Senate Bill No. 622
(By Senators Chafin, Bailey, Helmick, Snyder, Fanning, Unger and
Ross)
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[Introduced February 17, 2003; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article twenty, chapter
thirty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to prohibiting
persons who have been convicted of a felony from being an
employee or member of the board of the regional jail and
correctional facility authority.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, 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.
§31-20-4. Governing body; organization and meetings; quorum;
bylaws; executive director; administrative expenses.
(a) The governing body of the authority shall consist of the
voting members of the board, as provided for in section three of
this article, and shall exercise all the powers given to the
authority in this article. On the second Monday of July of each
odd-numbered year, the board shall meet to elect a chairman and a
secretary from among its own members. The secretary of the
department of administration or his or her designated
representative shall serve as treasurer of the board. The board
shall otherwise meet quarterly, unless a special meeting is called
by its chairman.
(b) A majority of the members of the board constitute
constitutes a quorum and a quorum must be present for the board to
conduct business. Unless the bylaws require a larger number,
action may be taken by majority vote of the members present.
(c) The board shall prescribe, amend and repeal bylaws and
rules governing the manner in which the business of the authority
is conducted and shall review and approve the budget prepared by
the executive director annually.
(d) On or before the first day of April, two thousand, the
West Virginia regional jail and correctional facility authority
board shall, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint an
executive director to act as its chief executive officer, to serve
at the will and pleasure of the board. The compensation of the director shall be at the same rate as the commissioner of
corrections. The appointment shall be for a term of five years to
begin on the first day of April, two thousand. The executive
director may employ any other personnel he or she determines
necessary and may appoint counsel and legal staff for the authority
and retain any temporary engineering, financial and other
consultants or technicians that are required for any special study
or survey consistent with the provisions of this article. The
executive director may engage in negotiations and carry out plans
to implement the provisions of this article and exercise those
powers listed in section five of this article on behalf of the
authority. The executive director shall prepare annually a budget
to be submitted to the board for its review and approval.
(e) All costs incidental to the administration of the
authority, including office expense, personal services expense and
current expense, shall be paid from the regional jail and
correctional facility development fund in accordance with
guidelines issued by the board of the authority.
(f) No person who has been convicted of a felony is eligible
to be a member of the governing body or an employee of the
authority, or otherwise employed or associated with the
incarceration, monitoring, home confinement or parole of inmates.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit persons who have been convicted of a felony from being a member of the board or
an employee of the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility
Authority.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.