ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 33
(By Senators Wiedebusch, Anderson, Dittmar, Grubb,
Holliday, Macnaughtan, Miller, Plymale, Ross,
Wagner, Wooton and Yoder)
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[Passed February 15, 1994; in effect from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact section fourteen, article eight,
chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the felony
offense of unlawfully disinterring or displacing a dead
human body or part thereof; the creation of the misdemeanor
offense of intentionally desecrating a cemetery, graveyard,
mausoleum or other designated human burial site; the
definition of desecration; and criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fourteen, article eight, chapter sixty-one of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. CRIMES AGAINST CHASTITY, MORALITY AND DECENCY.
§61-8-14. Disinterment or displacement of dead body or part
thereof; damage to cemetery or graveyard; penalties; damages
in civil action.
(a) Any person who unlawfully disinters or displaces a dead
human body, or any part of a dead human body, placed or deposited
in any vault, mausoleum or any temporary or permanent burial
place, is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be confined in the penitentiary or other suitable state
correctional facility for a determinate sentence of not less than
two nor more than five years.
(b) (1) Any person who intentionally desecrates any
cemetery, graveyard, mausoleum or other designated human burial
site is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not more than two thousand dollars, or confined in
jail not more than one year, or both fined and confined.
(2) For the purposes of this subsection, "desecrate" means
defacing, damaging or otherwise physically mistreating in a way
that a reasonable person knows will outrage the sensibilities of
persons likely to observe or discover his or her actions.