Senate Bill No. 630

(By Senator Smith, By Request)

____________

[Introduced February 17, 2003; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]

____________
A BILL to amend article fifteen, chapter seventeen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section nine, relating to making it unlawful to offer for sale or sell products created wholly or in part by county or regional jail inmates; and providing criminal penalty.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article fifteen, chapter seventeen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section nine, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15. COUNTY CONVICT ROAD FORCE.
§17-15-9. Sale of county or regional jail-made goods prohibited; penalty.

(a) It is unlawful to sell or offer to sell on the open market of this state or export for sale to another state any articles, products or commodities manufactured or produced, wholly or in part, in this state or any other state, by county or regional jail inmates of this state or another state, except inmates on home confinement or probation.
(b) Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars or by confinement in jail for not less than three months nor more than one year or by both fine and confinement. Each sale or offer for sale is a separate offense under this section.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make it unlawful to sell or offer to sell products made with inmate labor.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.