Senate Bill No. 48
(By Senator Ross and Love)
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[Introduced January 9, 2002; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections eleven-a and fourteen,
article seven, chapter sixty-one of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
all relating to permitting probation officers to carry
weapons on private property and in courthouses.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections eleven-a and fourteen, article seven, chapter
sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. DANGEROUS WEAPONS.
§61-7-11a. Possessing deadly weapons on premises of educational
facilities; reports by school principals;
suspension of driver license; possessing deadly weapons on premises housing courts of law and in
family court offices.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds that the safety and welfare
of the citizens of this state are inextricably dependent upon
assurances of safety for children attending, and the persons
employed by, schools in this state and for those persons
employed with the judicial department of this state. It is for
the purpose of providing such assurances of safety, therefore,
that subsections (b), (g) and (h) of this section are enacted as
a reasonable regulation of the manner in which citizens may
exercise those rights accorded to them pursuant to section
twenty-two, article three of the constitution of the state of
West Virginia.
(b) (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any
firearm or any other deadly weapon on any school bus as defined
in section one, article one, chapter seventeen-a of this code or
in or on any public or private primary or secondary education
building, structure, facility or grounds thereof, including any
vocational education building, structure, facility or grounds
thereof where secondary vocational education programs are
conducted or at any school-sponsored function.
(2) This subsection shall not apply to:
(A) A law-enforcement officer acting in his or her official capacity;
(B) A person specifically authorized by the board of
education of the county or principal of the school where the
property is located to conduct programs with valid educational
purposes;
(C) A person who, as otherwise permitted by the provisions
of this article, possesses an unloaded firearm or deadly weapon
in a motor vehicle or leaves an unloaded firearm or deadly
weapon in a locked motor vehicle;
(D) Programs or raffles conducted with the approval of the
county board of education or school which include the display of
unloaded firearms; or
(E) The official mascot of West Virginia university,
commonly known as "The Mountaineer", acting in his or her
official capacity.
(3) Any person violating this subsection shall be is guilty
of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned
confined in the penitentiary of this state a state correctional
facility for a definite term of years of not less than two years
nor more than ten years or fined not more than five thousand
dollars, or both fined and confined.
(c) It shall be the duty of the principal of each school
subject to the authority of the state board of education to report any violation of subsection (b) of this section
discovered by such principal to the state superintendent of
schools within seventy-two hours after such violation occurs.
The state board of education shall keep and maintain such
reports and may prescribe rules establishing policy and
procedures for the making and delivery of the same as required
by this subsection. In addition, it shall be the duty of the
principal of each school subject to the authority of the state
board of education to report any violation of subsection (b) of
this section discovered by such principal to the appropriate
local office of the division of public safety within seventy-two
hours after such violation occurs.
(d) In addition to the methods of disposition provided by
article five, chapter forty-nine of this code, any court which
adjudicates a person who is fourteen years of age or older as
delinquent for a violation of subsection (b) of this section
may, in its discretion, order the division of motor vehicles to
suspend any driver's license or instruction permit issued to
such person for such period of time as the court may deem
appropriate, such suspension, however, not to extend beyond such
person's nineteenth birthday; or, where such person has not been
issued a driver's license or instruction permit by this state,
order the division of motor vehicles to deny such person's application for the same for such period of time as the court
may deem appropriate, such denial, however, not to extend beyond
such person's nineteenth birthday. Any suspension ordered by
the court pursuant to this subsection shall be effective upon
the date of entry of such order. Where the court orders the
suspension of a driver's license or instruction permit pursuant
to this subsection, the court shall confiscate any driver's
license or instruction permit in the adjudicated person's
possession and forward the same to the division of motor
vehicles.
(e) (1) If a person eighteen years of age or older is
convicted of violating subsection (b) of this section and if
such person does not act to appeal such conviction within the
time periods described in subdivision (2) of this subsection,
such person's license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle in
this state shall be revoked in accordance with the provisions of
this section.
(2) The clerk of the court in which the person is convicted
as described in subdivision (1) of this subsection shall forward
to the commissioner a transcript of the judgment of conviction.
If the conviction is the judgment of a magistrate court, the
magistrate court clerk shall forward such transcript when the
person convicted has not requested an appeal within twenty days of the sentencing for such conviction. If the conviction is the
judgment of a circuit court, the circuit clerk shall forward
such transcript when the person convicted has not filed a notice
of intent to file a petition for appeal or writ of error within
thirty days after the judgment was entered.
(3) If, upon examination of the transcript of the judgment
of conviction, the commissioner shall determine that the person
was convicted as described in subdivision (1) of this
subsection, the commissioner shall make and enter an order
revoking such person's license or privilege to operate a motor
vehicle in this state for a period of one year or, in the event
the person is a student enrolled in a secondary school, for a
period of one year or until the person's twentieth birthday,
whichever is the greater period. The order shall contain the
reasons for the revocation and the revocation period. The order
of suspension shall advise the person that because of the
receipt of the court's transcript, a presumption exists that the
person named in the order of suspension is the same person named
in the transcript. The commissioner may grant an administrative
hearing which substantially complies with the requirements of
the provisions of section two, article five-a, chapter
seventeen-c of this code upon a preliminary showing that a
possibility exists that the person named in the notice of conviction is not the same person whose license is being
suspended. Such request for hearing shall be made within ten
days after receipt of a copy of the order of suspension. The
sole purpose of this hearing shall be for the person requesting
the hearing to present evidence that he or she is not the person
named in the notice. In the event the commissioner grants an
administrative hearing, the commissioner shall stay the license
suspension pending the commissioner's order resulting from the
hearing.
(4) For the purposes of this subsection, a person is
convicted when such person enters a plea of guilty or is found
guilty by a court or jury.
(f) (1) It shall be is unlawful for any parents parent,
guardians guardian or custodians custodian of a person less than
eighteen years of age minor who knows that said person minor is
in violation of subsection (b) of this section, or who has
reasonable cause to believe that said person's minor's violation
of said subsection is imminent, to fail to immediately report
such knowledge or belief to the appropriate school or
law-enforcement officials.
(2) Any person violating this subsection shall be is guilty
of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined
not more than one thousand dollars or shall be confined in the county or regional jail not more than one year, or both fined
and confined.
(g) (1) It shall be is unlawful for any person to possess
any firearm or any other deadly weapon on any premises which
houses a court of law or in the offices of a family law master
court judge.
(2) This subsection shall not apply to:
(A) A law-enforcement officer acting in his or her official
capacity;
(B) A probation officer entering or exiting his or her
office located in a courthouse; and
(C) A person exempted from the provisions of this subsection
by order of record entered by a court with jurisdiction over
such premises or offices.
(3) Any person violating this subsection shall be is guilty
of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined
not more than one thousand dollars or shall be confined in a
county or regional jail not more than one year, or both fined
and confined.
(h) (1) It shall be is unlawful for any person to possess
any firearm or any other deadly weapon on any premises which
houses a court of law or in the offices of a family law master
with the intent to commit a crime.
(2) Any person violating this subsection shall be is guilty
of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned
confined in the penitentiary of this state a state correctional
facility for a definite term of years of not less than two years
nor more than ten years or fined not more than five thousand
dollars, or both fined and confined.
(i) Nothing in this section may be construed to be in
conflict with the provisions of federal law.
§61-7-14. Right of certain persons to limit possession of
firearms on premises.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this article, any owner,
lessee or other person charged with the care, custody and
control of real property may prohibit the carrying openly or
concealing of any firearm or deadly weapon on property under his
or her domain: Provided, That, for purposes of this section,
"person" means an individual or any entity which may acquire
title to real property.
Any person carrying or possessing a firearm or other deadly
weapon on the property of another who refuses to temporarily
relinquish possession of such firearm or other deadly weapon,
upon being requested to do so, or to leave such premises while
in possession of such firearm or other deadly weapon, shall be
is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars or confined in the
county or regional jail not more than six months, or both fined
and confined: Provided, That the provisions of this section
shall not apply to those persons set forth in subsections (3)
through (6) (7), inclusive, of section six of this code article
while such persons are acting in an official capacity:
Provided, however, That under no circumstances may any person
possess or carry or cause the possession or carrying of any
firearm or other deadly weapon on the premises of any primary or
secondary educational facility in this state unless such person
is a law-enforcement officer or he or she has the express
written permission of the county school superintendent.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt probation
officers from the prohibitions against the carrying of weapons
in courthouses and upon private property in the conduct of
official business.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
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