WEST
virginia legislature
2019 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 2757
[Introduced January 30, 2019; Referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §5-1-10 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the authorization of the Governor to
seek the return of fugitives when found in another state or the District of
Columbia; providing for return of persons who have been improperly released
from confinement; and updating terms, titles, and cross-references.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
§5-1-10. Return of fugitive from this state.
(a) Whenever the Governor of this state shall demand a
person charged with crime, or with escaping who has escaped from
confinement, or breaking has violated the terms of his the
person’s bail, probation, or parole in this state, or has been
improperly released from confinement, from the executive authority of any
other state, or from the chief justice or an associate justice of the supreme
court of the District of Columbia authorized to receive such demand under the
laws of the United States, he the Governor shall issue a warrant
under the great seal of this state affixed thereon by the Secretary of State,
to some agent, commanding him or her to receive the person so charged if
delivered to him or her and to convey him or her to the proper
officer of the county in this state in which the offense was committed.
(b) When the return to this state of a person charged with
crime in this state is required, the prosecuting attorney shall present to the
Governor his or her written application for a requisition for the return
of the person charged, in which application shall be stated the name of the
person so charged, the crime charged against him, the approximate time, place
and circumstances of its commission, the state in which he or she is
believed to be, including the location of the accused therein, at the time the
application is made, and certifying that, in the opinion of the said prosecuting
attorney, the ends of justice require the arrest and return of the accused to
this state for trial and that the proceeding is not instituted to enforce a
private claim.
(c) When the return to this state is required of a person
who has been previously convicted of a crime in this state and has
escaped from confinement, has been improperly released from confinement,
or broken has violated the terms of his or her bail,
probation or parole, the prosecuting attorney of the county in which the
offense was committed, the Parole Board, or the warden of the institution
Commissioner of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or
sheriff of the county, from which escape was made, shall present to the
Governor a written application for a requisition for the return of such person,
in which application shall be stated the name of the person, the crime of which
he the person was convicted, the circumstances of his or her
escape from confinement or of the breach of the terms of his or her
bail, probation or parole, the state in which he the person is
believed to be, including the location of the person therein at the time
application is made.
(d) The application shall be verified by affidavit,
shall be executed in duplicate and shall be accompanied by either: pursuant
to subsection (b) of this section, two certified copies of the indictment
returned or information and affidavit filed, or, pursuant to subsection (c)
of this section, two certified copies of the complaint made to the judge or
justice, stating the offense with which the accused is charged, or the judgment
of conviction or of the sentence. The prosecuting attorney, Parole Board, warden
Commissioner of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation or
sheriff may also attach such further affidavits and other documents in
duplicate as he or she shall deem proper to be submitted with such
application. One copy of the application, with the action of the Governor indicated
by endorsement thereon, and one of the certified copies of the indictment,
complaint, information, and affidavits, or of the judgment of conviction or of
the sentence shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of State, to remain
of record in that office. The other copies of all papers shall be forwarded
with the Governor’s requisition.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to update provisions authorizing
the Governor to seek the return of fugitives who have been convicted of a
crime, have violated bail, probation, or parole, or have been improperly
released from confinement when those persons flee to another state or to the
District of Columbia.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a
heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.