Bill Text: WV SB617 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Amending procedures for refusing certain offenders for commitment to jail
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-24 - To Judiciary [SB617 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2020-SB617-Introduced.html
WEST virginia legislature
2020 regular session
Introduced
Senate Bill 617
By Senator Clements
[Introduced January 24,
2020; referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary]
A BILL to repeal §62-6-6a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §15A-5-9 of said code; and to amend and reenact §62-1C-14 of said code, all relating to the ability to refuse offenders for commitment to a jail; and authorizing the acceptance of certain offenders refusing medical treatment.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
Chapter 15A. Department of Military Affairs and PuBlic Safety.
Article 5. Bureau of Prisons and Jails.
§15A-5-9. Ability to refuse offenders.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, the commissioner, or any employee or agent of the division, having authority to accept offenders in a jail is not required to accept those offenders if an offender appears to be in need of medical attention of a degree necessitating treatment by a physician. If an offender is refused pursuant to the provisions of this section, he or she may not be accepted for detention until a written clearance from a licensed physician reflecting that the offender has been examined and if necessary treated, and which states that it is the physician’s medical opinion that the offender can be safely housed in a jail.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the commissioner, or any employee or agent of the division, shall be authorized to accept in a jail, without written clearance from a licensed physician, offenders who refuse medical examination or treatment by a licensed physician and shall be immune from any civil or criminal liability that might arise from the incarceration of those individuals.
Chapter 62. Criminal Procedure.
Article 1C. Bail.
§62-1C-14. Bailpiece; issuance to surety; taking accused into custody.
(a) A bailpiece is a certificate stating that the bail became such for the accused in a particular case and the amount thereof. Upon demand therefor, the court, magistrate or clerk shall issue to the bail bondsperson a bailpiece. Any officer having authority to execute a warrant of arrest shall assist the bail bondsperson holding such bailpiece to take the accused into custody and produce him or her before the court or magistrate. The bail bondsperson may take the accused into custody and surrender him or her to the court or magistrate without such bailpiece.
(b) If bailpiece is
inaccessible due to unavailability of the court’s circuit clerk or magistrate,
the bail bondsperson, or his or her designee, can take an offender to a
regional or county jail without bailpiece, and the jail must accept the
offender; provided:
(1) The bail bondsperson, or his or her designee, delivering an offender to a jail without a bailpiece issued by the court’s circuit clerk or magistrate appears on the registered list maintained at the jails and approved by the court of original jurisdiction;
(2) The bail bondsperson signs an agreement provided by the jail indicating that the offender has been booked in lieu of bailpiece. Such agreement shall contain a clause indicating the incarceration of such offender is lawful and that the jail accepting the offender shall be held harmless from any claims of illegal incarceration or other relative charges; thereby, such bail bondsperson assumes the risk and liability of such incarceration; and
(3) Bailpiece must be applied for by the bail bondsperson or his or her designee from the court’s circuit clerk or magistrate and hand-delivered by the bail bondsperson or his or her designee to the jail housing such offender on the next judicial day following the initial intake.
(c) Any bail bondsperson
who willfully fails to attempt to obtain the appropriate bailpiece within the
allotted time period provided in subsection (b) of this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be prohibited from continuing
to conduct business in this state and shall be fined not more than $1,000 and
confined in the regional or county jail not more than one year.
(d) No officer, jailer, or
other person having authority to accept offenders in a county or
regional jail is required to accept such offenders being housed in lieu of
bailpiece except as set forth in §15A-5-9 of this code. if such
offender appears to be in need of medical attention of a degree necessitating
treatment by a physician. If an offender is refused pursuant to the provisions
of this section, he or she may not be accepted for detention until the bail
bondsperson, or his or her designee, provides the jailer or persons accepting
such offender with a written clearance from a licensed physician reflecting
that the offender has been examined and, if necessary, treated, and which
states that it is the physician's medical opinion that the offender can be
safely confined in the county or regional jail
(e) The Regional Jail
Authority Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the county
sheriff, county commission, or any of their agents or employees, shall be
immune from liability for any claims of illegal incarceration or other relative
charges for any offender accepted into a facility under this section.
ARticle 6. Miscellaneous Provisisions Concerning Criminal Procedures.
§62-6-6a. Disposition of prisoners.
[Repealed].
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to amend procedures for refusing offenders for commitment to a jail and authorizing the acceptance of certain offenders refusing medical treatment.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
