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Introduced Version House Bill 3086 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 3086


(By Delegates Boggs)

[Introduced March 17, 2005; referred to the

Committee on Roads and Transportation then the Judiciary.]





A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §61-3B-6, relating to establishing the criminal misdemeanor offense of trespassing on railroad property; establishing the criminal misdemeanor offense of stowaway; setting forth definitions; and establishing criminal penalties.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §61-3B-6, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 3B. TRESPASS.

§61-3B-6. Trespassing on railroad property.

(a) Trespassing on railroad property. - Whoever, without lawful authority or the railroad carrier's consent, knowingly enters or remains upon railroad property, by any act including, but not limited to:

(1) Standing, sitting, resting, walking, running, driving, or
operating a recreational or nonrecreational vehicle, including, but not limited to, a bicycle, motorcycle, all terrain vehicle, snowmobile, car or truck; or
(2) Engaging in recreational activity, including, but not limited to, bicycling, hiking, fishing, camping, cross-country skiing or hunting except for the purpose of crossing such property at a public highway or other authorized crossing, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars, or imprisoned in jail for not more than thirty days, or both fined and imprisoned.

(b) Stowaways prohibited. - Whoever, without lawful authority or the railroad carrier's consent, rides on the outside of a train or inside a passenger car, locomotive or freight car, including a boxcar, flatbed or container, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned in jail not more than six months, or both fined and imprisoned.

(c) Persons with lawful authority to be on specified railroad property. - Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply to:

(1) Passengers on trains or employees of a railroad carrier while engaged in the performance of their official duties;

(2) Police officers, firefighters, peace officers and emergency response personnel while engaged in the performance of their official duties;

(3) A person going upon railroad property in an emergency to rescue a person or animal such as livestock, pets or wildlife from
harm's way or to remove an object that the person reasonably believes to pose an imminent threat to life or limb;
(4) A person on the station grounds or in the depot of the railroad carrier as a passenger, or for the purpose of transacting lawful business;

(5) A person, or the person's family or invitee, or the person's employee or independent contractor going upon a railroad's right-of-way for the purpose of crossing at a private crossing site approved by the railroad carrier to obtain access to land that the persons owns, leases or operates;

(6) A person having written permission from the railroad carrier to go upon the railroad property in question;

(7) Representatives of the public service commission and the State Department of Transportation while engaged in the performance of their official duties;

(8) Representatives of the Federal Railroad Administration while engaged in the performance of their official duties;

(9) Representatives of the National Transportation Safety Board while engaged in the performance of their official duties; or

(10) Any person or persons engaged in informational picketing: Provided, That any person engaged in informational picketing may not be closer than twenty-five feet from the centerline of any railroad track; or

(11) Collective bargaining representatives of a railroad employee, employees of a railroad labor organization and representatives of a fraternal benefit society for a railroad labor
organization; or
(12) Any person or persons engaged in a legally authorized work stoppage or a legally authorized strike: Provided, That any person engaged in a legally authorized work stoppage or a legally authorized strike may not be closer than twenty feet from the centerline of any railroad track.

(d) Definitions. - For purposes of this section:

(1) "Passengers" means persons who are traveling by train with lawful authority and who do not participate in the train's operations. The term "passengers" does not include stowaways.

(2) "Railroad" means any form of nonhighway ground transportation that runs on rails or electromagnetic guide ways, including:

(i) Commuter or other short-haul railroad passenger service in a metropolitan or suburban area;

(ii) High-speed ground transportation systems that connect metropolitan areas, but does not include rapid transit operations in an urban area that are not connected to the general railroad system of transportation;

(3) "Railroad carrier" means a person providing railroad transportation;

(4) "Railroad property" means all tangible property owned, leased, or operated by a railroad carrier including a right-of-way, track, bridge, yard, shop, station, tunnel, viaduct, trestle, depot, warehouse, terminal, or any other structure, appurtenance, or equipment owned, leased, or used in the operation of any
railroad carrier including a train, locomotive, engine, railroad car, work equipment, rolling stock, or safety device. 'Railroad property' does not include a railroad carrier's administrative building or offices, office equipment, or intangible property such as computer software or other information;
(5) "Right-of-way" means the track or roadbed owned, leased, or operated by a railroad carrier which is located on either side of its tracks and which is readily recognizable to a reasonable person as being railroad property or is reasonably identified as such by fencing or appropriate signs; and

(6) "Yard" means a system of parallel tracks, crossovers, and switcher where railroad cars are switched and made up into trains, and where railroad cars, locomotives, and other rolling stock are kept when not in use or when awaiting repairs.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish the criminal misdemeanor offenses of trespassing on railroad property and stowing away on a railroad car.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.


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