West Virginia Code 62-11C-5 – Establishment of programs
(a) Any county or combination of counties, or a county or counties and a Class I or II municipality, may establish and operate community corrections programs, as provided in this section, to be used both prior to trial as a condition of bond in circuit and magistrate court, as well as an alternative sentencing option for those offenders sentenced within the jurisdiction of the county or counties which establish and operate the program: Provided, That the chief judge must certify that the community corrections facility is available for use in connection with the imposition of pretrial bond conditions.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 62-11C-5
- Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Offense: includes every act or omission for which a fine, forfeiture, or punishment is imposed by law. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
- Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(b) Any county or combination of counties, or a county or counties and a Class I or II municipality, that seek to establish programs as authorized in this section shall submit plans and specifications for the programs to be established, including proposed budgets, for review and approval by the community corrections subcommittee established in section three of this article.
(c) Any county or combination of counties, or a county or counties and a Class I or II municipality, may establish and operate an approved community corrections program to provide alternative sanctioning options for an offender who is convicted of an offense for which he or she may be sentenced to a period of incarceration in a county or regional jail or a state correctional facility and for which probation or home incarceration may be imposed as an alternative to incarceration.
(d) Community corrections programs authorized by subsection (a) of this section may provide, but are not limited to providing, any of the following services:
(1) Probation supervision programs;
(2) Community service restitution programs;
(3) Home incarceration programs;
(4) Substance abuse treatment programs;
(5) Sex offender containment programs;
(6) Licensed domestic violence offender treatment programs;
(7) Day reporting centers;
(8) Educational or counseling programs;
(9) Drug courts;
(10) Community beautification and reclamation programs for state highways, municipal, county and state parks and recreation areas and community gardens; and
(11) Pretrial release programs.
(e) A county or combination of counties, or a county or counties and a Class I or II municipality, which establish and operate community corrections programs as provided in this section may contract with other counties to provide community corrections services.
(f) For purposes of this section, the phrase "may be sentenced to a period of incarceration" means that the statute defining the offense provides for a period of incarceration as a possible penalty.
(g) No provision of this article may be construed to allow a person participating in or under the supervision of a community corrections program to earn good time or any other reduction in sentence.
(h) Nothing in this section should be construed as to prohibit a court from imposing a surety bond as a condition of a pretrial release.