ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B.4604
(By Delegates
Armstead, Miley, Iaquinta,
Walters, Fragale, Skaff, Cann and Lane
)
[Passed March 13, 2010; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT
to amend and reenact §61-5-17 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to increasing the criminal
penalties for crimes against law enforcement, probation and
parole officers; establishing crime for disarming or
attempting to disarm probation and parole officers;
establishing new crime for reckless fleeing from law-
enforcement officers and parole and probation officers;
increasing penalties for fleeing or attempting to flee in a
vehicle; increasing penalties for fleeing or attempting to
flee in a vehicle causing property damage; increasing
penalties for fleeing or attempting to flee in a vehicle
causing injury; increasing penalties for fleeing or attempting
to flee in a vehicle causing death; and designating this act
as the "Jerry Alan Jones Act."
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-5-17 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC JUSTICE.
§61-5-17. Obstructing officer; fleeing from officer; making false
statements to officer; penalties; definitions.
(a) Any person who by threats, menaces, acts or otherwise,
forcibly or illegally hinders or obstructs, or attempts to hinder
or obstruct, any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or
parole officer acting in his or her official capacity is guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than $50 nor more than $500 or confined in jail not more than one
year, or both fined and confined.
(b) Any person who intentionally disarms or attempts to disarm
any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer,
acting in his or her official capacity, is guilty of a felony and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a state
correctional facility not less than one nor more than five years.
(c) Any person who, with intent to impede or obstruct a
law-enforcement officer in the conduct of an investigation of a
felony offense, knowingly and willfully makes a materially false
statement, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not less than $25 and not more than$200, or confined
in jail for five days, or both fined or confined. However, the
provisions of this section do not apply to statements made by a
spouse, parent, stepparent, grandparent, sibling, half-sibling,
child, stepchild or grandchild, whether related by blood or marriage, of the person under investigation. Statements made by the
person under investigation may not be used as the basis for
prosecution under this subsection. For the purposes of this
subsection, "law-enforcement officer" does not include a watchman,
a member of the West Virginia State Police or college security
personnel who is not a certified law-enforcement officer.
(d) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee by
any means other than the use of a vehicle from any law-enforcement
officer, probation officer or parole officer acting in his or her
official capacity who is attempting to make a lawful arrest of the
person, and who knows or reasonably believes that the officer is
attempting to arrest him or her, is guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $50 nor more
than $500 or confined in jail not more than one year, or both.
(e) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in
a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or
parole officer acting in his or her official capacity, after the
officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the
person to stop, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 and
shall be imprisoned in confined in a regional jail nor more than
one year, or both.
(f) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in
a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or
parole officer acting in his or her official capacity, after the officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the
person to stop, and who operates the vehicle in a manner showing a
reckless indifference to the safety of others, is guilty of a
felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than
$1,000 nor more than $2,000, and shall be imprisoned in a state
correctional facility not less than one nor more than five years.
(g) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in
a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or
parole officer acting in his or her official capacity, after the
officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the
person to stop, and who causes damage to the real or personal
property of any person during or resulting from his or her flight,
is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than $1,000 nor more than $3,000 and shall be
confined in the county or regional jail for not less than six
months nor more than one year.
(h) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in
a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or
parole officer acting in his or her official capacity, after the
officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the
person to stop, and who causes bodily injury to any person during
or resulting from his or her flight, is guilty of a felony and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a state
correctional facility not less than three nor more than ten years.
(i) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or
parole officer acting in his or her official capacity, after the
officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the
person to stop, and who causes death to any person during or
resulting from his or her flight, is guilty of a felony and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be punished by a definite term of
imprisonment in a state correctional facility which is not less
than five nor more than fifteen years. A person imprisoned
pursuant to the provisions of this subsection is not eligible for
parole prior to having served a minimum of three years of his or
her sentence or the minimum period required by the provisions of
section thirteen, article twelve, chapter sixty-two of this code,
whichever is greater.
(j) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in
a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or
parole officer acting in his or her official capacity, after the
officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the
person to stop, and who is under the influence of alcohol,
controlled substances or drugs at the time, is guilty of a felony
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a state
correctional facility not less than three nor more than ten years.
(k) For purposes of this section, the term "vehicle" includes
any motor vehicle, motorcycle, motorboat, all-terrain vehicle or
snowmobile, as those terms are defined in section one, article one,
chapter seventeen-a of this code, whether or not it is being operated on a public highway at the time and whether or not it is
licensed by the state.
(l) For purposes of this section, the terms "flee," "fleeing"
and "flight" do not include any person's reasonable attempt to
travel to a safe place, allowing the pursuing law-enforcement
officer to maintain appropriate surveillance, for the purpose of
complying with the officer's direction to stop.
(m) The revisions to subsections (e), (f), (g) and (h) of this
article enacted during the Regular Session of the 2010 Regular
Legislative Session shall be known as the "Jerry Alan Jones Act."