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Introduced Version House Bill 2340 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted


H. B. 2340


(By Delegates Proudfoot and Amores)

[Introduced February 20, 2001 ; referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary.]





A BILL to amend and reenact section one-b, article six, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the offense of disturbing the peace; providing new elements and locations in which disturbing the peace may occur; removing the prior notice requirement before a person can be so charged; and modifying definitions.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That section one-b, article six, 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 6. CRIMES AGAINST THE PEACE.

§61-6-1b. Disorderly conduct; penalty.

(a) Any person who, in a public place, a mobile home park, a public parking area, a common area of an apartment building or dormitory, or a common area of a privately owned commercial shopping center, mall or other group of commercial retail establishments, disturbs the peace of others by violent, profane, indecent or boisterous conduct or language or by making loud or unreasonable noise or conduct in a private place which can be heard in a public or other private place, and which interferes unreasonably with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property, or by the making of unreasonably loud noise that is intended to cause annoyance or alarm to another person, and who persists in such conduct after being requested to desist by a law-enforcement officer acting in his lawful capacity, is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars.
(b) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Mobile home park" means a privately-owned residential housing area or subdivision wherein the dwelling units are comprised mainly of mobile homes and wherein the occupants of such dwelling units share common elements for purposes of ingress and egress, parking, recreation and other like residential purposes.
(1) "Public place" means any place which the public or a substantial group of the public has access. The term includes, but is not limited to, public ways, sidewalks, schools, hospitals, government offices or facilities, and the lobbies or hallways of apartment buildings, dormitories, hotels or motels.
(2) "Mobile home" means a moveable or portable unit, designed and constructed to be towed on its own chassis (comprised of frame and wheels), and designed to be connected to utilities for year-round occupancy. The term includes: (A) Units containing parts that may be folded, collapsed or telescoped when being towed and that may be expanded to provide additional cubic capacity, and (B) units composed of two or more separately towable components designed to be joined into one integral unit capable of being separated again into the components for repeated towing.
(2) "Private place" means any place that is not a public place.
(3) "Public parking area" means an area, whether publicly or privately owned or maintained, open to the use of the public for parking motor vehicles.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to simplify the elements of the offense of disturbing the peace, to remove the requirement of prior notice to the offender, and to simplify the definitions of both private and public places.

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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