Senate Bill No. 386
(By Senators Love, Dempsey, Hunter and White)
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[Introduced January 29, 2003; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section seventeen, article twelve,
chapter sixty-two of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to conditions of
release on parole; and increasing the supervision fee to
thirty dollars per month.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seventeen, article twelve, chapter sixty-two of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 12. PROBATION AND PAROLE.
§62-12-17. Conditions of release on parole.
Release and supervision on parole of any person, including the
supervision by the division of corrections of any person paroled by
any other state or by the federal government, shall be upon the
following conditions:
(1) That the parolee may not, during the period of his or her
parole, violate any criminal law of this or any other state or of
the United States.
(2) That he or she may not, during the period of his or her
parole, leave the state without the consent of the division.
(3) That he or she shall comply with the rules and regulations
prescribed by the division for his or her supervision by the parole
officer.
(4) That in every case wherein the parolee for a conviction is
seeking parole from an offense against a child, defined in section
twelve, article eight, chapter sixty-one of this code; or article
eight-b or eight-d of said chapter, or similar convictions from
other jurisdictions where the parolee is returning or attempting to
return to this state pursuant to the provisions of article six,
chapter twenty-eight of this code, the parolee shall not live in
the same residence as any minor child, nor exercise visitation with
any minor child nor shall he or she have any contact with the
victim of the offense.
(5) That the parolee, and all federal or foreign state
probationers and parolees whose supervision may have been
undertaken by this state, shall be required to pay a fee, based on
his or her ability to pay, not to exceed twenty thirty dollars per
month to defray costs of supervision. The commissioner shall keep
a record of all actions taken and account for moneys received. No provision of this section shall be construed to prohibit the
division from collecting such the fees and conducting such the
checks upon the effective date of this section. All moneys shall
be deposited in a special account in the state treasury to be known
as the "Parolee's Supervision Fee Fund." Expenditures from said
the
fund shall be for the purposes of providing parole supervision
required by the provisions of this code and are not authorized from
collections but are to be made only in accordance with
appropriation by the Legislature and in accordance with the
provisions of article three, chapter twelve of this code and upon
the fulfillment of the provisions set forth in article two, chapter
five-a of this code: Provided,
That for the fiscal year ending the
thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four,
expenditures are authorized from collections rather than pursuant
to an appropriation by the Legislature. Amounts collected which
are found from time to time to exceed the funds needed for purposes
set forth in this article may be transferred to other accounts or
funds and redesignated for other purposes by appropriation of the
Legislature. The division shall consider the following factors in
determining whether a parolee or probationer is financially able to
pay the fee:
(A) Current income prospects for the parolee or probationer,
taking into account seasonal variations in income;
(B) Liquid assets of the parolee or probationer, assets of the parolee or probationer that may provide collateral to obtain funds
and assets of the parolee or probationer that may be liquidated to
provide funds to pay the fee;
(C) Fixed debts and obligations of the parolee or probationer,
including federal, state and local taxes and medical expenses;
(D) Child care, transportation and other reasonably necessary
expenses of the parolee or probationer related to employment;
(E) The reasonably foreseeable consequences for the parolee or
probationer if a waiver of, or reduction in, the fee is denied.
In addition, the division may impose, subject to modification
at any time, any other conditions which the division may deem
consider advisable.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the parole
supervision fee from twenty dollars per month to thirty dollars per
month.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.