Senate Bill No. 465
(By Senators Love and Hunter)
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[Introduced January 31, 2002; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections three-a and three-b,
article one, chapter twenty-five of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
all relating to funds held by the division of corrections
for the benefit of inmates; removing the ten percent
holding of inmate funds requirement for inmates the warden
determines are likely to serve the remainder of their
natural lives in prison due to their age and the length of
their sentences; and allowing inmate benefit funds to be
used for expenses related to the inmate telephone system.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections three-a and three-b, article one, chapter
twenty-five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. ORGANIZATION, INSTITUTIONS AND CORRECTIONS
MANAGEMENT.
§25-1-3a. Trustee accounts and funds, earnings and personal
property of inmates.
(a) The commissioner of corrections is authorized to
establish at each institution under his or her jurisdiction a
"trustee fund." The warden or administrator of each institution
shall receive and take charge of the money and personal
property, as defined by policy, of all inmates in his or her
institution and all money or personal property, as defined by
policy, sent to the inmates or earned by the inmates as
compensation for work performed while they are domiciled there.
The warden or administrator shall credit the money and earnings
to the inmate entitled to it and shall keep an accurate account
of all such the money and personal property so received, which
account is subject to examination by the state commissioner of
corrections. The warden or administrator shall deposit the
moneys in one or more responsible banks in accounts to be
designated a "trustee fund."
(b) For all inmates, except those serving life without mercy
and those the warden determines are likely to serve the
remainder of their natural lives in the custody of the division of corrections due to their age and the length of their
sentences, the warden or administrator shall keep in an account
at least ten percent of all money earned during the inmate's
incarceration and pay same the money to the inmate at the time
of the inmate's release.
(c) The commissioner of corrections may direct that
offenders who work in community work programs, including work
release inmates who have obtained employment, make reimbursement
to the state towards the cost of his or her incarceration.
(d)(1) Prior to ordering an incarcerated offender to make
reimbursement towards the costs of his or her incarceration, the
commissioner, or his or her designee, shall consider the
following:
(A) The offender's ability to pay;
(B) The nature and extent of the offender's responsibilities
to his or her dependents, if any;
(C) The length of probable incarceration under the court's
sentence; and
(D) The effect, if any, that reimbursement might have on the
offender's rehabilitation.
(2) No order of reimbursement entered pursuant to this
section may exceed five hundred dollars per month unless the
offender gives his or her express consent.
(3) The commissioner of corrections shall, prior to the
beginning of each fiscal year, prepare a report that details the
average cost per inmate incurred by the division for the care
and supervision of those individuals in his or her custody.
(e) The chief executive officer of any correctional
institution, on request of an inmate, may expend up to one half
of the money earned by the inmate on behalf of the family of the
inmate if the ten percent mandatory savings has first been set
aside and other fees owed by the inmate have been paid. The
remainder of the money earned, after deducting amounts expended
as authorized, shall be accumulated to the credit of the inmate
and be paid to the inmate at times as may be prescribed by
rules. The funds so accumulated on behalf of inmates shall be
held by the chief executive officer of each institution, under
a bond approved by the attorney general.
(f) The warden or administrator shall deliver to the inmate
at the time he or she leaves the institution, or as soon as
practicable thereafter after departure, all personal property,
moneys and earnings then credited to the inmate, or in case of
the death of the inmate before authorized release from the
institution, the warden or administrator shall deliver the
property to the inmate's personal representative. In case a
conservator is appointed for the inmate while he or she is domiciled at the institution, the warden or administrator shall
deliver to the conservator, upon proper demand, all moneys and
personal property belonging to the inmate that are in the
custody of the warden or administrator.
§25-1-3b. Inmate benefit funds.
(a) The commissioner of corrections shall establish an
inmate benefit fund for each of the institutions under his or
her jurisdiction. The inmate benefit fund is a fund held by the
institutions for the benefit and welfare of inmates incarcerated
in state correctional facilities and for the benefit of victims.
(b) There is hereby created a special revenue account in the
state treasury for each inmate benefit fund established by the
commissioner. Moneys received by an institution for deposit in
an inmate benefit fund shall be deposited with the state
treasurer to be credited to the special revenue account created
for the institution's inmate benefit fund. Moneys in a special
revenue account established for an inmate benefit fund may be
expended by the institution for the purposes set forth in this
section. Moneys to be deposited into an inmate benefit fund
consist of:
(1) All profit from the exchange or commissary operation;
(2) All net proceeds from vending machines used for inmate
visitation;
(3) All proceeds from contracted inmate telephone
commissions;
(4) Any funds that may be assigned by inmates or donated to
the institution by the general public or an inmate service
organization on behalf of all inmates;
(5) Any funds confiscated considered contraband; and
(6) Any unexpended balances in individual inmate trustee
funds if designated by the inmate upon his or her discharge from
the institution.
(c) The inmate benefit fund may only be used for the
following purposes at correctional facilities:
(1) Open-house visitation functions or other nonroutine
inmate functions;
(2) Holiday functions which may include decorations and
gifts for children of inmates;
(3) Cable television service;
(4) Rental of video cassettes;
(5) Payment of video license;
(6) Recreational supplies, equipment or area surfacing;
(7) Reimbursement of employee wages for overtime incurred
during open house visitations and holiday functions;
(8) Postsecondary education classes;
(9) Reimbursement of a pro rata share of inmate work compensation;
(10) Household equipment and supplies in day rooms or units
as approved by chief executive officers of institutions,
excluding supplies used in the daily maintenance and sanitation
of the unit;
(11) Christmas or other holidays gift certificates for each
inmate to be used at the exchange or commissary;
(12) Any expense associated with the operation of the fund;
(13) Expenditures necessary to properly operate an automated
inmate family and victim information notification system; and
(14) Any expense for improvement of the facility which will
benefit the inmate population that is not otherwise funded; and
(15) Any expense related to the installation, operation and
maintenance of the inmate telephone system.
(d) The institution shall compile a monthly report that
specifically documents inmate benefit fund receipts and
expenditures and a yearly report for the previous fiscal year by
the first day of September of each year and submit the reports
to the commissioner.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to address the authority
of the Division of Corrections over funds it holds for the
benefit of inmates. It removes the 10% holding of inmate funds
requirement for inmates the warden determines are likely to
serve the remainder of their natural lives in prison due to their age and the length of their sentences
and allows inmate
benefit funds to be used for expenses related to the inmate
telephone system.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.