H. B. 4103
(By Delegates Mahan, Eldridge, Ellis, Ennis, Higgins, Hutchins,
Longstreth, Spencer, Ashley, Rowan and Tansill)
[Introduced January 21, 2008; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary)
A BILL to amend and reenact §61-2-10b of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to crimes against public safety,
services or enforcement officials; altering elements of crimes
of battery and assault against a public safety, services or
enforcement official; adding specified employees of the
Department of Health and Human Resources as protected
officials; and providing penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-2-10b of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
CHAPTER 61. CRIMES AND THEIR PUNISHMENT
Article 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
§61-2-10b. Malicious assault, unlawful assault, battery and
recidivism of battery, and assault on public safety, services or enforcement official;
penalties.
(e) (a) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Designated employee of the Department of Health and Human
Resources" means any person employed by the Department of Health
and Human Resources as a social worker, child or adult protective
service worker, economic social worker, child support collection
worker, family support worker, public health worker, regulatory
enforcement worker, investigator for the office of inspector
general, or licensing worker.
(3) (2) "Division of Forestry employee" means an officer,
agent, employee or servant, whether full-time or not, of the
Division of Forestry.
(2) (3) "Employee of an urban mass transportation system"
means any person employed by an urban mass transportation system as
such is defined in section three, article twenty-seven, chapter
eight of this code or by a system that receives federal transit
administration funding under 49 U.S.C. §5307 or §5311.
(1) (4) "Police officer" means any person employed by the
State Police, any person employed by the state to perform law-
enforcement duties, any person employed by a political subdivision
of this state who is responsible for the prevention or detection of
crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of this state or employed as a special police officer as defined in
section forty-one, article three of this chapter.
(5) "public safety, services or enforcement official" means
any person acting in his or her official capacity as a police
officer, probation officer, conservation officer, humane officer,
emergency medical service personnel, firefighter, State Fire
Marshal or employee thereof, Division of Forestry employee, county
correctional employee or state correctional employee, employee of
an urban mass transportation system, designated employee of the
Department of Health and Human Resources, or Public Service
Commission motor carrier inspector.
(a) (b) Malicious assault. -- Any person who maliciously
shoots, stabs, cuts or wounds or by any means causes bodily injury
with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill a
police officer,
probation officer, conservation officer, humane officer, emergency
medical service personnel, firefighter, State Fire Marshal or
employee, Division of Forestry employee, county correctional
employee or state correctional employee, employee of an urban mass
transportation system, or Public Service Commission motor carrier
inspector acting in his or her official capacity public safety,
services or enforcement official and the person committing the
malicious assault knows or has reason to know that the victim is a
police officer, probation officer, conservation officer, humane officer, emergency medical service personnel, firefighter, State
Fire Marshal or employee, Division of Forestry employee, county
correctional employee, state correctional employee, employee of an
urban mass transportation system or Public Service Commission motor
carrier inspector acting in his or her official capacity public
safety, services or enforcement official, is guilty of a felony
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a correctional
facility for not less than three nor more than fifteen years.
(b) (c) Unlawful assault. -- Any person who unlawfully but not
maliciously shoots, stabs, cuts or wounds or by any means causes a
police officer, probation officer, conservation officer, humane
officer, emergency medical service personnel, firefighter, State
Fire Marshal or employee, Division of Forestry employee, county
correctional employee or state correctional employee, employee of
an urban mass transportation system or Public Service Commission
motor carrier inspector acting in his or her official capacity
public safety, services or enforcement official a bodily injury
with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill him or her and the
person committing the unlawful assault knows or has reason to know
that the victim is a
police officer, probation officer,
conservation officer, humane officer, emergency medical service
personnel, firefighter, State Fire Marshal or employee, Division of
Forestry employee, county correctional employee, state correctional employee, employee of an urban mass transportation system or Public
Service Commission motor carrier inspector acting in his or her
official capacity public safety, services or enforcement official,
is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
confined in a correctional facility for not less than two nor more
than five years.
(c) (d) Battery. -- Any person who unlawfully
knowingly and
intentionally makes physical contact of an insulting or provoking
nature with a
police officer, probation officer, conservation
officer, humane officer, emergency medical service personnel,
firefighter, State Fire Marshal or employee, Division of Forestry
employee, county correctional employee, state correctional
employee, employee of a mass transportation system or Public
Service Commission motor carrier inspector acting in his or her
official capacity, public safety, services or enforcement official,
and the person committing the unlawful act knows or has reason to
know that the victim is a public safety, services or enforcement
official, or unlawfully and intentionally causes physical harm to
a
police officer, probation officer, conservation officer, humane
officer, emergency medical service personnel, firefighter, State
Fire Marshal or employee, Division of Forestry employee, county
correctional employee, state correctional employee, employee of an
urban mass transportation system or a Public Service Commission motor carrier inspector acting in such capacity, public safety,
services or enforcement official, and the person committing the
unlawful act knows or has reason to know that the victim is a
public safety, services or enforcement official, is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail
for not less than one month nor more than twelve months, fined the
sum of five hundred dollars, or both. If any person commits a
second such offense, he or she is guilty of a felony and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be confined in a correctional facility
for not less than one year nor more than three years or fined the
sum of one thousand dollars or both fined and confined. Any person
who commits a third violation of this subsection is guilty of a
felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a
correctional facility not less than two years nor more than five
years or fined not more than two thousand dollars or both fined and
confined.
(d) (e) Assault. -- Any person who unlawfully attempts to
commit a violent injury to the person of a
police officer,
probation officer, conservation officer, humane officer, emergency
medical service personnel, firefighter, State Fire Marshal or
employee, Division of Forestry employee, county correctional
employee, state correctional employee, employee of a mass
transportation system or Public Service Commission motor carrier inspector acting in his or her official capacity, public safety,
services or enforcement official, and the person committing the
unlawful act knows or has reason to know that the victim is a
public safety, services or enforcement official, or unlawfully
commits an act which places a
police officer, probation officer,
conservation officer, humane officer, emergency medical service
personnel, firefighter, Division of Forestry employee, county
correctional employee or state correctional employee, employee of
a mass transportation system or Public Service Commission motor
carrier inspector acting in his or her official capacity public
safety, services or enforcement official, and the person committing
the unlawful act knows or has reason to know that the victim is a
public safety, services or enforcement official, and places the
victim in reasonable apprehension of immediately receiving a
violent injury, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be confined in jail for not less than twenty-four
hours nor more than six months, fined not more than two hundred
dollars, or both fined and confined.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill creates an increased criminal
penalty to commit malicious assault, unlawful assault, battery
or assault upon a child protective services caseworker or as
a local adult protective services caseworker employee.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
This bill was recommended for introduction and passage by Select Committee A- Committee on Children, Juveniles and Other
Issues during 2007 legislative interims.
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