photo by: W.Va. Legislative Photography

Del. Dana Farrell, R-Kanawha, and a coalition of other Republican lawmakers said Tuesday that the minimum time to be eligible for parole following a first-degree murder conviction should be increased.

CHARLESTON — A group of Republican lawmakers said they are dedicated to pushing through a bill next year to make it harder for those convicted of first-degree murder to get out of prison early.

During a press conference Tuesday morning at the State Capitol Building, Del. Dana Farrell, R-Kanawha, said a bill was being drafted that will include raising the minimum parole eligibility for first-degree murder from 15 to 25 years.

“There seem to be some errors there that we can make some improvements on,” Farrell said. “Today, we want to make that commitment to do that. … This is a commitment by the members here of the Legislature to address the issue of tougher penalties for murder convictions.”

According to State Code, if someone is convicted of first-degree murder with a recommendation of mercy from a jury, that individual would not be eligible for parole until serving a minimum of 15 years in prison.

If an individual pleads guilty of first-degree murder, that person could be eligible for parole earlier depending on the judge’s sentence. Someone who pleads guilty to first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison could be released from prison as early as 10 years, while an individual with a previous felony conviction could be released after 15 years in prison.

Farrell, a member of the House Judiciary Committee and the chairman of the House Local Governments Subcommittee, said the vehicle for a potential bill next year would be a bill that was never taken up by the House Judiciary Committee during the 2025 legislative session.

House Bill 2815 — introduced by Del. Joe Funkhouser, R-Jefferson — would have modified sentence and parole eligibility for second-degree murder by increasing the minimum and maximum terms of imprisonment and doubling the minimum parole eligibility period from 10 to 20 years.

HB 2815 would have also adjusted the parole eligibility for inmates serving life sentences and for those convicted of first-degree murder by extending the minimum time served from 15 to 25 years. The bill’s proposed changes would have modified the penalties for attempted first- and second-degree murder, and established specific felony sentences for these crimes.

“Let me say there’s been several bills over the last two or three years introduced to address murder one penalties,” Farrell said. “Sometimes you’ve just got to be up here to understand why certain bills make it and certain ones don’t. I can’t really say why those didn’t gain the traction at the time that they (were introduced).”

Farrell was joined by Kanawha County Commission President Ben Salango, the husband of 8th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Tera Salango. Judge Salango’s brother, Steven Farley, was murdered in 1993 by Dale Edward Guthrie, who was found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder with mercy. Since then, Commissioner Salango said their family has attended multiple parole hearings urging the parole board to keep Guthrie behind bars.

“I stand here not in a political capacity. I’m standing here in a personal capacity,” Commissioner Salango said. “Because for the last 20-plus years, my wife and I have shown up time and time and time again – every one to three years – for the parole hearing for the man who was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder of her brother.

“At the time, she didn’t know and certainly I didn’t know that it carried with it a sentence for the victims,” Salango continued. “Every single time that he has to come up for parole, we have to show up to a hearing or at least try to show up for a hearing. We have to gather letters. We have to gather support. We have to prove that he should stay in prison for an additional one to three years.”

Commissioner Salango said that many states, including states under Democratic control, have tougher penalties for first-degree murder than West Virginia. California’s minimum for parole on a first-degree murder conviction is 25 years.

“We started looking at the law and realized that West Virginia is one of the most lenient states in the nation, if not the most lenient state in the nation, with regard to sentencing for intentional, premeditated first-degree murder,” said Salango, an attorney and former Democratic candidate for governor in 2020.

“Instead of advocating for the murderer, we need to start looking at this from the position of the murder victims and their families,” Salango continued. “It is incomprehensible to me that someone can be convicted of premeditated, intentional first-degree murder and get out or be eligible for parole in 15 years.”