H. B. 2617
(By Delegate Beach)
[Introduced February 21, 1995; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section six, article four, chapter
eighteen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the construction
maintenance and operation of parking facilities by state
institutions of higher education; fees; special fund for
deposit of fees; use of fund; regulation of motor vehicle
traffic and parking areas; posting of rules; issuance of
citations for violation of the rules; fines; and towing of
vehicles.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section six, article four, chapter eighteen-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. GENERAL ADMINISTRATION.
§18B-4-6. Acquisition, operation and regulation of parking
areas and facilities at state institutions of
higher education; regulation of parking, speed and
flow of traffic on campus roads and driveways;
civil and criminal penalties; disposition of
revenue.
(a) The governing boards are hereby authorized to construct,
maintain and operate automobile parking facilities or areas upon
any premises owned or leased at any state institution of higher
education under their jurisdiction by for use by students,
faculty, staff and visitors. The governing boards may charge
fees for use of the parking facilities or areas under their
control. All moneys collected for the use of the parking
facilities or areas shall be paid to the credit of the state
institution of higher education at which the fees were charged
into a special fund which is hereby created in the state
treasury. The moneys in the fund shall be used first to pay the
cost of maintaining and operating the parking facilities or
areas, but any excess not needed for this purpose may be used for
the acquisition of property by lease or purchase and the construction thereon of additional parking facilities or areas.
Any money in the fund not needed immediately for the acquisition,
construction, maintenance or operation of the parking facilities
or areas may be temporarily invested by the governing boards with
the state board of investments to the credit of the state
institution of higher education at which the fees were charged.
(b) Notwithstanding any other motor vehicle or traffic law
or regulation to the contrary, the governing boards are hereby
authorized to regulate and control at any state institution of
higher education under their jurisdiction the speed, flow and
parking of vehicles on campus roads, driveways and parking
facilities or areas. Rules for this purpose shall be promulgated
by the governing boards in the manner prescribed in chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code and when so promulgated shall have the
force and effect of law. In each parking facility or area a
summary of the rules governing the use of the facility or area
including, but not limited to, the availability of temporary
parking permits and where same temporary parking permits may be
obtained, and of the penalties which may be imposed for
violations of the rules and shall be conspicuously posted. Along each campus road and driveway, notice signs pertaining to the
speed of vehicles, spaces available for parking, directional flow
of traffic and penalties which may be imposed for violations of
the rules shall be conspicuously posted.
(c) Any person parking any vehicle or operating any vehicle
in violation of the rules shall be issued a citation describing
the offense charged and ordering an appearance within ten days,
excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays observed by the college
or university, before a designated official of the state
institution of higher education and, if the person cited fails to
appear within said the ten days, ordering an appearance before a
magistrate located in the county in which the state institution
of higher education is located or before the judge of the
municipal court, if the state institution of higher education is
located within a municipality having such an official.
The designated official of the state institution of higher
education shall have has exclusive jurisdiction of the offense
during the ten-day period. Any person so cited may plead no
contest to the offense and, by so pleading, shall be is subject
to a civil penalty to be determined uniformly by the designated official and commensurate with the severity of the offense in an
amount not more than ten fifty dollars for each offense as
partial reimbursement to the state institution of higher
education for the cost of regulating traffic and parking:
Provided, That for violations in areas designated, zoned, or
marked for the handicapped or physically disabled, the civil
penalty shall not exceed one hundred dollars for each offense.
Moneys derived from civil penalties imposed herein in this
section shall be deposited in the special fund in the state
treasury created by this section and credited to the state
institution of higher education at which the penalty was paid.
Upon the expiration of the ten days, or upon a pleading of
not guilty before the designated official of the state
institution of higher education within the ten days, the
magistrate or judge of the municipal court shall have
jurisdiction of the offense, and any person cited under the
provisions of this section, upon a finding of guilty by the
magistrate or municipal judge, shall be is subject to a fine of
not less than ten dollars nor more than twenty dollars for each
offense, the amount to be commensurate with the severity of the offense.
Each designated official of the state institution of higher
education presiding over a case under the provisions of this
section shall keep or cause to be kept a record of every citation
which alleges a violation of such the provisions, or the rules
promulgated in accordance therewith, and shall keep a record of
every official action in reference thereto including, but not
limited to, a record of every plea of no contest, conviction or
acquittal of the offense charged and the amount of the fine or of
the civil penalty resulting from each citation.
(d) Whenever a vehicle is parked on any state institution of
higher education campus road, driveway or parking facility or
area in a manner which violates posted rules and substantially
impedes the flow of traffic or endangers the health and safety,
where a vehicle is habitually parked in violation of posted
regulations, or in cases where the operator or owner of a parked
vehicle cannot be determined, the institution may, in addition to
the issuing of a citation and subsequent procedures set forth
herein in this section, remove the vehicle, by towing or
otherwise, to an area owned by the institution or areas designated for this purpose. The vehicle, having been towed to
the designated area or areas, may be rendered immovable by use of
locking wheel blocks or other device not damaging to the vehicle.
The state institution of higher education shall maintain any
vehicle so towed in the same condition as it was immediately
prior to being towed, but shall not be is not liable for any
damage to a vehicle towed to, or kept in, a designated area
pursuant to the provisions of this section. The state
institution of higher education shall pay for the cost of
removing the vehicle and shall have has a right to reimbursement
from the owner for this cost and for the reasonable cost of
keeping the vehicle in the designated area. Until payment of
these costs, the state institution of higher education may retain
possession of the vehicle, and the institution shall have a lien
on the vehicle for the amount due. The state institution of
higher education may enforce this lien in the manner provided in
section fourteen, article eleven, chapter thirty-eight of this
code for the enforcement of other liens.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the fine a
person may be charged for parking in a handicapped zone at a
state institution of higher education. It would also allow
vehicles of habitual violators and vehicles whose owner cannot be
determined to be towed.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.