Senate Bill No. 291
(By Senator Schoonover)
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[Introduced February 8, 1995; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section ten-c, article two-a, chapter
forty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to arrest for
violations of protective orders; and requiring a hearing
within five judicial days.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section ten-c, 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 or minor children, or both, or
observes 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) 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.
(c) 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 within five judicial
days.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require a hearing
within five judicial days.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.