WEST virginia legislature

2021 regular session

Introduced

House Bill 2141

By Delegates D. Jeffries, McGeehan, Foster,  Hanna and Phillips

[Introduced February 10, 2021; Referred to the Committee on Education]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §18-9-9, relating to participation in school sports.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 9. SCHOOL FINANCES.

§18-9-9. School sports; requirements for participation in male and female sports; elimination of funding; sanctions for violations.

(a) Each elementary and secondary school in this state that receives any type of public funding from this state or a local government, or both, shall require, for an official or unofficial school-sanctioned athletic or sporting event, that each athlete participating in the athletic or sporting event participates with and competes against other athletes based on the athlete’s biological sex as indicated on the athlete's original birth certificate issued at the time of birth. A school shall not accept any birth certificate for purposes of participation in an athletic or sporting event that has been revised or amended with respect to the sex of an athlete: Provided, That persons of either biological sex may participate in official or unofficial school-sanctioned athletic or sporting events and programs designated for biological males, so long as the school has authorized biological females to participate in such male sports, and that reasonable accommodations for both biological sexes have been made for the purposes of locker room, shower and restroom privacy and usage.

(b) If an athlete’s original birth certificate issued at the time of birth does not designate a biological sex of male or female, then that athlete’s participation and/or competition in athletic or sporting events with and/or against other athletes must be established by a valid genetic test sampled from the applying athlete’s own bodily tissue, to establish whether the applying athlete’s chromosomal makeup is XX (female) or XY (male). The valid genetic testing required by this section must be conducted by a certified genetic testing provider. The valid genetic test of the applying athlete shall be paid for by the athlete or the athlete’s parent or guardian and provided by same to the school sponsoring the athletic program in which the applicant desires to participate. Any falsification or manipulation of the results of any athlete’s genetic testing shall result in revocation of the athlete’s participation and/or competition in any sport that is not consistent with the athlete’s genetic chromosomal makeup XX (female) or XY (male) and any party who intentionally furthers any such falsification may, in the discretion of the Attorney General, be subject to the same sanctions set forth in subsection (d) of this section.

(c) An elementary school or secondary school that violates subsection (a) is immediately ineligible to continue to receive public funds of any type from this state or a local government. If the department of education and a court of competent jurisdiction, through the issuance of a declaratory order, find that the school is in compliance with this section, public funding shall be restored.

(d) Sanctions for violation:

(1) The Attorney General shall bring a civil action in circuit court against a state or local official who willfully and intentionally commits an act that violates, or that is designed or intended to violate or frustrate, this section, and may bring a civil action in circuit court against any person who intentionally falsifies any genetic testing required by subsection (c) of this section. In conducting a trial under this subsection (d)(1), the court shall conduct the trial in the same manner as the court would conduct a criminal trial, and the official or person against whom the civil action is brought has the same rights as a person charged with a criminal offense for purposes of conducting the trial.

(2) The civil penalty for a violation of this section may not exceed $10,000.

(3) Upon a finding that a state or local official has willfully and intentionally committed an act that violates, or that is designed or intended to violate or frustrate this section, the office of the official is immediately vacated, and the former official is not eligible to hold public office or a position as a school administrator or principal for a period of five years.  Any person found to have intentionally falsified any genetic testing required by subsection (c) of this section shall likewise be ineligible to hold public office or a position as a school administrator or principal for a period of five years.

(e) As used in this section, “local official” includes a school administrator and principal.

(f) This section shall take effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to protect the integrity and competitive fairness of publicly funded school sports activities.

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