Senate Bill No. 400
(By Senators Kessler, Edgell and White)
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[Introduced February 27, 2009; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §17C-19-3 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to when a person is arrested for
driving with a revoked or suspended license or for being under
the influence of alcohol or controlled substance, he or she
must be immediately taken before a magistrate or court unless
a magistrate or judge is not reasonably available.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17C-19-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 19. PARTIES, PROCEDURE UPON ARREST AND REPORTS IN
CRIMINAL CASES.
§17C-19-3. When person arrested must be taken immediately before
a magistrate or court.
(a) Whenever any person is arrested for any violation of this
chapter punishable as a misdemeanor, the arrested person shall be immediately taken before a magistrate or court within the county in
which the offense charged is alleged to have been committed and who
has jurisdiction of the offense and is nearest or most accessible
with reference to the place where the arrest is made, in any of the
following cases:
(1) When a person arrested demands an immediate appearance
before a magistrate or court;
(2) When the person is arrested upon a charge of negligent
homicide;
(3) When the person is arrested upon a charge of driving while
under the influence of alcohol, or under the influence of any
controlled substance, or under the influence of any other drug, or
under the combined influence of alcohol and any controlled
substance or any other drug;
(4) When the person is arrested upon a charge of failure to
stop in the event of an accident causing death, personal injury or
damage to property;
(5) When the person is arrested upon a charge of violating
section fourteen, article seventeen of this chapter relating to
weight violations, except as otherwise provided in that section;
(6) When the person arrested is a resident of a state that has
not entered into a nonresident violator compact with this state;
(7) In any other event when the person arrested refuses to
accept the written notice to appear in court as his or her promise to appear in court or to comply with the terms of the written
notice to appear in court as provided in section four of this
article.
(8) When a person is arrested for driving with a suspended or
revoked driver's license for miscellaneous reasons or driving under
the influence of alcohol having a concentration of alcohol of eight
hundredths of one percent or more by weight, controlled substances
or drugs: Provided, That when a person arrested for driving with
a revoked or suspended driver's license for miscellaneous reasons,
the arresting officer may issue a charge by citation should a
magistrate or judge not be reasonably available.
(b) When the person arrested is a resident of a state that has
entered into a nonresident violator compact with this state, the
arresting officer shall issue the person a written notice as
provided for in section four of this article and may not take the
person immediately before a magistrate or court, except under the
terms of the compact or under the circumstances set forth in
subsection (a) of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require a person who is
arrested for driving with a revoked or suspended license or for
being under the influence of alcohol or controlled substance he or
she must be immediately taken before a magistrate or court unless
a magistrate or judge is not reasonably available.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.