About 10 years later, opinions still divided on efficacy of West Virginia graduated sanctions

It’s been nearly 10 years since West Virginia lawmakers passed a law basically giving convicted felons on probation and home incarceration two extra chances to avoid incarceration in a state prison.
After all that time, opinions on the law remain divided.
Prior to the law, a judge could send a convicted felon on one of these forms of alternative release to prison on a first revocation, for any reason.
The law, mostly aimed at giving those with substance use disorder extra chances to rehabilitate, takes prison out of the equation for first and second violations unless the court finds those violations are serious enough to warrant prison. A couple of examples of serious violations: Absconding, or committing a new felony.
So with most first violations, those on alternative release are getting anywhere up to 60 days in jail, and for most second violations, they’re getting up to 120 days in jail. It’s only with the third violation that all the options are back in place for a court.
WV News reached out to several veteran lawyers and law enforcement officers to get their take on the law.