H. B. 2255
(By Delegates Caputo, Staton, Perdue, Tucker,
Webster, Stalnaker and Manchin)
[Introduced January 15, 2003; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
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 CORRECTIONAL FACILITY
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 correctional facility operated by the division of
corrections: Provided, That the regional jail is located within
the same region as the prison correctional facility that was closed
due to relocation of the prison correctional facility to a site
outside the region. Only those correctional officers, who are
employees in good standing at the time the prison correctional
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 three, 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, 2003, correctional officers employed by the Regional
Jail and Correctional Facility Authority and the northern regional
jail and correctional facility 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.