Committee backs felony penalties for bringing cellphones and other telecom devices into correctional facilities

The West Virginia Senate Judiciary Committee voted to agree to a committee substitute for Senate Bill 440 and to report the substitute to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass.

Riley, a committee intern, told the panel the substitute would amend West Virginia Code to expand the criminal penalty ranges for offenses involving adults and juveniles in custody and to broaden the types of facilities covered. Riley said the substitute specifically emphasizes unlawful transportation or delivery of telecommunications devices into correctional facilities and would elevate that offense from a misdemeanor to a felony.

Riley noted the substitute also expands the statutory definition of a telecommunications device to include modern devices that can receive electronic signals and listed specific device types. The substitute increases penalty ranges for several offenses, removes the court's discretion to reduce certain felony charges to misdemeanors in these contexts, and adds federal correctional facilities to the list of covered facilities. Committee materials stated there is no fiscal impact and no second reference.

Delegate David Green, the bill sponsor in the House, testified that sheriffs alerted him to smuggling at FCI McDowell, including the use of drones to drop contraband. "They were flying drones from [vantage points] into FCI McDowell, and they have a dropping mechanism attached to the bottom of the drones," he said.

Chief Deputy Dalton Martin of the McDowell County Sheriff's Office described arrests and tactics used to smuggle phones, tobacco, SIM cards and illicit drugs into the facility. Martin said his office has arrested roughly 25 offenders connected to these activities but has sometimes had to release contraband when the conduct did not fall under state law. He told the committee many operations appear organized and that payment to outside subjects is often routed via Cash App, with payments Martin said he has seen ranging "from anywhere to $2,000 to $10,000 per drop."

John Frisbie, an investigator with the Kanawha County Prosecutor's Office, said investigators traced one drone used in a McDowell drop back to California using fusion-center tools. He warned that cell phones introduced into corrections settings can be used to threaten staff and coordinate activity inside facilities.

Senators asked whether existing law bars drones from flying over facilities; witnesses said federal rules and agency involvement often constrain remedies, and some detection technology exists but takedown capabilities are limited. After testimony and no amendments, the committee agreed to the substitute and voted to report it to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass.

The bill, if enacted, would increase penalties for people who transport or deliver telecommunications devices into correctional facilities and expand the set of covered facilities and definitions used by the code section.