H. B. 4223
(By Delegates
Klempa, Hutchins, Schoen, Ferro,
Hamilton, Ennis, Brown, Varner,
Ellem, Pethtel and Caputo
)
[Introduced January 28, 2010; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §17C-12-7 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §60A-4-406 of said
code, all relating to increasing the safety of school children
that use school buses; increasing the criminal penalties for
failure to stop a vehicle before reaching a school bus with
flashing warning signal lights, and providing additional
circumstances which increase the periods of ineligibility for
parole upon sentences for certain felony convictions for the
distribution of controlled substances in the proximity of
students awaiting, boarding or exiting a school bus.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17C-12-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §60A-4-406 be amended and
reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 17C. TRAFFIC REGULATIONS AND LAWS OF THE ROAD.
ARTICLE 12. SPECIAL STOPS REQUIRED.
§17C-12-7. Overtaking and passing school bus; penalties; signs and
warning lights upon buses; removal of warning lights,
lettering, etc., upon sale of buses; highways with
separate roadways; limitation on idling.
(a) The driver of a vehicle, upon meeting or overtaking from
either direction any school bus which has stopped for the purpose
of receiving or discharging any school children, shall stop the
vehicle before reaching the school bus when there is in operation
on the school bus flashing warning signal lights, as referred to in
section eight of this article, and the driver shall not proceed
until the school bus resumes motion, or is signaled by the school
bus driver to proceed or the visual signals are no longer actuated.
This section applies wherever the school bus is receiving or
discharging children including, but not limited to, any street,
highway, parking lot, private road or driveway:
Provided, That the
driver of a vehicle upon a controlled access highway need not stop
upon meeting or passing a school bus which is on a different
roadway or adjacent to the highway and where pedestrians are not
permitted to cross the roadway. Any driver acting in violation of
this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction,
shall be fined not less than
fifty $150 nor more than
two hundred
dollars $500, or
imprisoned confined in
the county jail not more
than six months, or both fined and imprisoned. If the identity of
the driver cannot be ascertained, then any owner or lessee of the vehicle in violation of this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction, shall be fined not less than
twenty-five $50
nor more than
one hundred dollars $200. The conviction
shall
does not subject the owner or lessee to further administrative or
other penalties for the offense, notwithstanding other provisions
of this code to the contrary.
(b) Every bus used for the transportation of school children
shall bear upon the front and rear of the bus a plainly visible
sign containing the words "school bus" in letters not less than
eight inches in height. When a contract school bus is being
operated upon a highway for purposes other than the actual
transportation of children either to or from school, all markings
on the contract school bus indicating "school bus" shall be covered
or concealed. Any school bus sold or transferred to another owner
by a county board of education, agency or individual shall have all
flashing warning lights disconnected and all lettering removed or
permanently obscured, except when sold or transferred for the
transportation of school children.
(c) The State Board of Education shall write a policy
governing the idling of school buses.
CHAPTER 60A. UNIFORM CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT.
ARTICLE 4. OFFENSES AND PENALTIES.
§60A-4-406. Distribution to persons under the age of 18 eighteen
years by persons over the age of 21 twenty-one years; distribution by persons 18 eighteen years of
age or over in or on, or within 1,000 one thousand
feet of, school or college or within 100 one hundred
feet of students awaiting, boarding or exiting a
school bus; increasing mandatory period of
incarceration prior to parole eligibility.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
a person is ineligible for parole for a period of three years if he
or she is sentenced to the custody of the commissioner of
corrections for service of a sentence of incarceration and is
convicted of a felony violation under the provisions of subdivision
(i), subsection (a), section four hundred one of this article for
distribution of a controlled substance and:
(1) Is twenty-one years of age or older at the time of the
distribution upon which the conviction is based, and the person to
whom the controlled substance was distributed was under the age of
18 eighteen years at the time of the distribution; or
(2) Is eighteen years of age or older and the distribution upon
which the conviction is based occurred in or on, or within one
thousand feet of, the real property comprising a public or private
elementary, vocational or secondary school or a public or private
college, junior college or university in this state,
or within the
first one hundred feet within the view of students awaiting,
boarding or exiting a school bus, excluding the interior of all buildings except school bus stop shelters. For purposes of this
subsection, "School bus" means a commercial motor vehicle used to
transport preprimary, primary, or secondary school students from
home-to-school, from school-to-home, or to and from school sponsored
events. School bus does not include a bus used as a common carrier.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
a person is ineligible for parole for a period of two years if he
or she is sentenced to the custody of the Commissioner of
Corrections for service of a sentence of incarceration and is
convicted of a felony violation under the provisions of subdivision
(ii), subsection (a), section four hundred one of this article for
distribution of a controlled substance and:
(1) Is twenty-one years of age or older at the time of the
distribution upon which the conviction is based, and the person to
whom the controlled substance was distributed was under the age of
18 eighteen years at the time of the distribution; or
(2) Is eighteen years of age or older and the distribution upon
which the conviction is based occurred in or on, or within one
thousand feet of, the real property comprising a public or private
elementary, vocational or secondary school or a public or private
college, junior college or university in this state,
or within the
first one hundred feet within the view of students awaiting,
boarding or exiting a school bus, excluding the interior of all
buildings except school bus stop shelters. For purposes of this
subsection, "School bus" means a commercial motor vehicle used to transport preprimary, primary, or secondary school students from
home-to-school, from school-to-home, or to and from school sponsored
events. School bus does not include a bus used as a common carrier.
(c) The existence of any fact which would make any person
subject to the provisions of this section may not be considered
unless the fact is clearly stated and included in the indictment or
presentment by which the person is charged and is either:
(1) Found by the court upon a plea of guilty or nolo
contendere;
(2) Found by the jury, if the matter be tried before a jury,
upon submission to the jury of a special interrogatory for such
purpose; or
(3) Found by the court, if the matter be tried by the court
without a jury.
(d) Nothing in this section
shall may be construed to limit the
sentencing alternatives made available to circuit court judges under
other provisions of this code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the safety of
school children that use school buses by increasing criminal
penalties for failure to stop a vehicle before reaching a school bus
with flashing warning lights and by providing additional
circumstances which increase the periods of ineligibility for people
for certain felony convictions for the distribution of controlled
substances in the proximity of students waiting, boarding or exiting
a school bus.
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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