The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced four bills during a brief meeting Friday morning.
House Bill 4138 would expand the list of offenses that require individuals convicted of certain crimes to register with the state police, a process often referred to as sex offender registration.
Specifically, the legislation would mandate registration for those convicted of sexual extortion and aggravated sexual extortion, crimes previously covered under §61-8B-6 of the West Virginia Code.
It also would clarify that individuals convicted of the repealed offense of sexual assault of a spouse, also formerly under §61-8B-6, must continue to register. Furthermore, the bill would add new categories of offenses to the registration requirement, including the nonconsensual disclosure of private intimate images (§61-8-28a) and any crime listed under §61-8-32 of the code.
These additions are intended to ensure that individuals convicted of these offenses are subject to the same registration and notification requirements as those convicted of other sex offenses, contributing to public safety by tracking individuals with a history of certain criminal behavior.
House Bill 5067Â would modify the powers and duties of the Director of the Division of Administrative Services in West Virginia. Specifically, it would clarify that the Director can enter into agreements with law enforcement agencies within the Department of Homeland Security to help them apply for and manage federal grant programs that are exclusively for law enforcement or are specifically invited by the federal program.
The legislation also would remove the authority of the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to hear certain appeals and instead designates the Office of Administrative Hearings as the body responsible for hearing appeals from any contested matters before a subcommittee of the Governor’s Committee on Crime, Delinquency and Correction.
House Bill 5406 would make several changes to West Virginia’s laws regarding driving under the influence (DUI).
Primarily, the bill would designate the West Virginia State Police Forensic Laboratory as the authority responsible for certifying secondary chemical tests, their methods, and the approval of preliminary breath analysis devices, taking this role away from the Bureau of Public Health.
The legislation would also update the blood alcohol concentration thresholds for juveniles, remove propoxyphene from the list of substances tested for in blood analyses, and eliminate outdated references to urine testing. Additionally, it would allow individuals trained in phlebotomy to draw blood for these tests.
House Bill 5444 would increase the monthly fee that parolees must pay for supervision from $40 to $50, with the amount still based on their ability to pay.
Additionally, the legislation outlines factors the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation must consider when determining a parolee’s financial ability to pay the fee, such as income, assets, debts, and necessary employment-related expenses. The bill also specifies conditions under which substance abuse treatment or reporting to a day report center can be imposed as part of parole.
All four bills were recommended to the full Senate for passage.
