§31-20-9 Jail facilities standards commission; purpose, powers and duties. - West Virginia Statutes

§31-20-9. Jail facilities standards commission; purpose, powers and duties.
(a) The purpose of the jail facilities standards commission is to assure that proper minimum standards and procedures are developed for jail facility operation, maintenance and management of inmates for regional jails and local jail facilities used as temporary holding facilities. In order to accomplish this purpose, the commission shall:

(1) Prescribe standards for the maintenance and operation of county and regional jails. The standards shall include, but not be limited to, requirements assuring adequate space, lighting and ventilation; fire protection equipment and procedures; provision of specific personal hygiene articles; bedding, furnishings and clothing; food services; appropriate staffing and training; sanitation, safety and hygiene; isolation and suicide prevention; appropriate medical, dental and other health services; indoor and outdoor exercise; appropriate vocational and educational opportunities; classification; inmate rules and discipline; inmate money and property; religious services; inmate work programs; library services; visitation, mail and telephone privileges; and other standards necessary to assure proper operation: Provided, That the standards developed for the construction, operation and maintenance of jails apply only to jail facilities completed after the fifth day of April, one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, and that the standards serve only as guidelines for any jail facility in operation prior to that date: Provided, however, That the commission shall establish standards and procedures permitting and implementing in those facilities the double bunking of inmates in all appropriate cases to the extent that this practice does not violate federal law;

(2) Propose legislative rules for promulgation pursuant to the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code that are necessary to implement the provisions of this article relating to jail facilities, including, without limitation, minimum jail and work farm standards which shall be proposed for promulgation on or before the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine: Provided, That rules filed by the jail and correctional facilities standards commission and authorized by the Legislature to be promulgated before the amendment to this section enacted in the regular session of the Legislature in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight remain in force except that such previously promulgated rules no longer apply to: (i) Correctional facilities; and (ii) jail facilities that were originally constructed for use as a jail which were completed and placed in operation before the fifth day of April, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight: Provided, however, That such previously promulgated rules shall serve as guidelines for those facilities that fall within the specifications of (ii) herein;

(3) Develop a process for reviewing and updating the jail and work farm standards pursuant to the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code as necessary to assure that they conform to current law; and

(4) Report periodically to the regional jail and correctional facility authority and the appropriate county and municipal authorities to advise, recommend, and direct actions to be taken by the authority, the county or the municipality to implement proper minimum jail and work farm standards.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, any county commission providing and maintaining a jail on the effective date of this article may not be required to provide and maintain a jail after a regional jail becomes available pursuant to the provisions of article twenty, chapter thirty-one of this code, unless the county commission determines that a facility is necessary: Provided, That the county commission may provide and maintain a holding facility which complies with the standards set forth for holding facilities in legislative rules promulgated by the jail facilities standards commission or its predecessor, the jail and correctional facilities standards commission.