ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2221
(By Delegates Faircloth, Trump, Staton,
Amores, Hunt and Douglas)
[Passed April 12, 1997; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact section seventeen, article five,
chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to obstructing
and fleeing from an officer; removing the penalty for
counseling, advising or inviting another to obstruct an
officer; establishing various offenses relating to fleeing
from an officer in a vehicle and providing penalties
therefor; and defining terms for purposes of this section.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seventeen, article five, chapter sixty-one of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC JUSTICE.
§61-5-17. Obstructing officer; fleeing from officer; fleeing from officer in a vehicle; penalties; definitions.
(a) Any person who by threats, menaces, acts or otherwise,
forcibly or illegally hinders or obstructs, or attempts to hinder
or obstruct, any law-enforcement officer acting in his or her
official capacity is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty nor more
than five hundred dollars, and may, in the discretion of the
court, be confined in the county or regional jail not more than
one year.
(b) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee
by any means other than the use of a vehicle from any law- enforcement officer acting in his or her official capacity who is
attempting to make a lawful arrest of the person, and who knows
or reasonably believes that the officer is attempting to arrest
him or her, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than five
hundred dollars, and may, in the discretion of the court, be
confined in the county or regional jail not more than one year.
(c)
Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee
in a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer acting in his or
her official capacity, after the officer has given a clear visual
or audible signal directing the person to stop, is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars, and shall
be confined in the county or regional jail not more than one year.
(d) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee
in a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer acting in his or
her official capacity, after the officer has given a clear visual
or audible signal directing the person to stop, and who causes
damage to the real or personal property of any person during or
resulting from his or her flight, is guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one
thousand nor more than three thousand dollars, and shall be
confined in the county or regional jail for not less than six
months nor more than one year.
(e) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee
in a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer acting in his or
her official capacity, after the officer has given a clear visual
or audible signal directing the person to stop, and who causes
bodily injury to any person during or resulting from his or her
flight, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be imprisoned in the state correctional facility not less than
one nor more than five years.
(f) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee
in a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer acting in his or
her official capacity, after the officer has given a clear visual
or audible signal directing the person to stop, and who causes
death to any person during or resulting from his or her flight, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
punished by a definite term of imprisonment in the state
correctional facility which is not less than three nor more than
fifteen years. A person imprisoned pursuant to the provisions of
this subsection is not eligible for parole prior to having served
a minimum of three years of his or her sentence or the minimum
period required by the provisions of section thirteen, article
twelve, chapter sixty-two, whichever is greater.
(g) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee
in a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer acting in his or
her official capacity, after the officer has given a clear visual
or audible signal directing the person to stop, and who is under
the influence of alcohol, controlled substances or drugs at the
time, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be imprisoned in the state correctional facility not less than
one nor more than five years.
(h) For purposes of this section, the term "vehicle"
includes any motor vehicle, motorcycle, motorboat, all-terrain
vehicle or snowmobile, as those terms are defined in section one,
article one, chapter seventeen-a of this code, whether or not it
is being operated on a public highway at the time and whether or
not it is licensed by the state.
(I) For purposes of this section, the terms "flee,"
"fleeing," and "flight" shall not include any person's reasonable attempt to travel to a safe place, allowing the pursuing law- enforcement officer to maintain appropriate surveillance, for the
purpose of complying with the officer's direction to stop.