Chapter 15A, Chapter 15A

(a) The commissioner is authorized to establish at each institution a work program for qualified inmates. The commissioner shall establish guidelines and qualifications to allow inmates sentenced to a regional jail facility to be gainfully employed with local businesses and gover…

The commissioner may employ or contract for a Director of Employment and a Director of Housing for released inmates. The Director of Employment shall work with federal, state, county, and local government and private entities to negotiate agreements which facilitate employment op…

The Commissioner of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation is hereby authorized to establish a pilot program expanding available work release facilities to no more than a total of five locations be used for eligible offenders who are sentenced to serve a term of imprisonm…

(a) The commissioner may use electronic monitoring equipment to aid in the supervision of offenders. (b) The commissioner shall charge offenders subject to supervision by means of electronic monitoring equipment a reasonable fee, to be established under a legislative rule propose…

(a) The commissioner may continue and establish diagnostic and classification subdivisions. (b) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, all persons committed to the custody of the division for presentence diagnosis and classification, and all persons sentenced…

(a) An offender is eligible to participate in the work release program if he or she: (1) Is 18 years of age or older; (2) Is physically and psychologically able, as determined by the commissioner, to participate in the program: Provided, That offenders with medical conditions or …

The following persons may not participate in the work release program: (1) An offender who requires inpatient psychological or psychiatric treatment; (2) An offender who refuses to participate in the Offender Financial Responsibility Program; (3) An offender who refuses to partic…

(a) The commissioner shall have authority to cause the transfer of any inmate from any facility under his or her control to any other state or federal institution or facility which is better equipped for the care or treatment of the inmate, or for other good cause or reason. (b) …

(a) The commissioner, or his or her designee, is authorized to monitor, intercept, record, and disclose telephone calls to or from adult inmates of state institutions under his or her control, in accordance with the following provisions: (1) All adult inmates of state institution…

(a) The commissioner shall develop operational procedures and policies for the work release program. The procedures and policies may, pursuant to §15A-3-12 of this code, allow the division to partner with contractors to be established at multiple sites, which sites shall subject …

(a) The commissioner, or his or her designee, is authorized to monitor, open, review, copy, and disclose mail sent to adult inmates of state institutions under his or her control, in accordance with the following provisions: (1) All adult inmates of state institutions shall be no…

Funding for the expanded work release pilot program may be derived from the state’s general revenue fund or budget assigned annually to the division.

(a) The commissioner, or his or her designee, is authorized to monitor, intercept, record, and disclose electronic communications to or from adult inmates of state institutions under his or her control, in accordance with the following provisions: (1) All adult inmates of state i…

(a) The contents of all records necessary for the safe and secure management of inmates and residents committed to state correctional and juvenile facilities are confidential and may only be disclosed or released: (1) Pursuant to this section; (2) As required by the provisions of…

(a) The commissioner is authorized to establish at each institution under his or her jurisdiction a “Trustee Fund”. The superintendent of each institution shall receive and take charge of the money and personal property, as defined by policy, of all inmates or residents in his or…

(a) The commissioner shall establish a Bureau of Prisons and Jails. The commissioner shall determine what adult facilities or institutions shall appropriately be managed by the Bureau of Prisons and Jails. (b) The commissioner shall appoint an assistant commissioner, who shall ov…

Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, any individual committed to the custody of the Commissioner of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation who successfully completes the Getting Over Addictive Lifestyles Successfully Program shall be deemed to have …

All prior conveyed responsibilities of the Division of Corrections, and its Commissioner are hereby transferred to the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. All funds, both general revenue and special revenue, are hereby transferred to the Division of Corrections and Rehabi…

(a) The commissioner shall appoint a superintendent for each institution under the control of the division. Each superintendent shall be bonded by the Board of Risk and Insurance Management. (b) The superintendent shall be the chief executive officer of his or her assigned correc…

Each superintendent, with the approval of the commissioner, may hire a deputy superintendent. The deputy superintendent’s duties shall be fixed by the superintendent, as approved by the commissioner. In the absence of the superintendent, the deputy superintendent shall perform al…

The superintendent of each correctional institution or unit shall, in the manner provided in §15A-3-5 of this code, hire all assistants and employees required for the management of the correctional institutions or units, including a sufficient number of correctional employees to …

To the extent practicable, and in a manner consistent with providing for the safety of the public, correctional employees, and inmates, the commissioner will create space in every adult institution for both jail and prison populations: Provided, That in no case shall the commissi…

(a) Within three calendar days of the arrest and placement of any person in a jail, the division shall conduct a pretrial risk assessment using a standardized risk assessment instrument approved and adopted by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. The results of all stan…

(a) A person committed to be housed in jail by order of magistrate, circuit judge, or by temporary commitment order shall, at the time of initial booking into the jail, pay a processing fee of $30. If the person is unable to pay at the time of booking, the fee shall be deducted, …

(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 necessi…

(a) The Commissioner of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall establish a Bureau of Juvenile Services. This bureau shall manage any juvenile facilities or units, as determined pursuant to §15A-3-12 of this code. (b) The commissioner shall appoint an assistant commissioner, who sha…

All prior conveyed responsibilities and duties of the Division of Juvenile Services, and the Director of Juvenile Services, outlined in §49-1-101 et seq. of this code, are hereby transferred and conveyed to the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and to its Commissioner. …

(a) The commissioner shall appoint a superintendent for each institution under the control of the division. Each superintendent shall be bonded by the Board of Risk and Insurance Management. (b) The superintendent shall be the chief executive officer of his or her assigned correc…

Each superintendent, with the approval of the commissioner, may hire a deputy superintendent. The deputy superintendent’s duties shall be fixed by the superintendent, as approved by the commissioner. In the absence of the superintendent, the deputy superintendent shall perform al…

The superintendent of each juvenile institution or unit shall, in the manner provided in §15A-3-5 of this code, hire all assistants and employees required for the management of the juvenile institutions or units, including a sufficient number of correctional employees to preserve…

(a) The commissioner shall establish a Bureau of Community Corrections. The commissioner shall establish which adult facilities or institutions shall appropriately be managed by the Bureau of Community Corrections. (b) The commissioner shall appoint an assistant commissioner, who…

The commissioner shall appoint a Superintendent for each institution under the control of the division. The superintendent of a community corrections facility shall have the same duties and responsibilities as described in §15A-3-1 et seq. of this code.

(a) Each superintendent of a community corrections facility shall, in the manner provided in §15A-3-5 of this code, hire all assistants and employees required for the management of these facilities or units, including a sufficient number of correctional employees to preserve orde…

The commissioner shall supervise all persons released on parole and placed in the charge of a state parole officer and all persons released on parole under any law of this state. He or she shall also supervise all probationers and parolees whose supervision may have been undertak…

(a) Each state probation and parole officer employed by the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall: (1) Investigate all cases referred to him or her for investigation by the Commissioner of Corrections and Rehabilitation and report in writing on the investigation; (2) U…

(a) There is continued a special revenue account in the State Treasury designated the “Parole Supervision Benefit Fund”. The fund is to be used by the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation for the benefit of parolee supervision with approval of the commissioner. The fund sha…

(a) The Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority Board is continued, as follows: (1) The powers and authority of the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority Board, in relation to all functions of correctional operations, are hereby abolished, and these powers a…

The West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority Board is continued. The members of the board in office on the date this section takes effect shall, unless sooner removed, continue to serve until their respective terms expire and until their successors have bee…

(a) The board shall consist of the voting members of the board as provided for in §15A-8-2 of this code and shall exercise all the powers given to the authority in this article. On the second Monday of July of each odd-numbered year, the board shall meet to elect a chairman and a…

(a) The Office of Administrative Hearings is created as a separate operating agency within the department. (b) The secretary shall appoint a director of the office who serves as the administrative head of the office and as Chief Hearing Examiner. (c) The Chief Hearing Examiner sh…

(a) The Chief Hearing Examiner is the chief administrator of the Office of Administrative Hearings and he or she may employ hearing examiners and other clerical personnel necessary for the proper administration of this article. (1) The Chief Hearing Examiner may delegate administ…

Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, the Office of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction to hear and determine all: (1) Level one grievance proceedings for all divisions of the department, except for the State Police; (2) Appeals from decisions or orders…

(a) All level one grievance hearings before the office shall be heard in accordance with practices and procedures as set forth in §6C-2-1 et seq. of this code. (b) All hearings on appeals before the office shall be heard de novo and conducted pursuant to the provisions of the con…

The Office of Administrative Hearings may propose legislative and procedural rules in accordance with the provisions of chapter 29A of this code in order to implement the provisions of this article and to carry out the duties prescribed therein.

Any person who has any pending contested matter before the Office of Administrative Hearings is required to provide notice of a change in address in writing at least 10 days prior to any scheduled hearing in which they are a party. If the person’s final hearing is held prior to t…

(a) In order to implement an orderly and efficient transition of the administrative hearing process from the many divisions of the department, the secretary may establish interim policies and procedures for the transfer of administrative hearings, appeals from decisions or orders…

(a) The State Fire Marshal and the Office of the State Fire Marshal, heretofore existing in this code, are hereby continued in all respects except that all powers and duties exercised by the State Fire Commission with respect to the State Fire Marshal and the Office of the State …

The written order of the State Fire Marshal made pursuant to §15A-10-9 of this code shall be served by delivering a true copy thereof to such owner or, if the owner is absent from the state or his or her whereabouts be unknown to the State Fire Marshal, by mailing a true copy the…

In the event any owner of any building or premises served with a copy of an order as provided in §15A-10-9 and §15A-10-10 of this code shall fail substantially to comply with such order within 30 days from the date of issuance thereof, or within 30 days after any appeal from such…

(a) An operational smoke detector shall be installed in the immediate vicinity of each sleeping area within all one- and two-family dwellings, including any “manufactured home” as that term is defined in §21-9-2(j) of this code. The smoke detector shall be capable of sensing visi…