Senate Bill No. 484
(By Senators Plymale and Love)
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[Introduced January 29, 2008; referred to the Committee on Health
and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §62-6-6a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the disposition of prisoners.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §62-6-6a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS CONCERNING CRIMINAL
PROCEDURES.
§62-6-6a. Disposition of prisoners.
(a) It is the duty of all officers of the state, or of any
county or municipality thereof, or jailers having the charge and
custody of any jail or place of detention, to receive any prisoners
arrested by any officer or member of any law-enforcement office
acting in his or her official capacity and to detain them in
custody until ordered released by a tribunal of competent
jurisdiction, and any officer, jailer or person having custody of
any jail or place of detention who willfully fails or refuses to
receive and detain the prisoner is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than twenty-five
dollars nor more than two hundred dollars, or imprisoned in
the
county or regional jail for not more than sixty days, or both fined
and imprisoned.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section, no officer, jailer or other person having authority to
accept prisoners in
a county or regional jail is required to do so
if the prisoner appears to be in need of medical attention of a
degree necessitating treatment by a physician. If a prisoner is
refused pursuant to the provisions of this section, he or she may
not be accepted for detention until the arresting or transporting
officer provides the officer, jailer or person accepting prisoners
with a written clearance from a licensed physician
or Emergency
Medical Services (EMS) professional reflecting that the prisoner
has been examined and, if necessary, treated and which states that
in the physician's
or Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
professional's medical opinion the prisoner can be safely confined
in
the county or regional jail.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to include the acceptance of
an Emergency Medical Service professional's signature on medical
clearance forms for prisoners being accepted jails.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.