Senate Bill No. 156
(By Senators Whitlow and Bailey)
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[Introduced January 26, 1996; referred to the Committee
on Agriculture.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section thirty-five, article three,
chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to providing
that any person who digs cultivated ginseng or other medical
roots on the lands of another without the consent of the
owner shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; imposing penalties
for violations; and differentiating between digging wild and
cultivated ginseng and other medical roots on the lands of
another.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirty-five, article three, 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 3. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY.
§61-3-35. Digging ginseng or other medical roots; penalty.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to dig wild ginseng
or other medical roots, or prospect for the same, on the lands of
another, in the counties of Pocahontas, Greenbrier and Webster,
without the consent of the owner or owners thereof first
obtained. The provisions of this section shall extend to all of
the counties of the state: Provided, That the county court
commission of any county may, upon the petition of one hundred
voters of the county, direct to have the same enforced in such
county or any district or districts thereof. Any person
violating this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than fifty
dollars, and may, in the discretion of the court, be confined in
the county jail not exceeding two months.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to dig cultivated
ginseng or other medical roots, on the lands of another, in any
part of the state, without the consent of the owner or owners
thereof first obtained. Any person who violates this subsection
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by up to thirty days
in jail or a five hundred dollar fine.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that any
person who digs cultivated ginseng or other medical roots on the
lands of another without the consent of the owner shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor; impose penalties for a violation; and to
differentiate between digging wild and cultivated ginseng crops
on the lands of another.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.