H. B. 3244
(By Delegate Boggs)
[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §17C-19-3 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to when a person arrested for a
suspended or revoked driver's license must be taken
immediately before a magistrate or court.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17C-19-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 19. PARTIES, PROCEDURE UPON ARREST AND REPORTS IN
CRIMINAL CASES.
§17C-19-3. When person arrested must be taken immediately before
a magistrate or court.
(a) Whenever any person is arrested for any violation of this
chapter punishable as a misdemeanor, the arrested person shall be
immediately taken before a magistrate or court within the county in
which the offense charged is alleged to have been committed and who has jurisdiction of the offense and is nearest or most accessible
with reference to the place where the arrest is made, in any of the
following cases:
(1) When a person arrested demands an immediate appearance
before a magistrate or court;
(2) When the person is arrested upon a charge of negligent
homicide;
(3) When the person is arrested upon a charge of driving while
under the influence of alcohol, or under the influence of any
controlled substance, or under the influence of any other drug, or
under the combined influence of alcohol and any controlled
substance or any other drug;
(4) When the person is arrested upon a charge of failure to
stop in the event of an accident causing death, personal injury or
damage to property;
(5) When the person is arrested upon a charge of violating
section fourteen, article seventeen of this chapter relating to
weight violations, except as otherwise provided in that section;
(6) When the person arrested is a resident of a state that has
not entered into a nonresident violator compact with this state;
and
(7) In any other event when the person arrested refuses to
accept the written notice to appear in court as his or her promise
to appear in court or to comply with the terms of the written notice to appear in court as provided in section four of this
article.
(b) When the person arrested is a resident of a state that has
entered into a nonresident violator compact with this state, the
arresting officer shall issue the person a written notice as
provided
for in section four of this article and may not take the
person immediately before a magistrate or court, except under the
terms of the compact or under the circumstances set forth in
subsection (a) of this section.
(c) (1) Subject to subdivision (2) of this subsection the
arresting officer shall immediately take the arrested person
before a magistrate or court within the county in which the offense
charged is alleged to have been committed and who has jurisdiction
of the offense and is nearest or most accessible with reference to
the place where the arrest is made when the person is arrested upon
a charge of:
(A) Driving while license suspended or revoked; or
(B) Driving while license suspended or revoked for:
(i) Driving under the influence of alcohol, controlled
substances or drugs, or while having alcoholic concentration in the
blood of eight hundredths of one percent or more, by weight; or
(ii) Refusing to take secondary chemical test of blood alcohol
contents.
(2) When the arresting officer has reason to believe a magistrate or judge may not be reasonably available, the officer
may instead of taking the person before a magistrate or court
follow the procedure provided in section four of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize a law-
enforcement officer to make an arrest and take the driver before a
magistrate or court when the person is charged with driving with a
suspended license.
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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