CHARLESTON ,WV (LOOTPRESS) – The House convened for a weekend session Saturday afternoon which saw a number of bills advanced along with the passage of amendments including that of House Bill 3445, itself pertaining to probation and parole.
The intent of the bill, of which Delegate Nestor (R-Randolph, 066) is the lead sponsor, is “to provide parolees and individuals on probation the ability to enter into a votech rehab facilities [and] other types of things that would put them in a better position once they got out of those probationary periods,” according to Delegate Kirby (R-Raleigh, 044) who is a co-sponsor and spoke at length regarding the legislation.
“I think that the spirit of the bill is what we’re all looking for,” said Delegate Kirby. “We want people to better themselves. We want them to go back into society and be productive and be able to move forward.”
The proposed amendment which saw discussion during the session, however, would eliminate certain offenders from reaping the benefits of such legislation. Some of these offenders include those convicted of sex crimes, child abuse, and crimes involving deadly weapons, distinctions which Delegate Kirby emphasized during the session.
“There are just some crimes that you don’t believe should benefit, or some criminals after conviction of these said crimes, should not be able to benefit from our good nature and trying to get people back into the workforce,” Delegate Kirby asserted.
Delegate Capito (R-Kanawha, 055) commended idea of taking a cautionary approach, voicing support for the bill in spite of the implications of such support regarding the work of the Judiciary Committee of which Delegate Capito is the Chair.
“As chair of the committee I’ve always loathed to rise against the work of our committee, but I do so in this case,” said Delegate Capito. “The idea of earned compliance credit is a novel one in this state, and I do not think that there’s anything wrong with approaching that with some caution, which is what the gentleman from the 44th Amendment would do. It would still move us in a good direction.”
Delegate Brooks (R-Raleigh, 045) was another supporter of the amendment, referring to his own two-decade-plus history working in Federal Corrections, with much of this time having been spent working with rehabilitation programs.
“I want to introduce some people to this conversation that have not been spoken of up to this point, and that’s the victims,” Delegate Brooks stated. “The victims of these crimes [of which] these perpetrators would be allowed to have this benefit. I support the amendment and I encourage you to do so as well.”
Lead Sponsor Delegate Nestor also rose in support of the amendment, which when brought to a vote was adopted with 73 Delegates voting in favor, 7 against, and 20 counted absent.
In addition to House Bill 3445, a number of other bills saw advancement to third reading on Saturday, some of which include:
Committee substitute for House Bill 3211 relating to authorizing service credit for unused, accrued annual or sick leave days for use in determining retirement benefits in the municipal police officer and firefighter retirement system,
Committee substitute for House Bill 3232 – regulation of fantasy gaming competitions and implementation of sports wagering,
House Bill 3244 relating to municipal Pensions Oversight Board proposing legislative rules,
Committee substitute for House Bill 3254 establishing a state military funeral honor guard in honor of Hershel Woody Williams known as the Hershel Woody Williams State military funeral honor guard,
House Bill 3363 – The Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act,
Committee substitute for House Bill 3364 requiring the closure of certain meters, certain municipal policemen and firemen’s pension and relief funds as condition of issuance of pension funding revenue bonds,
House Bill 3432 relating to statutory construction.
The House is set to reconvene at 5:00pm. Additional Legislative coverage from LOOTPRESS can be found here.