Senate Bill No. 491
(By Senators Boley and Barnes)
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[Introduced February 3, 2006; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §15-12-2 and §15-12-3a of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to including
juveniles adjudicated as sexual offenders in the sex offender
registry.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §15-12-2 and §15-12-3a
of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 12. SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION ACT.
§15-12-2. Registration.
(a) The provisions of this article apply both retroactively
and prospectively.
(b) Any person who has been convicted of an offense or an
attempted offense and any juvenile adjudicated upon a petition
predicated upon an offense or attempted offense or has been found
not guilty by reason of mental illness, mental retardation or addiction of an offense under any of the following provisions of
chapter sixty-one of this code or under a statutory provision of
another state, the United States Code or the Uniform Code of
Military Justice which requires proof of the same essential
elements shall register as set forth in subsection (d) of this
section and according to the internal management rules promulgated
by the superintendent under authority of section twenty-five,
article two of this chapter:
(1) Article eight-b, including the provisions of former
section six of said article, relating to the offense of sexual
assault of a spouse, which was repealed by an Act of the
Legislature during the year two thousand legislative session;
(2) Article eight-c;
(3) Sections five and six, article eight-d;
(4) Section fourteen, article two; or
(5) Sections six, seven, twelve and thirteen, article eight.
(c) Any person who has been convicted of a criminal offense
and any juvenile who has been adjudicated upon a petition
predicated upon a criminal offense and the sentencing judge made a
written finding that the offense was sexually motivated shall also
register as set forth in this article.
(d) Persons required to register under the provisions of this
article shall provide or cooperate in providing, at a minimum, the
following when registering:
(1) The full name of the registrant, including any aliases,
nicknames or other names used by the registrant;
(2) The address where the registrant intends to reside or
resides at the time of registration, the name and address of the
registrant's employer or place of occupation at the time of
registration, the names and addresses of any anticipated future
employers or places of occupation, the name and address of any
school or training facility the registrant is attending at the time
of registration and the names and addresses of any schools or
training facilities the registrant expects to attend;
(3) The registrant's social security number;
(4) A full-face photograph of the registrant at the time of
registration;
(5) A brief description of the crime or crimes for which the
registrant was convicted;
(6) Fingerprints;
(7) Information related to any motor vehicle owned or
regularly operated by a registrant; and
(8) Information relating to any internet accounts the
registrant has and the screen names, user names or aliases the
registrant uses on the internet.
(e) On the date that any person convicted or found not guilty
by reason of mental illness, mental retardation or addiction of any
of the crimes listed in subsection (b) of this section, hereinafter referred to as a "qualifying offense," including those persons who
are continuing under some post-conviction supervisory status, are
released, granted probation or a suspended sentence, released on
parole, probation, home detention, work release, conditional
release or any other release from confinement, the Commissioner of
Corrections, regional jail administrator, city or sheriff operating
a jail or Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources
which releases the person, and any parole or probation officer who
releases the person or supervises the person following the release,
shall obtain all information required by subsection (d) of this
section prior to the release of the person, inform the person of
his or her duty to register and send written notice of the release
of the person to the State Police within three business days of
receiving the information. The notice must include the information
required by said subsection. Any person having a duty to register
for a qualifying offense shall register upon conviction, unless
that person is confined or incarcerated, in which case he or she
shall register within three business days of release, transfer or
other change in disposition status.
(f) For any person determined to be a sexually violent
predator, the notice required by subsection (d) of this section
must also include:
(1) Identifying factors, including physical characteristics;
(2) History of the offense; and
(3) Documentation of any treatment received for the mental
abnormality or personality disorder.
(g) At the time the person is convicted or found not guilty by
reason of mental illness, mental retardation or addiction in a
court of this state of the crimes set forth in subsection (b) of
this section, the person shall sign in open court a statement
acknowledging that he or she understands the requirements imposed
by this article. The court shall inform the person so convicted of
the requirements to register imposed by this article and shall
further satisfy itself by interrogation of the defendant or his or
her counsel that the defendant has received notice of the
provisions of this article and that the defendant understands the
provisions. The statement, when signed and witnessed, constitutes
prima facie evidence that the person had knowledge of the
requirements of this article. Upon completion of the statement,
the court shall provide a copy to the registry. Persons who have
not signed a statement under the provisions of this subsection and
who are subject to the registration requirements of this article
must be informed of the requirement by the State Police whenever
the State Police obtain information that the person is subject to
registration requirements.
(h) The State Police shall maintain a central registry of all
persons who register under this article and shall release
information only as provided in this article. The information required to be made public by the State Police by subdivision (2),
subsection (b), section five of this article is to be accessible
through the internet. No information relating to internet
accounts, screen names, user names or aliases a registrant has or
uses may be released through the internet.
(I) For the purpose of this article, "sexually violent
offense" means:
(1) Sexual assault in the first degree as set forth in section
three, article eight-b, chapter sixty-one of this code or of a
similar provision in another state, federal or military
jurisdiction;
(2) Sexual assault in the second degree as set forth in
section four, article eight-b, chapter sixty-one of this code or of
a similar provision in another state, federal or military
jurisdiction;
(3) Sexual assault of a spouse as set forth in the former
provisions of section six, article eight-b, chapter sixty-one of
this code, which was repealed by an Act of the Legislature during
the two thousand legislative session, or of a similar provision in
another state, federal or military jurisdiction;
(4) Sexual abuse in the first degree as set forth in section
seven, article eight-b, chapter sixty-one of this code or of a
similar provision in another state, federal or military
jurisdiction.
(j) For purposes of this article, the term "sexually
motivated" means that one of the purposes for which a person
committed the crime was for any person's sexual gratification.
(k) For purposes of this article, the term "sexually violent
predator" means a person who has been convicted or found not guilty
by reason of mental illness, mental retardation or addiction of a
sexually violent offense and who suffers from a mental abnormality
or personality disorder that makes the person likely to engage in
predatory sexually violent offenses.
(l) For purposes of this article, the term "mental
abnormality" means a congenital or acquired condition of a person
that affects the emotional or volitional capacity of the person in
a manner that predisposes that person to the commission of criminal
sexual acts to a degree that makes the person a menace to the
health and safety of other persons.
(m) For purposes of this article, the term "predatory act"
means an act directed at a stranger or at a person with whom a
relationship has been established or promoted for the primary
purpose of victimization.
(n) For the purposes of this article, the term "business
days," means days exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and legal
holidays as defined in section one, article two, chapter two of
this code.
§15-12-3a. Petition for removal of sexually violent predator designation.
(a) A proceeding seeking to remove a person's designation as
a sexually violent predator may be initiated by the filing of a
petition by the person so designated in the original sentencing
court. The petition shall set forth that the underlying qualifying
conviction has been reversed or vacated. Upon receipt of proof
that no qualifying conviction exists, the court shall enter an
order directing the removal of the designation.
(b) Any juvenile may, upon being adjudicated or otherwise
being required to register under the provisions of this article,
petition the court which may, for good cause shown, order that the
juvenile is not required to register as set forth in this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
include juveniles
adjudicated as sexual offenders in the sex offender registry.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.