A BILL to repeal section seventeen, article three, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and reenact section six, article eight, chapter seventeen-a of said code; to amend and reenact section one, article two, chapter fifty of said code; to amend and reenact section eight, article four of said chapter; to amend and reenact sections twelve and thirteen, article five of said chapter; to amend and reenact sections thirteen, twenty-four, twenty-four-a, twenty-seven, thirty-four and thirty-nine, article three, chapter sixty-one of said code; and to amend and reenact section three, article three-a of said chapter, all relating to jurisdiction of magistrate courts and circuit courts; defining the offenses of injury or tampering with a vehicle or special mobile equipment and providing that offenses involving special mobile equipment may be either a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the dollar amount of any injury, damage, or breakage or removal of parts; prescribing the civil jurisdiction of magistrate courts and the authority of magistrate personnel to administer oaths or affirmations and take affidavits or depositions; providing for the transfer of civil actions to circuit court; providing for appeals in civil cases from magistrate court to circuit court; time periods, bonds, and fees for such appeals; limited record of magistrate proceedings; preparing and designating such records for appeal; circuit court discretion to schedule oral argument, receive memoranda of law, and take evidence; time frame for circuit court review of magistrate proceedings; appeals in criminal cases; time frames, bonds, and stays for such appeals; electronic recording of trials, designation of records, and preparation of transcripts of magistrate proceedings; discretion of circuit court to hear oral argument and receive evidence; distinguishing grand and petit larceny by dollar amounts and establishing penalties therefor; obtaining money, property, and services by false pretenses, disposing of property to defraud creditors, theft of services; distinguishing misdemeanor and felony offenses of false pretenses by dollar amounts and establishing penalties therefor; preserving existing rights, liabilities, and remedies for such offenses; defining offenses involving the attempted or fraudulent use, possession, forgery, and traffic of credit cards; possession and transfer of credit cards and credit card making equipment; false or fraudulent use of telephonic services; defining terminology related to credit card offenses; distinguishing misdemeanor and felony offenses involving the attempted or fraudulent use, possession, forgery, and traffic of credit cards by dollar amounts and establishing penalties for such offenses; defining the offenses of malicious killing of animals by poison or otherwise; distinguishing felony and misdemeanor offenses of malicious killing of animals by poison or otherwise by dollar amounts and establishing penalties therefor; defining offenses involving taking or carrying away or injuring or destroying fruit, vegetables, grain or grass; distinguishing felony or misdemeanor offenses of taking or carrying away or injuring or destroying fruit, vegetables, grain or grass and establishing penalties therefor; defining offenses involving obtaining property in return for worthless checks; liability of persons, firms, corporations, corporate officers, and corporate agents therefor; excluding checks where payee has notice or reason to believe insufficient funds exist; excluding postdated checks; not limiting prosecution for other criminal acts; distinguishing misdemeanor and felony offenses of obtaining property in return for worthless checks by dollar amounts and establishing penalties therefor; establishing penalties for shoplifting; preserving rights to recover stolen merchandise; and time period for calculating number of shoplifting convictions.

That section seventeen, article three, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be repealed; that section six, article eight, chapter seventeen-a of said code be amended and reenacted; that section one, article two, chapter fifty of said code be amended and reenacted; that section eight, article four of said chapter be amended and reenacted; that sections twelve and thirteen, article five of said chapter be amended and reenacted; that sections thirteen, twenty-four, twenty-four-a, twenty-seven, thirty-four and thirty-nine of article three, chapter sixty-one of said code be amended and reenacted; and that section three, article three-a of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:

(a) Any person who either individually or in association with one or more persons willfully injures or tampers with any vehicle or breaks or removes any part or parts of or from a vehicle without the consent of the owner is guilty of a misdemeanor.

At any time before trial in a civil action involving less than three hundred dollars the action may be removed to circuit court upon the concurrence of all parties and upon the payment of the circuit court filing fee. At any time before trial in a civil action involving three hundred dollars or more, any party may, upon payment of the circuit court filing fee, cause such action to be removed to the circuit court. All appropriate documents shall then be forwarded along with such fee to the clerk of the circuit court. The matter shall then be heard by the circuit court.

(a) Any person may appeal the judgment of a magistrate court to the circuit court as a matter of right by requesting such appeal not later than twenty days after such judgment is rendered or not later than twenty days after a decision is rendered upon a motion to set aside such judgment. Such person shall be required to post a bond with good security in a reasonable amount not less than the reasonable court costs of the appeal nor more than the sum of the judgment and the reasonable court costs of the appeal, upon the condition that such person will satisfy the judgment and any court costs which may be rendered against him on any such appeal. The circuit court filing fee shall be collected by the magistrate court clerk or deputy clerk at the time the appeal is requested, which said fee shall be forwarded to the clerk of the circuit court along with other appropriate documents regarding the appeal. No bond shall be required of any governmental agency or authority or of a person who has filed an affidavit pursuant to been permitted to proceed without prepayment in accordance with the provisions of section one, article two, chapter fifty-nine of this code. If no appeal is perfected within such twenty-day period, the circuit court of the county may, not later than ninety days after the date of judgment, grant an appeal upon a showing of good cause why such appeal was not perfected within such twenty-day period. The filing or granting of an appeal shall automatically stay further proceedings to enforce the judgment.

(a) If any a person commits simple larceny of goods or chattels of the value of two hundred one thousand dollars or more, such person shall be is guilty of a felony, designated grand larceny, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined imprisoned in a the penitentiary not less than one nor more than ten years, or, in the discretion of the court, be confined in the county jail not more than one year and shall be fined not more than two thousand five hundred dollars.

(a) (1) If any a person obtain obtains from another by any false pretense, token or representation, with intent to defraud, any money, goods or other property which may be the subject of larceny,; or

(a) As used in this section:

If any a person shall enter enters the orchard, field, garden or market garden of another person, without the consent of the owner or occupier thereof, and shall do does any damage to the fruit, vegetables, grain or grass growing or being thereon, or shall take, carry away, injure or destroy takes, carries away, injures or destroys any of the grain, fruit, grass or vegetables growing or being thereon, he shall be the person is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be fined not less than five more than five hundred dollars, or confined in jail not exceeding six months, or both,. in the discretion of the court. If any a person commit commits any of the acts mentioned herein, and it be if it is charged in the indictment or information and proven proved that the property injured or destroyed, or taken or carried away, be of is of a greater value than fifty one thousand dollars, the offender shall be person is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, confined shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than two years. one year nor more than ten years, or, in the discretion of the court, be confined in jail not more than one year and fined not less than fifty nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars.

It shall be is unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to obtain any money, services, goods or other property or thing of value by means of a check, draft or order for the payment of money or its equivalent upon any bank or other depository, knowing at the time of the making, drawing, issuing, uttering or delivering of such the check, draft or order that there is not sufficient funds on deposit in or credit with such bank or other depository with which to pay the same upon presentation. The making, drawing, issuing, uttering or delivery of any such check, draft or order, for or on behalf of any corporation, or its name, by any officer or agent of such corporation, shall subject such officer or agent to the penalties of this section to the same extent as though such check, draft or order was his own personal act, when such agent or officer knows that such corporation does not have sufficient funds on deposit in or credit with such bank or depository from which such check, draft or order can legally be paid upon presentment.

A person convicted of shoplifting shall be punished as follows: