H. B. 2059
(By Delegate Manypenny)
[Introduced February 13, 2013; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §62-11C-4 and §62-11C-5 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to community
corrections programs are to be funded by the Governor's
Committee on Crime, Delinquency and Correction
; increasing
certain fees; requiring offenders who are convicted of
shoplifting or petit larceny be sentenced to a term in a
community corrections program as an alternative to
incarceration
; and permitting offenders who are convicted of
possession of marijuana be sentenced to a community
corrections program for a term equal in length to the term of
incarceration or as an alternative to a conditional discharge
for first offense of possession of marijuana
.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §62-11C-4 and §62-11C-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 11C. THE WEST VIRGINIA COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS ACT.
§62-11C-4. Special revenue account.
(a) There is hereby created in the State Treasury a special
revenue account to be known as the West Virginia Community
Corrections Fund. Expenditures from the fund are for the purposes
set forth in subsection (e) of this section 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. The West Virginia Community Corrections Fund
may receive any gifts, grants, contributions or other money from
any source which is specifically designated for deposit in the
fund.
(b) In addition to the fee required in section nine, article
twelve of this chapter, a fee not to exceed $35 $50 per month,
unless modified by legislative rule as provided in section three of
this article, is also to be collected from those persons on
probation. This fee is to be based upon the person's ability to
pay. The magistrate or circuit judge shall conduct a hearing prior
to imposition of probation and make a determination on the record
that the offender is able to pay the fee without undue hardship. The magistrate clerk, deputy magistrate clerk, magistrate
assistant, circuit clerk or deputy circuit clerk shall collect all
fees imposed pursuant to this subsection and deposit them in a
separate account. Within ten calendar days following the beginning
of the calendar month, the magistrate clerk or circuit clerk shall
forward the amount deposited to the State Treasurer to be credited
to the West Virginia Community Corrections Fund.
(c) In addition to the fee required in section five, article
eleven-b of this chapter, a fee of $2.50 per day is to be collected
from those persons on home incarceration. The circuit judge,
magistrate or municipal court judge shall consider the person's
ability to pay in determining the imposition of the fee. The
circuit clerk, magistrate clerk, municipal court clerk or his or
her designee shall collect all fees imposed pursuant to this
subsection and deposit them in a separate account. Within ten
calendar days following the beginning of the calendar month, the
circuit clerk, magistrate clerk or municipal court clerk shall
forward the amount deposited to the State Treasurer to be credited
to the West Virginia Community Corrections Fund.
(d) In addition to the usual court costs in any criminal case
taxed against any defendant convicted in a municipal, magistrate or
circuit court, excluding municipal parking ordinances, a $10 $20
fee shall be added. The circuit clerk, magistrate clerk, municipal court clerk or his or her designee shall collect all fees imposed
pursuant to this subsection and deposit them in a separate account.
Within ten calendar days following the beginning of the calendar
month, the circuit clerk, magistrate court clerk and the municipal
court clerk shall forward the amount deposited to the State
Treasurer to be credited to the West Virginia Community Corrections
Fund.
(e) The moneys of the West Virginia Community Corrections Fund
are to be disbursed by the Governor's Committee on Crime,
Delinquency and Correction, upon recommendation by the community
corrections subcommittee, for the funding of community corrections
programs and to pay expenses of the Governor's committee in
administering the provisions of this article, which expenses may
not in any fiscal year exceed ten percent of the funds deposited to
the special revenue account during that fiscal year.
(f) All moneys appropriated for the establishment and
maintenance of community corrections programs in any county or
combination of counties or a county or counties and a Class I or
Class II municipality that wishes to establish such a program shall
be disbursed by the Governor's Committee on Crime, Delinquency and
Correction.___________________
_____(f) (g) Any disbursements from the West Virginia Community
Corrections Fund allocated for community corrections programs by the Governor's committee may be made contingent upon local
appropriations or gifts in money or in kind for the support of the
programs. Any county commission of any county or the governing body
of a municipality may appropriate and expend money for establishing
and maintaining community corrections programs.
§62-11C-5. Establishment of programs.
(a) Any county or combination of counties or a county or
counties and a Class I or II municipality may establish and operate
community corrections programs, as provided for in this section, to
be used both prior to trial as a condition of bond in circuit and
magistrate court, as well as an alternative sentencing option for
those offenders sentenced within the jurisdiction of the county or
counties which establish and operate the program: Provided, That
the chief judge must certify that the community corrections facility
is available for use in connection with the imposition of pretrial
bond conditions.
(b) Any county or combination of counties or a county or
counties and a Class I or II municipality that seek to establish
programs as authorized in this section shall submit plans and
specifications for the programs to be established, including
proposed budgets, for review and approval by the community
corrections subcommittee established in section three of this
article.
(c) Any county or combination of counties or a county or
counties and a Class I or II municipality may establish and operate
an approved community corrections program to provide alternative
sanctioning options for an offender who is convicted of an offense
for which he or she may be sentenced to a period of incarceration
in a county or regional jail or a state correctional facility and
for which probation or home incarceration may be imposed as an
alternative to incarceration: Provided, That an offender may only
be sentenced to a community corrections program as an alternative
to incarceration if a community corrections program is established
in the jurisdiction where the offense occurred.
____(1) An offender who is convicted of shoplifting, as provided
in article three-a, chapter sixty-one of this code, or petit
larceny, as provided in section thirteen, article three, chapter
sixty-one of this code, shall be sentenced to a term in a community
corrections program as an alternative to incarceration. The term
shall be equal in length to the sentence provided for shoplifting
in section three, article three-a, chapter sixty-one of this code,
and for petit larceny in section thirteen, article three, chapter
sixty-one of this code.
____(2) An offender who is convicted of possession of marijuana as
provided in subsection (c), section four hundred one, article four,
chapter sixty-a of this code, may be sentenced to a community corrections program for a term equal in length to the term of
incarceration as set forth in said section as an alternative to
incarceration, or as an alternative to a conditional discharge for
first offense of possession of marijuana as provided in section four
hundred seven, article four, chapter sixty-a of this code.
(d) Community corrections programs authorized by subsection (a)
of this section may provide, but are not limited to providing, any
of the following services:
(1) Probation supervision programs;
(2) Day fine programs;
(3) Community service restitution programs;
(4) Home incarceration programs;
(5) Substance abuse treatment programs;
(6) Sex offender containment programs;
(7) Licensed domestic violence offender treatment programs;
(8) Day reporting centers;
(9) Educational or counseling programs; or
(10) Drug courts.
(e) A county or combination of counties or a county or counties
and a Class I or II municipality which establish and operate
community corrections programs as provided for in this section may
contract with other counties to provide community corrections
services.
(f) For purposes of this section, the phrase "may be sentenced
to a period of incarceration" means that the statute defining the
offense provides for a period of incarceration as a possible
penalty.
(g) No provision of this article may be construed to allow a
person participating in or under the supervision of a community
corrections program to earn "good time" or any other reduction in
sentence.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to expand the community
corrections programs throughout the state by increasing the funding
for such programs. The bill provides that the Governor's Committee
on Crime, Delinquency and Correction to fund community corrections
programs
. The bill requires offenders who are convicted of
shoplifting or petit larceny be sentenced to a term in a community
corrections program as an alternative to incarceration
. The bill
permits offenders who are convicted of possession of marijuana to
be sentenced to a community corrections program for a term equal in
length to the term of incarceration or as an alternative to a
conditional discharge for first offense of possession of marijuana
.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.