H. B. 4217


(By Delegates Manuel and Doyle)
[Introduced January 31, 1994 ; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]




A BILL to amend article six, 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 fourteen-b, relating to crimes against the peace; making it a crime for persons to loiter in areas designated as high crime areas in municipalities; authorizing municipalities to enact ordinances; and providing criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That article six, 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 fourteen-b, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. CRIMES AGAINST THE PEACE.

§ 61 - 6 - 14b. Loitering in municipalities in areas designated as "high crime areas"; penalty; exceptions.

A municipality may enact an ordinance which provides that a person who is not a resident, owner or agent, servant or employee of an owner of real estate, an employee, an employer of a business or any other person designated by municipal ordinance to have a legitimate reason or right to be in that area, or any person who has no legitimate business or reason to do so, may not loiter in or about any area in a municipality which has been previously designated as a "high crime area" as determined by the municipal law-enforcement agency based upon the numbers of arrests or crimes committed in the area.

Any person who violates the provisions of any duly enacted municipal ordinance relating to loitering in a high crime area is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction for the first offense thereof, shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail not more than thirty days, or both fined and imprisoned. Upon a second or subsequent conviction, any such person shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail not more than one year, or both fined and imprisoned.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make it a crime for persons to loiter in areas designated as "high crime areas" in municipalities; to authorized municipalities to enact ordinances to that purpose; and to provide criminal penalties for violation.

§61-6-14b is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.