H. B. 2875
(By Delegates Williams and Stemple)
[Introduced
March 4, 2005
; referred to the
Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources then the
Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §20-2-57 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to providing criminal penalties for
wounding or killing a person while pursuing, taking or killing
wild animals or wild birds while under the influence of
alcohol, controlled substances or drugs; and, permitting
court-ordered restitution.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §20-2-57 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
§20-2-57. Negligent shooting, wounding or killing of human being
or livestock while hunting; penalty.
(a) It is unlawful for any person, while engaged in hunting,
pursuing, taking or killing wild animals or wild birds, to
carelessly or negligently shoot, wound or kill any human being or
livestock, or to destroy or injure any other chattels or property.
(b) Any person who, in the act of hunting, pursuing, taking or
killing of wild animals or wild birds, in any manner injures any
person or property shall file with the director a full description
of the
accident incident or other casualty, including
such any
information
as the director may require.
Such The report must be
filed during a period not to exceed seventy-two hours following
such the incident.
(c) Any person violating this
section subsection or
subsections (a) or (b) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor,
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one
thousand dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars, or imprisoned
in
the county jail not more than one year, or both fined and
imprisoned. Restitution of the value of the livestock, chattel or
property injured or destroyed shall be required upon conviction.
(d) It is unlawful for any person, while engaged in hunting,
pursuing, taking or killing wild animals or wild birds, to
carelessly or negligently shoot and wound any human being while the
shooter:
(1) Is under the influence of alcohol; or
(2) Is under the influence of any controlled substance; or
(3) Is under the influence of any other drug; or
(4) Is under the combined influence of alcohol and any
controlled substance or any other drug; or
(5) Has an alcohol concentration in his or her blood of eight hundredths of one percent or more, by weight.
Any person violating this subsection is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than two thousand dollars nor more than fifteen thousand dollars,
or imprisoned in jail for not less than two months nor more than
one year, or both fined and imprisoned. Restitution of actual
medical costs caused by the violation may be required by the court
upon conviction.
(e) It is unlawful for any person, while engaged in hunting,
pursuing, taking or killing wild animals or wild birds, to
carelessly or negligently shoot and kill any human being while the
shooter:
(1) Is under the influence of alcohol; or
(2) Is under the influence of any controlled substance; or
(3) Is under the influence of any other drug; or
(4) Is under the combined influence of alcohol and any
controlled substance or any other drug; or
(5) Has an alcohol concentration in his or her blood of eight
hundredths of one percent or more, by weight.
Any person violating this subsection is guilty of a felony
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than five
thousand dollars nor more than twenty thousand dollars, or
imprisoned in a state correctional facility for not less than one
year nor more than three years, or both fined and imprisoned. Restitution of actual medical costs and funeral, burial and
crematory costs caused by the violation may be required upon
conviction.
(f) Any person who fails to report an incident as described in
subsections (d) and (e) above within the required seventy-two hours
shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be confined
for a period of not less than one, nor more than three years, or at
the discretion of the courts, confined in jail for not more than
one year and fined not less than one thousand dollars, nor more
than ten thousand dollars.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide penalties for
negligently or carelessly wounding or killing a person while
hunting under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
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 **
