Senate Bill No. 206
(By Senators Kessler, Oliverio, Chafin, Foster, Green, Hunter,
Jenkins, Minard, Stollings, Wells, White, Barnes, Caruth, Deem,
Hall, McKenzie and Yoder)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported January 24, 2007.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §62-11C-9 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to assessing court costs for
participants in pretrial diversion programs.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §62-11C-9 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 11C. THE WEST VIRGINIA COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS ACT.
§62-11C-9. Use of community corrections programs for those not
under court supervision.
(a) Subject to the availability of community corrections
programs in the county, a written pretrial diversion agreement,
entered into pursuant to the provisions of section twenty-two,
article eleven, chapter sixty-one of this code, may require
participation or supervision in a community corrections program as
part of the prosecution and resolution of charges.
(b) Any pretrial diversion program for a defendant charged
with a violation of the provisions of section twenty-eight, article
two, chapter sixty-one of this code, subsection (b) or (c), section nine of said article where the alleged victim is a family or
household member or the provisions of section two, article five,
chapter seventeen-c of this code is to require the person charged
to appear before the presiding judge or magistrate and either
acknowledge his or her understanding of the terms of the agreement
or tender a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to the charge or
charges. Upon the defendant's motion, the court shall continue the
matter for the period of time necessary for the person charged to
complete the pretrial diversion program. If the person charged
successfully completes the pretrial diversion program, the matter
is to be resolved pursuant to the terms of the pretrial diversion
agreement. If the person charged fails to successfully complete
the pretrial diversion program, the matter, if no plea of guilty or
nolo contendere has been tendered, is to be returned to the court's
docket for resolution. If the person charged has tendered a plea
of guilty or nolo contendere and fails to successfully complete the
pretrial diversion program, the court shall accept the tendered
plea of guilty or nolo contendere and proceed to sentencing.
(c) No provision of this article may be construed to limit the
prosecutor's discretion to prosecute an individual who has not
fulfilled the terms of a written pretrial diversion agreement by
not completing the required supervision or participation in a
community corrections program.
(d) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, any person whose case is disposed of by entering into a
pretrial diversion agreement, pursuant to the provisions of section
twenty-two, article eleven of this chapter, shall be liable for any
applicable court costs. Payment of the court costs shall be made a condition of the pretrial diversion agreement.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize judges to
assess court costs in cases disposed of by a pretrial diversion
agreement. This stipulation is similar to §60A-4-407(c) relating
to conditional discharge for first offense of possession.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)
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