WEST virginia Legislature
2017 regular session
By
[
to the Committee on the Judiciary.
A BILL to amend and
reenact §49-4-720 and §49-4-722 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
all relating to requiring the Division of Juvenile Services to transfer to a
correctional facility or regional jail any juvenile in its custody that has
been transferred to adult jurisdiction of the circuit court and who reaches his
or her eighteenth birthday; requiring transfer of juvenile in adult
jurisdiction upon reaching eighteen years of age if he or she has either been
convicted or is in a pretrial status; directing the Division of Juvenile
Services to notify the circuit court of the age of a juvenile reaching the age
of eighteen years of age; authorizing the circuit court to conduct a hearing as
to alternative placement; mandating that the position of victim be taken under
consideration by the court in considering disposition or alternative placement;
prohibiting juveniles that commit an adult offense while under the custody of
the Division of Juvenile Services from returning back to the placement in a
juvenile facility if the juvenile has attained the age of eighteen years; and
requiring the court to conduct a hearing as to placement of a juvenile that has
turned eighteen years of age and is remanded back to the custody of the
Division of Juvenile Services after completion of an adult sentence.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That §49-4-720 and §49-4-722
of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. COURT
ACTIONS.
§49-4-720. Prohibition
on committing juveniles to adult facilities; copy provided to juvenile.
(a) No juvenile, including
one who has been transferred to criminal jurisdiction of the court, shall
may be detained or confined in any institution in which he or she has
contact with or comes within sight or sound of any adult persons incarcerated
because they have been convicted of a crime or are awaiting trial on criminal
charges or with the security staff (including management) or direct-care staff
of a jail or locked facility for adults.
(b) No child who has been
convicted of an offense under the adult jurisdiction of the circuit court shall
may be held in custody in a correctional facility of this state while
under the age of eighteen years. The Division of Juvenile Services shall
be responsible for notifying the sentencing court within forty-five days of the
child's eighteenth birthday that
the child will be turning eighteen years of age. Within ten days of the child's eighteenth birthday, the court shall transfer the
offender to an adult correctional facility or to any other disposition the
court deems appropriate for adult offenders. Notwithstanding any other
provision of this code to the contrary, prior to the transfer the child shall
be returned to the sentencing court for the purpose of reconsideration and
modification of the imposed sentence, which shall be based upon a review of all
records and relevant information relating to the child’s rehabilitation since
his or her conviction under the adult jurisdiction of the court
(c) Notwithstanding any
provision of this code to the contrary, a child who has been convicted of an
offense under the adult jurisdiction of a circuit court, or a child that has
been charged with an offense under the adult jurisdiction of the circuit court,
shall be transferred from a secure juvenile facility to a correctional facility
or regional jail after he or she attains the age of eighteen years.
(d) The Division of
Juvenile Services shall notify the sentencing court within forty-five days of the
child’s eighteenth birthday that the child will be turning eighteen years of
age. The circuit court having
jurisdiction over the criminal matter, on motion of any party or its own, may
conduct a hearing to determine whether the child that has been transferred to
adult jurisdiction and turned eighteen years of age shall remain in the adult
correctional facility or regional jail or if another disposition or pretrial
placement available to adult offenders is appropriate and available: Provided, That the court may not remand
such child having reached the age of eighteen years to a juvenile facility or
placement. In any hearing conducted by
the court under this subdivision, the victim, if any, of the offender’s convicted
or charged crime shall be invited to attend the hearing and the victim’s
position shall be given due consideration by the court in deciding to continue
placement in an adult facility or any other alternative disposition or pretrial
placement. The court may accept the position of the victim from a victim’s
designee if the victim is deceased, lacks capacity, a minor or for any other
reason considered appropriate or warranted by the court.
§49-4-722. Conviction
for offense while in custody.
(a) Notwithstanding any
other provision of law to the contrary, any person who is eighteen years of age
or older who is convicted as an adult of an offense that he or she committed
while in the custody of the Division of Juvenile Services and who is therefor
sentenced to a regional jail or state correctional facility for the offense may
not be returned to the custody of the division upon the completion of his or
her adult sentence. until a hearing is held before the court which committed
the person to the custody of the Division of Juvenile Services at which hearing
the division may present any objections it may have to return the person to its
custody. If the division does object and the court overrules the division's
objections, it shall make specific written findings as to its rationale for
overruling the objections
(b) No person who is
eighteen years of age or older who is convicted as an adult of a felony crime
of violence against the person while in the custody of the Division of Juvenile
Services be returned to the custody of the Division of Juvenile Services upon
completion of his or her adult sentence. Prior to completion of the
adult sentence specified in subsection (a), the circuit court having
jurisdiction over the underlying juvenile matter shall conduct a hearing to
determine whether the child that has turned eighteen years of age shall remain
in the regional jail during pendency of the underlying juvenile matter or if
another disposition or pretrial placement is appropriate and available: Provided, That the court may not remand
such child having reached the age of eighteen years to a juvenile facility or
placement during the pendency of the underlying juvenile matter.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is
to require the Division of Juvenile Services to transfer to a correctional
facility or regional jail any juvenile in its custody that has been transferred
to adult jurisdiction of the circuit court and who reaches his or her
eighteenth birthday. The bill requires
transfer of juvenile in adult jurisdiction upon reaching eighteen years of age
if he or she has either been convicted or is in a pretrial status and directs
the Division of Juvenile Services to notify the circuit court of the age of a
juvenile reaching the age of eighteen years of age. The bill authorizes the circuit court to
conduct a hearing as to alternative placement and mandates that the position of
victim be taken under consideration by the court in determining disposition or
alternative placement. The bill prohibits
juveniles that commit an adult offense while under the custody of the Division
of Juvenile Services from returning back to the placement in a juvenile
facility if the juvenile has attained the age of eighteen years. Finally, the bill requires the court to
conduct a hearing as to placement of a juvenile that has turned eighteen years
of age and is remanded back to the custody of the Division of Juvenile Services
after completion of an adult sentence.
Strike-throughs indicate language
that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring
indicates new language that would be added.