Senate Bill No. 33
(By Senator Love)
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[Introduced January 10, 2007; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §62-12-19 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to release on parole; and providing
that a person who has had his or her parole revoked three
times is not eligible for parole and must serve the remainder
of his or her term of confinement.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §62-12-19 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 12. PROBATION AND PAROLE.
§62-12-19. Violation of parole.
(a) If at any time during the period of parole there is
reasonable cause to believe that the parolee has violated any of
the conditions of his or her release on parole, the parole officer
may arrest him or her with or without an order or warrant, or the
Commissioner of Corrections may issue a written order or warrant
for his or her arrest, which written order or warrant is sufficient
for his or her arrest by any officer charged with the duty of executing an ordinary criminal process. The commissioner's written
order or warrant delivered to the sheriff against the paroled
prisoner shall be a command to keep custody of the parolee for the
jurisdiction of the Division of Corrections and during the period
of custody, the parolee may be admitted to bail by the court before
which the parolee was sentenced. If the parolee is not released on
a bond, the costs of confining the paroled prisoner shall be paid
out of the funds appropriated for the Division of Corrections.
(b) When a parolee is under arrest for violation of the
conditions of his or her parole, he or she shall be given a prompt
and summary hearing before a panel of the board, at which the
parolee and his or her counsel are given an opportunity to attend.
If at the hearing it appears to the satisfaction of the panel that
the parolee has violated any condition of his or her release on
parole, or any rules or conditions of his or her supervision, the
panel may revoke his or her parole and may require him or her to
serve in prison the remainder or any portion of his or her maximum
sentence for which, at the time of his or her release, he or she
was subject to imprisonment:
Provided, That if the violation of
the conditions of parole or rules for his or her supervision is not
a felony as set out in section eighteen of this article, the panel
may, if in its judgment the best interests of justice do not
require revocation, reinstate him or her on parole. The Division
of Corrections shall effect release from custody upon approval of
a home plan. Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, when reasonable cause has been found to believe that a parolee has violated the conditions of his or her parole but the
violation does not constitute felonious conduct, the commissioner
may, in his or her discretion and with the written consent of the
parolee, allow the parolee to remain on parole with additional
conditions or restrictions. The additional conditions or
restrictions may include, but are not limited to, participation in
any program described in subsection (d), section five, article
eleven-c of this chapter. Compliance by the parolee with the
conditions of parole precludes revocation of parole for the conduct
which constituted the violation. Failure of the parolee to comply
with the conditions or restrictions and all other conditions of
release is an additional violation of parole and the parolee may be
proceeded against under the provisions of this section for the
original violation as well as any subsequent violations.
(c) When a parolee has violated the conditions of his or her
release on parole by confession to, or being convicted of, any of
the crimes set forth in section eighteen of this article, he or she
shall be returned to the custody of the Division of Corrections to
serve the remainder of his or her maximum sentence, during which
remaining part of his or her sentence he or she is ineligible for
further parole.
Any parolee who has had his or her parole revoked
for violating any term or condition of parole for three times
during his or her lifetime shall serve the remainder of any
sentence imposed by the court in prison and shall not be eligible
for parole or release until the sentence is served.
(d) Whenever the parole of a paroled prisoner has been revoked, the commissioner shall, upon receipt of the panel's
written order of revocation, convey and transport the paroled
prisoner to a state correctional institution. A paroled prisoner
whose parole has been revoked shall remain in custody of the
sheriff until delivery to a corrections officer sent and duly
authorized by the commissioner for the removal of the paroled
prisoner to a state penal institution; the cost of confining the
paroled prisoner shall be paid out of the funds appropriated for
the Division of Corrections.
(e) When a paroled prisoner is convicted of, or confesses to,
any one of the crimes enumerated in section eighteen of this
article, it is the duty of the board to cause him or her to be
returned to this state for a summary hearing as provided by this
article. Whenever a parolee has absconded supervision, the
commissioner shall issue a warrant for his or her apprehension and
return to this state for the hearing provided
for in this article:
Provided, That the panel considering revocation may, if it
determines the best interests of justice do not require revocation,
cause the paroled absconder to be reinstated to parole.
(f) A warrant filed by the commissioner shall stay the running
of his or her sentence until the parolee is returned to the custody
of the Division of Corrections and physically in West Virginia.
(g) Whenever a parolee who has absconded supervision or has
been transferred out of this state for supervision pursuant to
section one, article six, chapter twenty-eight of this code is
returned to West Virginia due to a violation of parole and costs are incurred by the Division of Corrections, the commissioner may
assess reasonable costs from the parolee's inmate funds or the
parolee as reimbursement to the Division of Corrections for the
costs of returning him or her to West Virginia.
(h) Conviction of a felony for conduct occurring during the
period of parole is proof of violation of the conditions of parole
and the hearing procedures required by the provisions of this
section are inapplicable.
(i) The Commissioner of the Division of Corrections may issue
subpoenas for persons and records necessary to prove a violation of
the terms and conditions of a parolee's parole either at a
preliminary hearing or at a final hearing before a panel of the
Parole Board. The subpoenas shall be served in the same manner
provided in the Rules of Criminal Procedure. The subpoenas may be
enforced by the commissioner through application or petition of the
commissioner to the circuit court for contempt or other relief.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to eliminate parole for
parolees who have had their parole revoked for violations of the
terms of parole on three separate occasions.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.