Sources of Revenue:

Other Fund SPECIAL REVENUE

Legislation creates:

Neither Program nor Fund

Fiscal Note Summary

Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.

The WV Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority is a body corporate and government instrumentality conducting jail business primarily on behalf of the counties. There is an appointed governing board consisting of County Commissioners, County Sheriff's, a person representing the legal profession, a person representing the medical profession, juvenile and adult corrections director and commissioner and a Chair. In fact, it will take approximately six (6) months to assess the implications, fiscally and operationally of this policy. Each employee will need to complete a position description for review and classification by the WV Division of Personnel. We assume the passage of this measure will not produce any additional revenues for the State of West Virginia, however it may increase costs for the State or the WV Regional Jail Authority, which could ultimately increase per diem costs to the counties. There will need to be an in depth assessment of the fiscal impact of this measure by the Authority working with the WV Division of Personnel. Although the passage of this measure may not fiscally impact the State of WV, it is possible that counties may be impacted. We assume that since this measure requires the Authority to pay salaries and benefits consistent with the approved plan of compensation for the Division of Personnel, it may be necessary for the Authority to increase salaries of some of its personnel to conform with that plan, thus increasing expenses for operating the jails. Historically, the WV Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority has encountered difficulties filling corrections officer vacancies for many reasons, including the availability of higher paying jobs in certain areas of the state or competitive jobs. The passage of the bill as is, will exacerbate the current significant problem of staffing and retention for the jails. With the Civil Service system, the Authority will be restricted to attempting to staff within the top ten percentile of applicants on a register. We will more than ever be competing with Corrections and Juvenile Services. Our jails are having problems staffing and are working through registers going all the way through all persons on the applicant register. In talking with First Sergeants whose responsibility is to staff the jails, they believe it will be close to impossible to do so if restricted within the top ten percentile. The estimated cost of this is indeterminable at this time, until a thorough assessment on each employee's classification is completed.

Fiscal Note Detail

Effect of Proposal	Fiscal Year
Effect of Proposal	2007 Increase/Decrease (use"-")	2008 Increase/Decrease (use"-")	Fiscal Year (Upon Full Implementation)
1. Estmated Total Cost	0	0	0
Personal Services	0	0	0
Current Expenses	0	0	0
Repairs and Alterations	0	0	0
Assets	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0
2. Estimated Total Revenues	0	0	0

Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):

N/A

Memorandum

N/A

Person submitting Fiscal Note: Tony W. Davis
Email Address: tdavis@wvrja.state.wv.us