H. B. 2844
(By Delegates Boggs, M. Poling, Paxton, Martin,
Stemple, Tucker, Proudfoot, Perry and Hrutkay)
[Introduced February 5, 2007; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §61-2-10b of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to malicious assault, unlawful
assault, battery and recidivism of battery on a police
officer; including malicious assault, unlawful assault,
battery and recidivism of battery on a Public Service
Commission enforcement officer as a crime; and providing
criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-2-10b of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
§61-2-10b. Malicious assault; unlawful assault; battery and
recidivism of battery; assault on police officers,
conservation officers, probation officers, humane
officers, emergency medical service personnel,
firefighters, fire marshal, Division of Forestry
employees, motor carrier inspectors and enforcement officers and county or state correctional
employees; penalties.
(a)
Malicious assault. -- Any person who maliciously shoots,
stabs, cuts or wounds or by any means causes bodily injury with
intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill a police officer,
probation officer, conservation officer, humane officer, emergency
medical service personnel, firefighter, State Fire Marshal or
employee, Division of Forestry employee, county correctional
employee or state correctional employee, employee of an urban mass
transportation system or Public Service Commission motor carrier
inspector
and enforcement officer acting in his or her official
capacity and the person committing the malicious assault knows or
has reason to know that the victim is a police officer, probation
officer, conservation officer, humane officer, emergency medical
service personnel, firefighter, State Fire Marshal or employee,
Division of Forestry employee, county correctional employee, state
correctional employee, employee of an urban mass transportation
system or Public Service Commission motor carrier inspector
and
enforcement officer acting in his or her official capacity is
guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined
in a
state correctional facility for not less than three nor more
than fifteen years.
(b)
Unlawful assault. -- Any person who unlawfully but not
maliciously shoots, stabs, cuts or wounds or by any means causes a
police officer, probation officer, conservation officer, humane
officer, emergency medical service personnel, firefighter, State Fire Marshal or employee, Division of Forestry employee, county
correctional employee or state correctional employee, employee of
an urban mass transportation system or Public Service Commission
motor carrier inspector
and enforcement officer acting in his or
her official capacity bodily injury with intent to maim, disfigure,
disable or kill him or her and the person committing the unlawful
assault knows or has reason to know that the victim is a police
officer, probation officer, conservation officer, humane officer,
emergency medical service personnel, firefighter, State Fire
Marshal or employee, Division of Forestry employee, county
correctional employee, state correctional employee, employee of an
urban mass transportation system or Public Service Commission motor
carrier inspector
and enforcement officer acting in his or her
official capacity is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be confined in a
state correctional facility for not
less than two nor more than five years.
(c)
Battery. -- Any person who unlawfully, knowingly and
intentionally makes physical contact of an insulting or provoking
nature with a police officer, probation officer, conservation
officer, humane officer, emergency medical service personnel,
firefighter, State Fire Marshal or employee, Division of Forestry
employee, county correctional employee, state correctional
employee, employee of a mass transportation system or Public
Service Commission motor carrier inspector
and enforcement officer
acting in his or her official capacity, or unlawfully and
intentionally causes physical harm to a police officer, probation officer, conservation officer, humane officer, emergency medical
service personnel, firefighter, State Fire Marshal or employee,
Division of Forestry employee, county correctional employee, state
correctional employee, employee of an urban mass transportation
system or a Public Service Commission motor carrier inspector
and
enforcement officer acting in such capacity, is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail
for not less than one month nor more than twelve months, fined the
sum of five hundred dollars, or both. If any person commits a
second such offense, he or she is guilty of a felony and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be confined in a
state correctional
facility for not less than one year nor more than three years or
fined the sum of one thousand dollars or both fined and confined.
Any person who commits a third violation of this subsection is
guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined
in a
state correctional facility not less than two years nor more
than five years or fined not more than two thousand dollars or both
fined and confined.
(d)
Assault. -- Any person who unlawfully attempts to commit
a violent injury to the person of a police officer, probation
officer, conservation officer, humane officer, emergency medical
service personnel, firefighter, State Fire Marshal or employee,
Division of Forestry employee, county correctional employee, state
correctional employee, employee of a mass transportation system or
Public Service Commission motor carrier inspector
and enforcement
officer acting in his or her official capacity, or unlawfully commits an act which places a police officer, probation officer,
conservation officer, humane officer, emergency medical service
personnel, firefighter, Division of Forestry employee, county
correctional employee or state correctional employee, employee of
a mass transportation system or Public Service Commission motor
carrier inspector
and enforcement officer acting in his or her
official capacity in reasonable apprehension of immediately
receiving a violent injury, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for not less than
twenty-four hours nor more than six months, fined not more than two
hundred dollars, or both fined and confined.
(e) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Police officer" means any person employed by the State
Police, any person employed by the state to perform law-enforcement
duties, any person employed by a political subdivision of this
state who is responsible for the prevention or detection of crime
and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of this
state or employed as a special police officer as defined in section
forty-one, article three of this chapter.
(2) "Employee of an urban mass transportation system" means
any person employed by an urban mass transportation system as such
is defined in section three, article twenty-seven, chapter eight of
this code or by a system that receives federal transit
administration funding under 49 U.S.C. §5307 or §5311.
(3) "Division of Forestry employee" means an officer, agent,
employee or servant, whether full-time or not, of the Division of Forestry.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to include malicious
assault, unlawful assault, battery and recidivism of battery on a
Public Service Commission enforcement officer as a crime and to
provide criminal penalties.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.