Senate Bill No. 495

(By Senators Bailey, Hunter, Bowman, McKenzie, Love, Dempsey and Jenkins)

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[Introduced March 9, 2005; referred to the Committee

on the Judiciary.]

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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §61-3-9, relating to establishing the crime of wanton endangerment involving the use of fire; and providing a penalty.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §61-3-9, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY.
§61-3-9. Wanton endangerment involving the use of fire; penalty.
Any person who wantonly performs any act with the use of fire which creates substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to another is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be committed to the custody of the Division of Corrections for not less than two years nor more than ten years or fined not more than ten thousand dollars or both.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish the crime of wanton endangerment involving the use of fire; and to provide a penalty.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.