H. B. 2410
(By Delegates Haskins, Rowe and Yeager)
[Introduced January 10, 1996; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section one-b, article six, chapter
sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to expanding the
meaning of a public place where an individual can be charged
with disorderly conduct.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one-b, article six, chapter sixty-one of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. CRIMES AGAINST THE PEACE.
§61-6-1b. Disorderly conduct; penalty.
(a) Any person who, in a public place, a mobile home park,
a public parking area, a common area of an apartment building or
dormitory, or a common area of a privately owned commercial
shopping center, mall or other group of commercial retail establishments, disturbs the peace of others by violent, profane,
indecent or boisterous conduct or language or by the making of
unreasonably loud noise that is intended to cause annoyance or
alarm to another person, and who persists in such conduct after
being requested to desist by a law-enforcement officer acting in
his lawful capacity, is guilty of disorderly conduct, a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
more than one hundred dollars.
(b) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Public place" means any area of the county whether
incorporated or unincorporated, commercial or private sites of
land, used as private residences or recreational locations.
(1) (2) "Mobile home park" means a privately-owned
residential housing area or subdivision wherein the dwelling
units are comprised mainly of mobile homes and wherein the
occupants of such dwelling units share common elements for
purposes of ingress and egress, parking, recreation and other
like residential purposes.
(2) (3) "Mobile home" means a moveable or portable unit,
designed and constructed to be towed on its own chassis
(comprised of frame and wheels), and designed to be connected to
utilities for year-round occupancy. The term includes: (A)
Units containing parts that may be folded, collapsed or
telescoped when being towed and that may be expanded to provide additional cubic capacity, and (B) units composed of two or more
separately towable components designed to be joined into one
integral unit capable of being separated again into the
components for repeated towing.
(3) (4) "Public parking area" means an area, whether
publicly or privately owned or maintained, open to the use of the
public for parking motor vehicles.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to expand the definition
of the term a public place where one can be charged with
disorderly conduct.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.