§31-20-1a Legislative findings and purposes. - West Virginia Statutes

§31-20-1a. Legislative findings and purposes.
(a) The Legislature finds as follows:

(1) That some existing jails, adult correctional facilities and juvenile detention and correctional facilities in this state serve neither the best interests of the incarcerated populations of the jails and facilities nor the citizens of West Virginia;

(2) That due to time constraints established and imposed by judicial decisions, it is imperative that the Legislature give immediate and diligent attention to the improvement of existing facilities and the construction and maintenance of new facilities, as well as to the development and implementation of new, innovative and effective programs dealing with incarcerated persons;

(3) That the physical condition of some existing jails, adult correctional facilities and juvenile facilities contribute to a frustration of efforts to provide rehabilitation, education, vocational training, and social and psychological adjustment and improvement for incarcerated persons, with the result that those existing facilities are utilized largely for the limited purposes of confinement;

(4) That there is a need to examine, understand and implement various new and innovative trends which are being advanced in the area of correctional institution design, and to explore the developing alternatives to incarceration which are being experimented with in other jurisdictions; and

(5) That the revenues of this state, insofar as they are currently used to maintain a traditional penal system, are not efficiently utilized to provide facilities or produce programs which could direct an adult or juvenile inmate's or detainee's time and effort to prepare him or her for life outside of confinement; nor do the revenues provide corrections officials with the resources necessary to address the issues and problems with which they are confronted.

(b) The purposes of this article are as follows:

(1) To provide a cost-efficient system within this state for the construction, maintenance and operation of adult jails and correctional facilities;

(2) To develop and implement plans for the renovation and improvement of existing facilities and the design and construction of new facilities to better serve the incarcerated and detained juvenile and adult populations and the citizens of this state;

(3) To provide an environment in which new and innovative corrections programs may be considered and undertaken, and in which opportunities may be offered to incarcerated persons to overcome personal deficiencies which are educational, vocational, social or psychological in nature; and

(4) To investigate the feasibility of individualizing and classifying adult inmates according to their psychological and physical conditions at the time they are incarcerated, and the feasibility of designing for each such inmate a plan for self-improvement and rehabilitation.