H. B. 2684


(By Delegates Damron, Heck, Stemple, Hubbard, Pettit and Tillis) [Introduced March 24, 1997; referred to the
Committee on Education then the Judiciary.]




A BILL to amend and reenact section fifteen, article two, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to prohibiting any person from interfering with the duties of a school employee or verbally abusing a school employee through the use of profane language while that school employee is engaged in the discharge of his or her duties; penalties.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fifteen, article two, 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 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.

§61-2-15. Assault, battery on school employees; interference with duties of school employees; profane verbal abuse of school employees; penalties.

(a) If any person commits an assault by unlawfully attempting to commit a violent injury to the person of a school employee or by unlawfully committing an act which places a school employee in reasonable apprehension of immediately receiving a violent injury, he or she shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail not less than five days nor more than six months and fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars.
(b) If any person commits a battery by unlawfully and intentionally making physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with the person of a school employee or by unlawfully and intentionally causing physical harm to a school employee, he or she shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail not less than ten days nor more than twelve months and fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars.
(c) It is unlawful for any unauthorized person to interfere with, or otherwise impede, the activities of a school employee while that school employee is engaged in the discharge of his or her duties.
(d) It is unlawful for any person to verbally abuse, through the use of profanity, any school employee while that school employee is engaged in the discharge of his or her duties. (e) Any person violating the provisions of subsection (c) or (d) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned in the county or regional jail not more than six months, or both fined and imprisoned.
(c) (f) For the purposes of this section, "school employee" means a person employed by a county board of education whether employed on a regular full-time basis, an hourly basis or otherwise if, at the time of the commission of any offense provided for in this section, such person is engaged in the performance of his or her duties or is commuting to or from his or her place of employment. For the purposes of this section, a "school employee" shall be deemed to include a student teacher.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit any person from interfering with a school employee or verbally abusing a school employee through the use of profanity while that school employee is engaged in the discharge of his or her duties.


Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.