COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2865
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegates Browning, Staton,
Beane, H. White, Stalnaker and G. White)
(Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary)
[February 14, 2003]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections twenty-nine and thirty,
article three, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating
to crimes against property; increasing penalties for removing,
injuring or destroying property; and increasing penalties for
damaging or destroying real or personal property owned by a
railroad company or public utility or any real or personal
property used for producing, generating, transmitting,
distributing, treating or collecting electricity, natural gas,
water, wastewater, stormwater, telecommunications or cable
television.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections twenty-nine and thirty, article three, 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 3. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY.
§61-3-29. Injuries to railroad or public utility company
property, or real or personal property
used for
producing, generating, transmitting, distributing,
treating or collecting electricity, natural gas,
water, wastewater, stormwater, telecommunications or
cable television; penalties; restitution.
(a) Any person who shall wilfully or maliciously destroy or
injure any of the wires, poles, insulators, or other willfully and
maliciously damages or destroys any real or personal property
belonging to any telephone, telegraph or owned by a railroad
company, or any public utility company, or any real or personal
property used for producing, generating, transmitting,
distributing, treating or collecting electricity, natural gas,
water, wastewater, stormwater, telecommunications or cable
television, shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in the county jail not
exceeding twelve months, and be fined not exceeding five hundred
dollars, at the discretion of the court more than two thousand
dollars, or confined in the county or regional jail not more than
one year, or both fined and imprisoned.
(b) Any person who willfully and maliciously damages or
destroys any real or personal property owned by a railroad company
or public utility company, or any real or personal property used
for producing, generating, transmitting, distributing, treating or
collecting electricity, natural gas, water, wastewater, stormwater, telecommunications or cable television, and the nature and extent
of the damage which that person intended to cause is likely to
create a direct or indirect threat of death or serious injury or
does in fact result in death or serious injury, the person is
guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
less than five thousand dollars nor more than fifty thousand
dollars, or imprisoned in a state correctional facility not less
than one nor more than five years, or both fined and imprisoned.
(c) In addition to the penalties set forth in subsections
(a)and (b) of this section, the court may order the person so
convicted to pay restitution to the owner of the property damaged
or destroyed in an amount sufficient to cover the cost of repair or
replacement of the property, including necessary environmental
mitigation.
(d) Nothing in this section may be interpreted to limit or
restrict the ability of the property owner or any other person who
has been damaged or injured as a result of such willful and
malicious acts from seeking full recovery for all resulting damages
and injuries from the responsible party or parties by civil action.
§61-3-30. Removal, injury to or destruction of property, monuments
designating land boundaries and of certain no
trespassing signs; penalties.
(a) If any person unlawfully, but not feloniously, take and
carry away, or destroy, injure or deface takes and carries away, or
destroys, injures or defaces any property, real or personal, not his or her own, he or she shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than five hundred
dollars, or imprisoned in the county or regional jail not more than
one year, or both fined and imprisoned.
(b) Any person who unlawfully and feloniously, willfully and
intentionally destroys, injures or defaces property not his or her
own, causing damage, destruction or diminution in the value of the
property in an amount of twenty-five hundred dollars or more, is
guilty of the felony offense of destruction of property and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a state correctional
facility for not less than one year nor more than ten years, or in
the discretion of the court, be confined in a county or regional
jail not more than one year, and shall be fined not more than
twenty-five hundred dollars, or both fined and imprisoned.
(c) If any person shall break down, destroy, injure, deface or
remove breaks down, destroys, injures, defaces or removes any
monument erected for the purpose of designating the boundaries of
a municipality, tract or lot of land, or any tree marked for that
purpose, or any sign or notice upon private property designating no
trespassing upon such the property, except signs or notices posted
in accordance with the provisions and purposes of sections seven,
eight and ten, article two, chapter twenty of this code, he or she
shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not less than twenty dollars nor more than two
hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the county or regional jail not less than one nor more than six months, or both fined and
imprisoned. Justices of the peace and magistrates shall
Magistrates have concurrent jurisdiction of all offenses arising
under the provisions of this section. The provisions of this
paragraph shall do not apply to the owner, or his or her agent, of
the lands on which such signs or notices are posted.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
Email
Webmaster | © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **
