H. B. 4313
(By Delegates Brown, Amores, Howard and Longstreth)
[Introduced February 1, 2006; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §48-27-510 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to petitions of appeal of
domestic violence emergency protective orders.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §48-27-510 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 27. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
§48-27-510. Appeals.
(a) A petitioner who has been denied an emergency protective
order may file a petition for appeal of the denial, within five
days of the denial, to the family court.
(b) Any party to a protective order entered upon final
hearing may file a petition for appeal, within ten days of the
entry of the order in family court, to the circuit court. Any
party to a protective order proceeding may file a petition for appeal to the circuit court of an order made by the family court
granting or denying a protective order or dismissing the
proceeding. The petition may be filed, within ten days of the
entry of the order in family court. The order shall remain in
effect pending an appeal unless stayed by order of the family court
sua sponte or upon motion of a party, or by order of the circuit
court upon motion of a party. No bond shall be required for any
appeal under this section.
(c) A petition for appeal filed pursuant to this section shall
be heard by the court within ten days from the filing of the
petition.
(d) The standard of review of findings of fact made by the
family court is clearly erroneous and the standard of review of
application of the law to the facts is an abuse of discretion
standard.
Note: The purpose of this bill is to clarify that the denial
of a final domestic violence protective order may be appealed to
circuit court the same way that the granting of an order may be
appealed.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.