ENROLLED


H. B. 2835


(By Delegates Staton, Amores, Collins, Douglas, Whitman,

Hunt and Kime)

[Passed March 10, 1995; in effect from passage.]




AN ACT to amend and reenact section four, article three-c, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to computer fraud; prohibiting the knowing and willful access to any data stored in a computer owned by the Legislature; limitation of defenses; criminal penalties; and regulations.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article three-c, 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 3C. WEST VIRGINIA COMPUTER CRIME AND ABUSE ACT.
§61-3C-4. Computer fraud; access to Legislature computer; criminal penalties.
(a) Any person who, knowingly and willfully, directly or indirectly, accesses or causes to be accessed any computer, computer services or computer network for the purpose of (1) executing any scheme or artifice to defraud or (2) obtaining money, property or services by means of fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than ten thousand dollars or imprisoned in the penitentiary for not more than ten years, or both fined and imprisoned.
(b)(1) Any person who, knowingly and willfully, directly or indirectly, accesses, attempts to access, or causes to be accessed any data stored in a computer owned by the Legislature without authorization is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned in the penitentiary for not more than five years, or both fined and imprisoned.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of section seventeen of this article to the contrary, in any criminal prosecution under this subsection against an employee or member of the Legislature, it shall not be a defense (A) that the defendant had reasonable grounds to believe that he or she had authorization to access the data merely because of his or her employment or membership, or (B) that the defendant could not have reasonably known he or she did not have authorization to access the data: Provided, That the joint committee on government and finance shall promulgate rules for the respective houses of the Legislature regarding appropriate access of members and staff and others to the legislative computer system.