H. B. 2314
(By Delegates Love and Pettit)
[Introduced March 1, 1993; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend article two, chapter sixty-one of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
ten-b, relating to creating a crime and providing penalties
for assaults and batteries on police officers.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article two, chapter sixty-one of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section ten-
b, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
§61-2-10b. Malicious or unlawful assaults; assaults; battery on
police officers, conservation officers, county or
state correctional officers; penalties.
(a) If any person commits a malicious assault as that crime
is defined in subsection (a), section nine of this article, upon
a police officer, conservation officer, county correctionalofficer or state correctional officer engaged in his or her
official duties and the person committing the malicious assault
knows or reasonably should know that the victim is a police
officer, conservation officer, county correctional officer or
state correctional officer engaged in the performance of his or
her official duties, then that person is guilty of a felony, and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be confined to the penitentiary
for a period of not less than five years nor more than twenty
years and fined not exceeding five thousand dollars. A person
convicted under this section is not eligible for probation.
(b) If any person unlawfully and intentionally, but not
maliciously, shoots, stabs, cuts, or wounds a police officer,
conservation officer, county correctional officer or state
correctional officer engaged in his or her official duties and
the person committing the unlawful assault knows or reasonably
should know that the victim is a police officer, conservation
officer, county correctional officer or state correctional
officer engaged in the performance of his or her official duties,
then that person is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be confined to the penitentiary for a period of
not less than one year nor more than five years or fined the sum
not to exceed one thousand dollars or both confined and fined.
(c) If any person unlawfully and intentionally makes
physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with a
police officer, conservation officer, county correctional officer
or state correctional officer, or unlawfully and intentionallycauses physical harm to a police officer, conservation officer,
county correctional officer or state correctional officer, then
that person is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be confined to the county jail for a period of not
more than twelve months or fined the sum of five hundred dollars
or both confined and fined. If any person commits a second such
offense, then such person is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon
conviction, shall be confined in jail for a period of twelve
months and is not eligible for probation. If any person commits
a third offense, that such person is guilty of a felony, and,
upon conviction, is confined in the penitentiary for a period of
not less than one year nor more than five years or fined not more
than one thousand dollars or both confined and fined.
(d) As used in this section, a police officer means any
officer employed by the division of public safety, any county
law-enforcement agency and any police officer employed by any
city or municipality who is responsible for the prevention or
detection of crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or
highway laws of this state.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish the crime of
assault and battery on a police officer.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.