Senate Bill No. 108
(By Senators Kessler and Edgell)
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[Introduced January 17, 2000; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-seven, article
twenty, chapter thirty-one of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating
to the regional jail and correctional facility authority;
correctional officers employed by the authority at regional
jails and the northern regional jail and correctional
facility; and civil service coverage of same.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-seven, article twenty, chapter
thirty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 20. WEST VIRGINIA REGIONAL JAIL AND PRISON AUTHORITY.
§31-20-27. Correctional officers; regional jails; priority of
hiring; civil service coverage.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, the authority, when employing correctional officers
to complete the approved staffing plan of a regional jail
completed after the effective date of this section, shall employ
any correctional officer applying for a position as a
correctional officer at a regional jail who was employed in good
standing at a county jail facility in the region at the time of
its closing or at a prison facility operated by the division of
corrections: Provided, That the regional jail is located within
the same region as the prison facility that was closed due to
relocation of the prison facility to a site outside the region.
Only those correctional officers, who are employees in good
standing at the time the prison facility is closed, are eligible
for transfer under the provisions of this subsection.
Correctional officers, employed under the provisions of this
subsection, shall be employed at a salary and with benefits
consistent with the approved plan of compensation of the
division of personnel, created under section five, article six, chapter twenty-nine of this code. All correctional officers
employed under this subsection shall also be covered by the
policies and procedures of the education and state employees
grievance board, created under section five, article six-a,
chapter twenty-nine of this code. and the classified-exempt
service protection policies of the division of personnel
(b) The authority shall, when employing correctional
officers to fill positions within the approved staffing plan of
any regional jail, employ any correctional officer applying for
a position as a correctional officer at a regional jail who was
previously employed as a correctional officer in good standing
at any local jail facility: Provided, That the local jail
facility is located within the same region as the regional jail
at the time of the local jail facility's closing or reduction
in size and was reduced in size or closed prior to or due to the
completion of the regional jail within the region. Correctional
officers employed under the provisions of this subsection shall
be employed at a salary and with benefits consistent with the
approved plan of compensation of the division of personnel,
created under section five, article six, chapter twenty-nine of
this code. Only those county correctional officers who are employees in good standing at the time the local jail facility
is closed are eligible for transfer under the provisions of this
subsection. All correctional officers employed under this
subsection shall also be covered by the policies and procedures
of the education and state employees grievance board created
under section five, article six-a, chapter twenty-nine of this
code. and the classified-exempt service protection of the
division of personnel
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, on and after the first day of July, two thousand, any
person then employed or to be employed by the regional jail and
correctional facility authority as a correctional officer in a
regional jail or at the northern regional jail and correctional
facility shall, within the limitations contained in section two,
article six, chapter twenty-nine of this code, be placed in the
civil service system as a covered employee.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that, on and
after July 1, 2000, correctional officers employed by the
Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority shall be
placed in the civil service system as covered employees.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.