Bill Text: WV HB5655 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Require inmates to get GED before release from prison

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-13 - To House Jails and Prisons [HB5655 Detail]

Download: West_Virginia-2024-HB5655-Introduced.html

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WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE

2024 REGULAR SESSION

Introduced

House Bill 5655

By Delegate Rowe

[Introduced February 13, 2024; Referred to the Committee on Jails and Prisons then the Judiciary]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §15A-4-22, relating to the creation of a mandatory education program for all incarcerated individuals.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

 

ARTICLE 4. Corrections Management.

§15A-4-22. Mandatory Educational Program for Incarcerated Individuals

(a) The division shall adopt regulations for all correctional institutions in the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation for the implementation of a mandatory education program for all incarcerated individuals who fail to attain a minimum educational standard as set forth in this subsection.

(1) The regulations adopted by the division shall:

(A) Require that the educational standard shall be the attainment of a General Educational Development (GED) diploma or a verified high school diploma;

(B) Apply only to any incarcerated individual who:

(i) Was received by the Division of Correction after July 1, 1987;

(ii) Has 18 months or more remaining to be served before a mandatory supervision release date;

(iii) Is not exempted due to a medical, developmental, or learning disability; and

(iv) Does not possess a General Educational Development (GED) diploma or a verified high school diploma; and

(C) Require any incarcerated individual to participate in:

1. The mandatory education program for at least 240 calendar days; or

2. A workforce skills training program.

(2) The Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall report to the Parole Board the academic progress of an incarcerated individual in the mandatory education program.

 

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create a mandatory education program for incarcerated individuals.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.