H. B. 2203
(By Delegates Perry and Stemple)
[Introduced January 16, 2007; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §17B-4-3 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to criminal penalties for driving
while license is suspended or revoked.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17B-4-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. VIOLATION OF LICENSE PROVISIONS.
§17B-4-3. Driving while license suspended or revoked; driving
while license revoked for driving under the
influence of alcohol, controlled substances or
drugs, or while having alcoholic concentration in
the blood of eight hundredths of one percent or
more, by weight, or for refusing to take secondary
chemical test of blood alcohol contents.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) or (d) of this section, any person who drives a motor vehicle on any public
highway of this state at a time when his or her privilege to do so
has been lawfully suspended or revoked by this state or any other
jurisdiction is, for the first offense, guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for a
period of twenty-four hours or fined not less than one hundred
dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or the amount of bond
required to be posted, or both fined and confined; for the second
offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be confined in a county or regional jail for a
period of ten days forty-eight hours and, in addition to the
mandatory jail sentence, shall be fined not less than one hundred
dollars nor more than five hundred dollars; for the third or any
subsequent offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be confined in a county or regional jail
for six months ninety days and, in addition to the mandatory jail
sentence, shall be fined not less than one hundred fifty dollars
nor more than five hundred dollars.
(b) Any person who drives a motor vehicle on any public
highway of this state at a time when his or her privilege to do so
has been lawfully revoked for driving under the influence of
alcohol, controlled substances or other drugs, or for driving while
having an alcoholic concentration in his or her blood of eight
hundredths of one percent or more, by weight, or for refusing to take a secondary chemical test of blood alcohol content, is, for
the first offense, guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be confined in a county or regional jail for six
months and in addition to the mandatory jail sentence, shall be
fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred
dollars; for the second offense, the person is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a
county or regional jail for a period of one year and, in addition
to the mandatory jail sentence, shall be fined not less than one
thousand dollars nor more than three thousand dollars; for the
third or any subsequent offense, the person is guilty of a felony
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a state
correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than
three years and, in addition to the mandatory prison sentence,
shall be fined not less than three thousand dollars nor more than
five thousand dollars.
(c) Upon receiving a record of the first or subsequent
conviction of any person under subsection (b) of this section upon
a charge of driving a vehicle while the license of such person was
lawfully suspended or revoked, the division shall extend the period
of such the suspension or revocation for an additional period of
one year from and after the date such the person would otherwise
have been entitled to apply for a new license. Upon receiving a
record of the second or subsequent conviction of any person under subsection (a) of this section upon a charge of driving a vehicle
while the license of such the person was lawfully suspended or
revoked, the division shall extend the period of such the
suspension or revocation for an additional period of one year from
and after the date such the person would otherwise have been
entitled to apply for a new license.
(d) Any person who drives a motor vehicle on any public
highway of this state at a time when his or her privilege to do so
has been lawfully suspended for driving while under the age of
twenty-one years with an alcohol concentration in his or her blood
of two hundredths of one percent or more, by weight, but less than
eight hundredths of one percent, by weight, is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a
county or regional jail for twenty-four hours or shall be fined not
less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or
both.
(e) An order for home detention by the court pursuant to the
provisions of article eleven-b, chapter sixty-two of this code may
be used as an alternative sentence to any period of incarceration
required by this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to alter the criminal
penalties for driving while license is suspended or revoked.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.