§62-1C-14 Bailpiece; issuance to surety; taking accused into custody. - West Virginia Statutes

§62-1C-14. Bailpiece; issuance to surety; taking accused into custody.
(a) A bailpiece is a certificate stating that the bail became such for the accused in a particular case and the amount thereof. Upon demand therefor, the court, magistrate or clerk shall issue to the bail bondsperson a bailpiece. Any officer having authority to execute a warrant of arrest shall assist the bail bondsperson holding such bailpiece to take the accused into custody and produce him before the court or magistrate. The bail bondsperson may take the accused into custody and surrender him or her to the court or magistrate without such bailpiece.

(b) If bailpiece is inaccessible due to unavailability of the court's circuit clerk or magistrate, the bail bondsperson, or his or her designee, can take an offender to a regional or county jail without bailpiece, and the jail must accept the offender; provided:

(1) The bail bondsperson, or his or her designee, delivering an offender to a jail without a bailpiece issued by the court's circuit clerk or magistrate appears on the registered list maintained at the jails and approved by the court of original jurisdiction;

(2) The bail bondsperson signs an agreement provided by the jail indicating that the offender has been booked in lieu of bailpiece. Such agreement shall contain a clause indicating the incarceration of such offender is lawful and that the jail accepting the offender shall be held harmless from any claims of illegal incarceration or other relative charges; thereby, such bail bondsperson assumes the risk and liability of such incarceration; and

(3) Bailpiece must be applied for by the bail bondsperson or his or her designee from the court's circuit clerk or magistrate and hand-delivered by the bail bondsperson or his or her designee to the jail housing such offender on the next judicial day following the initial intake.

(c) Any bail bondsperson who willfully fails to attempt to obtain the appropriate bailpiece within the allotted time period provided in subsection (b) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be prohibited from continuing to conduct business in this state and shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars and confined in the regional or county jail not more than one year.

(d) No officer, jailer or other person having authority to accept offenders in a county or regional jail is required to accept such offenders being housed in lieu of bailpiece if such offender appears to be in need of medical attention of a degree necessitating treatment by a physician. If an offender is refused pursuant to the provisions of this section, he or she may not be accepted for detention until the bail bondsperson, or his or her designee, provides the jailer or persons accepting such offender with a written clearance from a licensed physician reflecting that the offender has been examined and, if necessary, treated, and which states that it is the physician's medical opinion that the offender can be safely confined in the county or regional jail.

(e) The regional jail authority, the county sheriff, county commission, or any of their agents or employees, shall be immune from liability for any claims of illegal incarceration or other relative charges for any offender accepted into a facility under this section.