H. B. 2022
(By Delegates Coleman and Stemple)
[Introduced January 13, 1999; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article four, chapter
seventeen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to altering the
criminal and administrative penalties for driving a motor
vehicle while the operator's license is suspended or
revoked.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article four, chapter seventeen-b of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. VIOLATIONS OF LICENSE PROVISIONS.
§17B-4-3. Driving while license suspended or revoked; driving
while license revoked for driving under the
influence of alcohol, controlled substances or drugs, or while having alcoholic concentration in the blood of ten hundredths of
one percent or more, by weight, or for refusing to take
secondary chemical test of blood alcohol contents.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) or (d) of
this section, any person who drives a motor vehicle on any public
highway of this state at a time when his or her privilege to do
so has been lawfully suspended or revoked by this state or any
other jurisdiction
shall is, for the first offense,
be guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in
jail for
up to forty-eight hours
and or, in addition to
such the
mandatory jail sentence, shall be fined not less than fifty
dollars nor more than five hundred dollars,
or both confined and
fined; for the second offense,
such the person is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in
jail for a period of ten days and, in addition to
such the
mandatory jail sentence, shall be fined not less than one hundred
dollars nor more than five hundred dollars; for the third or any
subsequent offense,
such the person is guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for six
months and, in addition to
such the mandatory jail sentence,
shall be fined not less than one hundred fifty dollars nor more
than five hundred dollars.
(b) Any person who drives a motor vehicle on any public highway of this state at a time when his or her privilege to do
so has been lawfully revoked for driving under the influence of
alcohol, controlled substances or other drugs, or for driving
while having an alcoholic concentration in his or her blood of
ten hundredths of one percent or more, by weight, or for refusing
to take a secondary chemical test of blood alcohol content,
shall
is, for the first offense,
be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for six months and
in addition to
such the mandatory jail sentence, shall be fined
not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred
dollars; for the second offense,
such the person is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in
jail for a period of one year and, in addition to
such the
mandatory jail sentence, shall be fined not less than one
thousand dollars nor more than three thousand dollars; for the
third or any subsequent offense,
such the person is guilty of a
felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in the
penitentiary for not less than one year nor more than three years
and, in addition to
such the mandatory prison sentence, shall be
fined not less than three thousand dollars nor more than five
thousand dollars.
(c) Upon receiving a record of the conviction of any person
under subsection
(a) or (b) of this section upon a charge of
driving a vehicle while the license of
such the person was lawfully revoked, the division shall extend the period of
such
suspension for an additional period of one year from and after
the date
such the person would otherwise have been entitled to
apply for a new license.
(d) Any person who drives a motor vehicle on any public
highway of this state at a time when his or her privilege to do
so has been lawfully suspended for driving while under the age of
twenty-one years with an alcohol concentration in his or her
blood of two hundredths of one percent or more, by weight, but
less than ten hundredths of one percent, by weight, is guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in
jail for twenty-four hours or shall be fined not less than fifty
dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or both.
(e) An order for home detention by the court pursuant to the
provisions of article eleven-b, chapter sixty-two of this code
may be used as an alternative sentence to any period of
incarceration required by this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to alter the penalties
for those persons who drive a motor vehicle on any public highway
when his or her privilege to do so has been lawfully suspended or
revoked.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.