
parole for a longer period of time than under current law.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four hundred six, article four, chapter sixty-a
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-
one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. OFFENSES AND PENALTIES.
§60A-4-406. Distribution to persons under the age of eighteen
by persons over the age of twenty-one;
distribution by persons eighteen or over in or
on, or within one thousand feet of, school or
college; increasing mandatory period of
incarceration prior to parole eligibility.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code law to
the contrary, a person is ineligible for parole for a period of
three years if he or she is sentenced to the custody of the
commissioner of corrections for service of a sentence of
incarceration and is convicted of a felony violation of under the
provisions of subdivision (i), subsection (a) section four
hundred one of this article for distribution of a controlled
substance who and:
(1) Is twenty-one years of age or older at the time of the
distribution upon which the conviction is based, and the person
to whom the controlled substance was distributed was under the
age of eighteen years at the time of the distribution; or
(2) Is eighteen years of age or older and the distribution
upon which the conviction is based occurred in or on, or within
one thousand feet of, the real property comprising a public or
private elementary, vocational or secondary school or a public or
private college, junior college or university in this state,
shall, if sentenced to the custody of the commissioner of
corrections for service of a sentence of incarceration, be
ineligible for parole for a period of two years.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
contrary, a person is ineligible for parole for a period of two
years if he or she is sentenced to the custody of the
commissioner of corrections for service of a sentence of
incarceration and is convicted of a felony violation under the
provisions of subdivision (ii), subsection (a) section four hundred one of this article for distribution of a controlled
substance and:
(1) Is twenty-one years of age or older at the time of the
distribution upon which the conviction is based, and the person
to whom the controlled substance was distributed was under the
age of eighteen years at the time of the distribution; or
(2) Is eighteen years of age or older and the distribution
upon which the conviction is based occurred in or on, or within
one thousand feet of, the real property comprising a public or
private elementary, vocational or secondary school or a public or
private college, junior college or university in this state.
(c) The existence of any fact which would make any person
subject to the provisions of this section shall may not be
considered unless such the fact is clearly stated and included in
the indictment or presentment by which such the person is charged
and is either:
(1) Found by the court upon a plea of guilty or nolo
contendere;
(2) Found by the jury, if the matter be tried before a jury,
upon submission to the jury of a special interrogatory for such
purpose; or
(3) Found by the court, if the matter be tried by the court
without a jury.
(c)(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit
the sentencing alternatives made available to circuit court
judges under other provisions of this code.