H. B. 2100
(By Delegate Hamilton)
[Introduced January 9, 2008; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §17-19-13a, relating
to prohibiting charitable organizations from soliciting
contributions on public highways; and prescribing criminal
penalties for violations.
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 §17-19-13a, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 19. GENERAL CRIMINAL PROVISIONS.
§17-19-13a. Prohibiting solicitation by charitable organizations
on public highways; penalties.
(a) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Charitable organization" means a person who is or holds itself out to be a benevolent, educational, philanthropic, humane,
patriotic, religious or eleemosynary organization, or any person
who solicits or obtains contributions solicited from the public for
charitable purposes, or any person who in any manner employs any
appeal for contributions which may be reasonably interpreted to
suggest that any part of such contributions will be used for
charitable purposes.
(2) "Contribution" means the promise or grant of any money or
property of any kind or value.
(3) "Solicit" and "solicitation" means the request or appeal,
directly or indirectly, for any contribution on the plea or
representation that such contribution will be used for a charitable
purpose, including, without limitation, the following methods of
requesting such contribution:
(A) Any oral or written request;
(B) Any announcement to the press, over the radio or
television, or by telephone or telegraph, concerning an appeal or
campaign to which the public is requested to make a contribution
for any charitable purpose connected therewith;
(C) The distribution, circulation, posting or publishing of
any handbill, written advertisement or other publication which
directly or by implication seeks to obtain public support; or
(D) The sale of, offer or attempt to sell, any advertisement,
advertising space, subscription, ticket or any service or tangible item in connection with which any appeal is made for any charitable
purpose or where the name of any charitable or civic organization
is used or referred to in any such appeal as an inducement or
reason for making any such sale, or when or where in connection
with any such sale, any statement is made that the whole or any
part of the proceeds from any such sale will be donated to any
charitable purpose.
"Solicitation," as defined herein, shall be deemed to occur
when the request is made, at the place the request is received,
whether or not the person making the same actually receives any
contribution.
(b) No person may approach a motor vehicle on a public highway
with a federal or state highway designation for the purpose of
soliciting a contribution from the occupant of the motor vehicle on
behalf of a charitable organization.
(c) A person violating the provisions of this section shall be
issued a warning citation upon a first offense, and the name of the
charitable organization conducting the solicitation shall be
forwarded to the Secretary of State for investigation to determine
whether the charitable organization is properly registered and in
compliance with the provisions of article nineteen, chapter
twenty-nine of this code, and the name of the charitable
organization shall also be forwarded to the Department of Revenue
for investigation to determine whether the charitable organization is in compliance with state tax laws. Upon a second or subsequent
violation of the provisions of this section, a person is guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit charitable
organizations from soliciting contributions on public highways and
providing a penalty for violation.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.