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Introduced Version House Bill 4437 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 4437


(By Delegates Perdue, Long, Boggs, Staggers,
Varner, Brown and Hatfield)
[Introduced February 6, 2008; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]



A BILL to amend and reenact §61-2-10b of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the imposition of enhanced criminal penalties for certain criminal acts against health care workers; and defining "health care workers."

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-2-10b of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
§61-2-10b. Malicious assault; unlawful assault; battery and recidivism of battery; assault on police officers, conservation officers, probation officers, humane officers, emergency medical service personnel, ; health care workers; firefighters, fire marshal, Division of Forestry employees, county or state correctional employees, Public Service Commission motor carrier inspector and enforcement officer and court security personnel; penalties.

(a) Malicious assault. -- Any person who maliciously shoots, stabs, cuts or wounds or by any means causes bodily injury with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill a police officer, probation officer, conservation officer, humane officer, emergency medical service personnel, health care worker, firefighter, State Fire Marshal or employee, Division of Forestry employee, county correctional employee or state correctional employee, employee of an urban mass transportation system, court security personnel or Public Service Commission motor carrier inspector and enforcement officer acting in his or her official capacity and the person committing the malicious assault knows or has reason to know that the victim is acting in his or her official capacity is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a correctional facility for not less than three nor more than fifteen years.
(b) Unlawful assault. -- Any person who unlawfully but not maliciously shoots, stabs, cuts or wounds or by any means causes a police officer, probation officer, conservation officer, humane officer, emergency medical service personnel, health care worker, firefighter, State Fire Marshal or employee, Division of Forestry employee, county correctional employee or state correctional employee, employee of an urban mass transportation system, court security personnel or Public Service Commission motor carrier inspector and enforcement officer acting in his or her official capacity bodily injury with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill him or her and the person committing the unlawful assault knows or has reason to know that the victim is acting in his or her official capacity is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a correctional facility for not less than two nor more than five years.
(c) Battery. -- Any person who unlawfully, knowingly and intentionally makes physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with a police officer, probation officer, conservation officer, humane officer, emergency medical service personnel, health care worker, firefighter, State Fire Marshal or employee, Division of Forestry employee, county correctional employee, state correctional employee, employee of a mass transportation system, court security personnel or Public Service Commission motor carrier inspector and enforcement officer acting in his or her official capacity, or unlawfully and intentionally causes physical harm to that person acting in such capacity, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for not less than one month nor more than twelve months, fined the sum of five hundred dollars, or both. If any person commits a second such offense, he or she is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than three years or fined the sum of one thousand dollars or both fined and confined. Any person who commits a third violation of this subsection is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a correctional facility not less than two years nor more than five years or fined not more than two thousand dollars or both fined and confined.
(d) Assault. -- Any person who unlawfully attempts to commit a violent injury to the person of a police officer, probation officer, conservation officer, humane officer, emergency medical service personnel, health care worker, firefighter, State Fire Marshal or employee, Division of Forestry employee, county correctional employee, state correctional employee, employee of a mass transportation system, court security personnel or Public Service Commission motor carrier inspector and enforcement officer acting in his or her official capacity, or unlawfully commits an act which places that person acting in his or her official capacity in reasonable apprehension of immediately receiving a violent injury, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for not less than twenty-four hours nor more than six months, fined not more than two hundred dollars, or both fined and confined.
(e) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Police officer" means any person employed by the State Police, any person employed by the state to perform law-enforcement duties, any person employed by a political subdivision of this state who is responsible for the prevention or detection of crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of this state or employed as a special police officer as defined in section forty-one, article three of this chapter.
(2) "Health care worker" means any nurse, nurse practitioner, physician, physician's assistant or technician practicing at, and all workers or employees employed by, a hospital, county or district health department, long-term care facility, physician's office, clinic or outpatient treatment facility.
(2) (3) "Employee of an urban mass transportation system" means any person employed by an urban mass transportation system as such is defined in section three, article twenty-seven, chapter eight of this code or by a system that receives federal transit administration funding under 49 U.S.C. §5307 or §5311.
(3) (4) "Division of Forestry employee" means an officer, agent, employee or servant, whether full-time or not, of the Division of Forestry.
(4) (5) "Court security personnel" means any person employed by a circuit court, family court, magistrate court, county commission, sheriff, the state or other political subdivision to operate and maintain security devices, including, but not limited to, a metal detector, x-ray machine, video monitoring equipment and/or other security devices, prevent or detect crime, enforce the laws of this state, or otherwise provide court security.
(5) (6) "Public Service Commission motor carrier inspector and enforcement officer" means an officer, agent or employee of the Public Service Commission charged with the enforcement of commercial motor vehicle safety and weight restriction laws of the State of West Virginia.



NOTE:
The purpose of this bill is to extend to health care workers the same protections afforded other persons who serve the public and are thereby regularly exposed to the threat of physical violence in the course of performing their jobs, by establishing enhanced criminal penalties for certain crimes, such as malicious assault or battery, committed against licensed and certified health care professionals.
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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