Bill Text: WV HB2966 | 2017 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Creating the West Virginia Sentencing Commission
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 11-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-03-28 - To Judiciary [HB2966 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2017-HB2966-Comm_Sub.html
WEST virginia legislature
2017 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
House Bill 2966
By Mr. Speaker (Mr. Armstead), Shott, Hanshaw, Summers, Sobonya, Lane, N. Foster, Overington, Fast, G. Foster and O'Neal
[Originating in the Committee on Judiciary]
A BILL to amend and reenact §15-9-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend said code by adding thereto a new article, designated §15-9C-1, §15-9C-2, §15-9C-3, §15-9C-4 and §15-9C-5, all relating to creating the West Virginia Sentencing Commission; establishing the commission as a standing subcommittee of the Governor's committee on crime, delinquency and correction; authorizing commission to seek and utilize funding and grants; setting forth legislative findings; establishing composition and membership of commission; setting forth the powers and duties of the commission; setting forth objectives for the commission; directing commission provide annual assessment and recommendations to the Legislature; and authorizing commission to make additional recommendations to the Legislature.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §15-9-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said code be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated §15-9C-1, §15-9C-2, §15-9C-3, §15-9C-4 and §15-9C-5, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9. GOVERNOR'S COMMITTEE ON CRIME, DELINQUENCY AND CORRECTION
§15-9-4. Criminal
sentencing research Sentencing Commission Subcommittee
The Governor's committee on crime, delinquency and
correction shall conduct comprehensive research on the state's criminal
sanctioning process for adult offenders. The purpose of the research is to
promote a fuller understanding of this state's criminal justice system, and
shall include the review of issues of sentence length imposed, actual sentence
length served, parole eligibility, parole revocation, determinate or
indeterminate sentences, availability of alternatives to incarceration for
certain offenses, and the respective roles that each of these and other
criminal sanction issues may play in the increased demand for prison bed space.
The committee shall report to the Governor and the Legislature on or before
January 1, 2004, and at its discretion thereafter, the findings of its research
and make any recommendations for modifications of criminal sentencing laws or
procedures provided that no such recommendations or modifications shall become
effective without further action of the Legislature.
The Governor's committee on crime, delinquency and correction shall have a standing subcommittee known as the West Virginia Sentencing Commission. To the extent requested or necessary, the commission shall be staffed and supported by the Division of Justice and Community Services. The Commission, by and through the Division, may seek and utilize funding and grants in furtherance of the purposes and mission of the Commission.
ARTICLE 9C. WEST VIRGINIA SENTENCING COMMISSION.
§15-9C-1. Legislative findings.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares that:
(1) There is a need for fair and uniform sentencing;
(2) There is a need for research on issues regarding sentencing in order to promote a fuller understanding of the efficient, just and fair operation of this state's criminal justice system;
(3) There is a need for establishing priorities with regard to the severity of the criminal offenses; and
(4) There is a need to use the limited correctional resources in the state in a manner best able to fulfill the goals of criminal punishment, rehabilitation and protection of the public.
§15-9C-2. Creation of sentencing commission; purpose; composition
(a) The West Virginia Sentencing Commission is hereby created as a standing subcommittee of the Governor's committee on crime, delinquency and correction.
(b) The purpose of the commission is to promote a fuller understanding of this state's criminal justice sentencing system, and shall include the review and research of issues of sentence length imposed, actual sentence length served, parole eligibility, parole revocation, determinate or indeterminate sentences, availability of alternatives to incarceration for certain offenses, and the respective roles that each of these and other criminal sanction issues may play in the increased demand for prison bed space.
(c) The commission shall consist of the following members, who shall serve without compensation:
(1) The Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, or his or her designee;
(2) Three prosecuting attorneys, or assistant prosecuting attorneys, from three differing counties chosen by the president of the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Association;
(3) Two public defenders, or assistant public defenders, from two differing judicial circuits chosen by the Director of the Public Defender Services;
(4) Two practicing attorneys licensed to practice in West Virginia who maintain offices in differing judicial circuits who regularly serve as appointed counsel for criminal defendants, to be appointed by the President of the West Virginia State Bar;
(5) One representative chosen from the West Virginia Association of Counties who shall be chosen by the Executive Director of that organization;
(6) One representative from the West Virginia Chief of Police Association who shall be chosen by the Executive Director of that organization;
(7) One representative from the West Virginia Sheriff’s Association who shall be chosen by the Executive Director of that organization;
(8) The Superintendent of the West Virginia State Police, or his or her designee;
(9) Two representatives from the West Virginia Judicial Association who shall be current circuit court judges and chosen by the executive committee of that organization, who shall serve as ex officio members;
(10) Two retired or non-serving circuit court judges or magistrates who shall be appointed by the presiding Chef Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals; and
(11) Two members of the West Virginia Association on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors who shall be chosen by the President of that Organization.
(d) Each member serves a two-year term, with the exception of the ex officio members who serve as long as they hold their respective offices.
(e) The chairperson of this commission shall be elected by the other members of the commission. The first meeting shall be chaired by the Director of the Division of Justice and Community Services.
(f) Eight members of the commission is a quorum.
(g) The Director of the Division of Justice and Community Services shall serve as Executive Director of the Commission and the division shall provide administrative services to the commission.
§15-9C-3. Powers and duties of the commission.
(a) The Sentencing Commission established pursuant to this article has the following powers and duties:
(1) The commission may request information, data and reports from any officer or agency of the state government, as the commission may from time to time require and as may be produced consistent with other law;
(2) The commission may issue invitations requesting the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of any evidence that relates directly to a matter with respect to which the commission or any member thereof is empowered to make a determination under this article;
(3) The commission shall establish a research and development program within the commission for the purpose of:
(A) Serving as a clearinghouse and information center for the collection, preparation and dissemination of information on sentencing practices; and
(B) Assisting and serving in a consulting capacity to state courts, departments and agencies in the development, maintenance and coordination of sound sentencing practices;
(4) The commission shall collect data obtained from studies, research and the empirical experience of public and private agencies concerning the sentencing processes;
(5) The commission shall publish data concerning the sentencing process;
(6) The commission shall collect and disseminate information concerning sentences actually imposed;
(7) The commission shall, collect and disseminate information regarding effectiveness of sentences imposed;
(8) The commission shall make recommendations to the Legislature concerning modification or enactment of sentencing and correctional statutes which the commission finds to be necessary and advisable to carry out an effective, humane and rational sentencing policy;
(9) The commission shall establish a plan and timetable to collect and disseminate information relating to incapacitation, recidivism, deterrence and overall effectiveness of sentences imposed; and
(10) The commission shall provide recommendations to the Legislature for the creation of programs and establishment of facilities in the state that provide how the state can best shift its expenditures in a revenue neutral fashion away from incarceration to interdiction programs, facilities, and related services, as well as improvements and facilities that may be necessary to house the growing prison population.
§15-9C-4. Objectives of the commission.
(a) In performing its powers and duties, the commission shall pursue the following objectives:
(1) Promoting sentencing that more accurately reflects the time that an offender will actually be incarcerated;
(2) Reducing unwarranted disparity in sentences for offenders who have committed similar offenses and have similar criminal histories;
(3) Preserving meaningful judicial discretion in the imposition of sentences and sufficient flexibility to permit individualized sentences;
(4) Ensuring that sentencing judges in every jurisdiction in the state are able to impose the most appropriate criminal penalties including correctional options programs for appropriate nonviolent offenders; and
(5) Determining whether the state needs to set out all criminal offenses in terms of priority in order of severity and harm to society and to provide alternatives to incarceration for certain offenses.
(b) The commission shall also conduct a comprehensive review and study of national and local trends and programs that have proven successful in addressing and overcoming addiction and identifying the nature of the causes of addiction and criminal behavior related to drug addiction. The commission shall provide recommendations to the Legislature for the creation of programs and establishment of facilities in the state that provide how the state can best shift its expenditures in a revenue neutral fashion away from incarceration to interdiction programs, facilities, and related services.
§15-9C-5. Recommendations to Legislature
(a) In addition to the dissemination of information set forth in section three of this article, the commission shall provide, on or before January 1, 2018, and in each successive year , assessments and updates to the legislature as to their progress, findings, analysis and recommendations, if any, as to the state’s sentencing and correctional laws and policies.
(b) As part of the report set forth in subsection (a), the commission may, at its discretion or at the request of the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Delegates, make recommendations regarding the following issues:
(1) Whether the state should adopt guided discretion sentencing guidelines and, if so, what type of guided discretion sentencing guidelines should be adopted;
(2) Whether the state should alter the manner in which an inmate may obtain credit for good time served or released on mandatory supervision;
(3) Whether the state needs to take action to ensure that there is a coordinated system of correctional options to incarceration at the state and county levels and, if so, what action should be taken; and
(4) Any other matters relating to state and local laws and policies governing sentencing, parole, mandatory supervision and correctional options programs.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
