COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 159
(By Senator Wiedebusch)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 2, 1995.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections ten-c and ten-d, article two-
a, chapter forty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating to
penalties for violating a family violence protective order;
and arrest for certain violations of family violence
protective orders.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections ten-c and ten-d, article two-a, chapter forty-
eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2A. PREVENTION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
§48-2A-10c. Arrest for violations of protective orders.
(a) When a law-enforcement officer observes any respondent
abuse the petitioner and/or minor children or the respondent's
physical presence at any location in knowing and willful violation
of the terms of a temporary or final protective order issued under
the provisions of this article, he or she shall immediately arrest the respondent.
(b) When a family or household member is alleged to have
committed a violation of the provisions of section ten-d of this
article, a law-enforcement officer shall arrest the perpetrator for
said offense where:
(1) The law-enforcement officer has observed credible
corroborative evidence, as defined in subsection (b), section
fourteen of this article, that the offense has occurred; and
(2) The law-enforcement officer has received, from the victim
or a witness, a verbal or written allegation of the facts
constituting a violation of section ten-d of this article; or
(3) The law-enforcement officer has observed credible evidence
that the accused committed the offense.
(c) Any person who observes a violation of a protective order
as described in this section, or the victim of such abuse or
unlawful presence, may call a local law-enforcement agency, which
shall verify the existence of a current order and shall direct a
law-enforcement officer to promptly investigate the alleged
violation.
(d) Where there is an arrest, the officer shall take the
arrested person before a court or a magistrate and, upon a finding
of probable cause to believe a violation of an order as set forth
in this section has occurred, the court or magistrate shall set a
time and place for a hearing in accordance with the West Virginia
rules of criminal procedure.
§48-2A-10d. Misdemeanor offense of violation of protective order.
(a) A respondent who abuses the petitioner and/or minor
children or is physically present at any location in knowing and
willful violation of the terms of a temporary or final protective
order issued under the provisions of this article is guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in
the county or regional jail for not less than seven days nor more
than one year.
(b) When a respondent previously convicted of the offense
described in subsection (a) of this section abuses the petitioner
and/or minor children or is physically present at any location in
knowing and willful violation of the terms of a temporary or final
protective order issued under the provisions of this article, the
person is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be imprisoned in the penitentiary for not less than one year nor
more than five years.