ENROLLED

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

H. B. 3192

(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegates Staton, Michael, Manuel, Givens and Webster)


[Passed April 14, 2001; in effect ninety days from passage.]


AN ACT to amend and reenact section eight, article fifteen, chapter seventeen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-three, as amended; and to amend article twenty, chapter thirty-one by adding thereto a new section, designated section five-d, all relating to good time for jail inmates; providing that inmates of regional jails are eligible for good time for labor performed; providing that inmates of county or regional jails are eligible for good time for achieving certain educational levels; requiring director of regional jail authority to promulgate rules related to discipline of inmates; permitting sheriffs to adopt rules; and requiring that every person committed to jail receive a copy of the disciplinary rules.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eight, article fifteen, chapter seventeen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that article twenty, chapter thirty-one of said code be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section five-d, to read as follows:
 ARTICLE 15. COUNTY CONVICT ROAD FORCE.
 §17-15-8. Credit on sentence for road work by county prisoner.
Every person sentenced to labor as provided for by this article and who has faithfully complied with all the rules and regulations prescribed by the sheriff or administrator of the regional jail facility governing the labor is entitled to five days' deduction for each month's jail sentence that is imposed upon him or her.
ARTICLE 20. WEST VIRGINIA REGIONAL JAIL AND CORRECTIONAL FACILITY AUTHORITY.

§31-20-5d. Good time credit.
(a) Any person convicted of a criminal offense and sentenced to confinement in a county or regional jail is to be granted commutation from his or her sentence for good conduct in accordance with this section.
(b) The commutation of sentence or good time is to be deducted from the fixed term of determinate sentences. An inmate under two or more consecutive sentences is allowed good time as if the several sentences, when the maximum terms thereof are added together, were all one sentence.
(c) Every inmate sentenced to a regional jail for a term of confinement exceeding six months who, in the judgment of the administrator of the regional jail facility, faithfully complies with all rules and regulations of the regional jail during his or her term of confinement is entitled to a deduction of five days from each month of his or her sentence. No inmate may be granted any good time under the provisions of this section for time spent on bond or for time served on parole or in any other status in which he or she is not physically incarcerated.
(d) Each inmate sentenced to a term of confinement in a county or regional jail facility who participates in a general equivalency diploma program is to be granted three days of good time for the completion of each educational literacy level, as demonstrated by achieving a passing score on standardized tests required by the department of education, and ten days of good time for completion of the requirements for a general equivalency diploma or high school diploma.
(e) The sheriff or administrator of a regional jail facility may, with the approval of the governor, allow extra good time for inmates who perform exceptional work or service.
(f) The regional jail and correctional facility authority shall promulgate disciplinary rules for the regional jail facilities. The rules are to describe prohibited acts, procedures for charging individual inmates for violations of the rules and for determining the guilt or innocence of inmates charged with the violations, and sanctions that may be imposed for the violations. Each sheriff who is responsible for operating a county jail may adopt the rules promulgated by the regional jail and correctional facility authority. For each violation by an inmate, any part or all of the good time that has been granted to the inmate may be forfeited and revoked by the sheriff or administrator of the regional jail facility. The administrator, when appropriate and with approval of the executive director, or the sheriff may restore any good time forfeited for a violation of the rules promulgated or adopted pursuant to this subsection.
(h) Each inmate sentenced to a term of confinement in a county or regional jail in excess of six months shall, within seventy-two hours of being received into a county or regional jail, be given a copy of the disciplinary rules, a statement setting forth the term or length of his or her sentence or sentences, and the time of his or her minimum discharge.