COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 612
(By Senators Helmick, Ross, Mitchell and Unger)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 25, 2000.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section seventeen, article six, chapter
sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to false reports
concerning explosive devices; increasing penalties for offense
of false report concerning explosive device; and eliminating
discretion to impose lower fine or shorter sentence for second
or subsequent offense.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seventeen, article six, 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 6. CRIMES AGAINST THE PEACE.
§61-6-17. False reports concerning bombs or other explosive
devices; penalties.
(a) Any person who shall impart or convey or cause to be
imparted or conveyed any false information, knowing or having
reasonable cause to believe such information to be false,
concerning the presence of any bomb or other explosive device in,
at, on, near, under or against any dwelling house, school,
structure, improvement, building, bridge, motor vehicle, vessel,
boat, railroad car, airplane or other place, or concerning an
attempt or alleged attempt being made or to be made to so place or
explode any such bomb or other explosive device, shall be is guilty
of a misdemeanor felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
punished by a fine of not less than one hundred thousand dollars
nor more than one two thousand dollars, or by confinement in the
county jail a state correctional facility for not less than one
year nor more than one year three years, or both.
(b) Any person violating any provision of subsection (a) of
this section shall is, for the second or any subsequent offense
under this section, be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred
dollars nor more than one two thousand dollars, or by imprisonment
confinement in the state penitentiary a state correctional facility
for not less than one year nor more than five years, or both, or,
in the discretion of the court, shall be punished by a fine of not
less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars and by confinement in the county jail for not more than one year.
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the
contrary, any Any person violating the provisions of subsection (a)
of this section whose violation of said subsection results in
another suffering serious bodily injury shall be is guilty of a
felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a state
correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than five
years or fined not more than ten thousand dollars, or both. Each
such injury covered by resulting from a violation of said
subsection shall constitute a separate offense.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the penalty to
a felony for making a bomb threat.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)