Senate Bill No. 470
(By Senators Dugan and Buckalew)
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[Introduced February 19, 1996; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section eleven-a, article
seven,chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
possessing deadly weapons on premises of educational
facilities; reports by school principals; suspension of
driver license; and possessing deadly weapons on premises
housing courts of law and in offices of family law master.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eleven-a, article seven, 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 7. DANGEROUS WEAPONS.
§61-7-11a. Possessing deadly weapons on premises of educational
facilities; reports by school principals;
suspension of driver license; possessing deadly
weapons on premises housing courts of law and in
offices of family law master.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds that the safety and welfare
of the citizens of this state are inextricably dependent upon
assurances of safety for children attending, and the persons
employed by, schools in this state and for those persons employed
with the judicial department of this state. It is for the
purpose of providing such assurances of safety, therefore, that
subsections (b), (g) and (h) of this section are enacted as a
reasonable regulation of the manner in which citizens may
exercise those rights accorded to them pursuant to section
twenty-two, article three of the constitution of the state of
West Virginia.
(b) (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any
firearm or any other deadly weapon on any school bus as defined
in section one, article one, chapter seventeen-a of this code, or
in or on any public or private primary or secondary education
building, structure, facility or grounds thereof, including any
vocational education building, structure, facility or grounds thereof where secondary vocational education programs are
conducted or at any school-sponsored function. For the purposes
of this section, a deadly weapon shall be defined by section two,
article seven, chapter sixty-one of this code: Provided, That
for purposes of this section, a deadly weapon shall include, but
not be limited to, any pocket knife, a hunting or fishing knife
carried for hunting, fishing, sports or other recreational uses,
or a knife designed for use as a tool or household implement
regardless of the length of the blade.
(2) This subsection shall not apply to:
(A) A law-enforcement officer acting in his or her official
capacity;
(B) A person specifically authorized by the board of
education of the county or principal of the school where the
property is located to conduct programs with valid educational
purposes;
(C) A person who, as otherwise permitted by the provisions
of this article, possesses an unloaded firearm or deadly weapon
in a motor vehicle, or leaves an unloaded firearm or deadly
weapon in a locked motor vehicle;
(D) Programs or raffles conducted with the approval of the county board of education or school which include the display of
unloaded firearms; or
(E) The official mascot of West Virginia University,
commonly known as "The Mountaineer", acting in his or her
official capacity.
(3) Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of
a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in
the penitentiary of this state for a definite term of years of
not less than two years nor more than ten years, or fined not
more than five thousand dollars, or both.
(c) It shall be the duty of the principal of each school
subject to the authority of the state board of education to
report any violation of subsection (b) of this section discovered
by such principal to the state superintendent of schools within
seventy-two hours after such violation occurs. The state board
of education shall keep and maintain such reports and may
prescribe rules establishing policy and procedures for the making
and delivery of the same as required by this subsection. In
addition, it shall be the duty of the principal of each school
subject to the authority of the state board of education to
report any violation of subsection (b) of this section discovered by such principal to the appropriate local office of the division
of public safety within seventy-two hours after such violation
occurs.
(d) In addition to the methods of disposition provided by
article five, chapter forty-nine of this code, any court which
adjudicates a person who is fourteen years of age or older as
delinquent for a violation of subsection (b) of this section may,
in its discretion, order the division of motor vehicles to
suspend any driver's license or instruction permit issued to such
person for such period of time as the court may deem appropriate,
such suspension, however, not to extend beyond such person's
nineteenth birthday; or, where such person has not been issued a
driver's license or instruction permit by this state, order the
division of motor vehicles to deny such person's application for
the same for such period of time as the court may deem
appropriate, such denial, however, not to extend beyond such
person's nineteenth birthday. Any suspension ordered by the
court pursuant to this subsection shall be effective upon the
date of entry of such order. Where the court orders the
suspension of a driver's license or instruction permit pursuant
to this subsection, the court shall confiscate any driver's license or instruction permit in the adjudicated person's
possession and forward the same to the division of motor
vehicles.
(e) (1) If a person eighteen years of age or older is
convicted of violating subsection (b) of this section, and if
such person does not act to appeal such conviction within the
time periods described in subdivision (2) of this subsection,
such person's license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle in
this state shall be revoked in accordance with the provisions of
this section.
(2) The clerk of the court in which the person is convicted
as described in subdivision (1) of this subsection shall forward
to the commissioner a transcript of the judgment of conviction.
If the conviction is the judgment of a magistrate court, the
magistrate court clerk shall forward such transcript when the
person convicted has not requested an appeal within twenty days
of the sentencing for such conviction. If the conviction is the
judgment of a circuit court, the circuit clerk shall forward such
transcript when the person convicted has not filed a notice of
intent to file a petition for appeal or writ of error within
thirty days after the judgment was entered.
(3) If, upon examination of the transcript of the judgment
of conviction, the commissioner shall determine that the person
was convicted as described in subdivision (1) of this subsection,
the commissioner shall make and enter an order revoking such
person's license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle in this
state for a period of one year, or, in the event the person is a
student enrolled in a secondary school, for a period of one year
or until the person's twentieth birthday, whichever is the
greater period. The order shall contain the reasons for the
revocation and the revocation period. The order of suspension
shall advise the person that because of the receipt of the
court's transcript, a presumption exists that the person named in
the order of suspension is the same person named in the
transcript. The commissioner may grant an administrative hearing
which substantially complies with the requirements of the
provisions of section two, article five-a, chapter seventeen-c of
this code upon a preliminary showing that a possibility exists
that the person named in the notice of conviction is not the same
person whose license is being suspended. Such request for
hearing shall be made within ten days after receipt of a copy of
the order of suspension. The sole purpose of this hearing shall be for the person requesting the hearing to present evidence that
he or she is not the person named in the notice. In the event
the commissioner grants an administrative hearing, the
commissioner shall stay the license suspension pending the
commissioner's order resulting from the hearing.
(4) For the purposes of this subsection, a person is
convicted when such person enters a plea of guilty or is found
guilty by a court or jury.
(f) (1) It shall be unlawful for any parent(s), guardian(s)
or custodian(s) of a person less than eighteen years of age who
knows that said person is in violation of subsection (b) of this
section, or who has reasonable cause to believe that said
person's violation of said subsection is imminent, to fail to
immediately report such knowledge or belief to the appropriate
school or law-enforcement officials.
(2) Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
more than one thousand dollars, or shall be confined in jail not
more than one year, or both.
(g) (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any
firearm or any other deadly weapon on any premises which houses a court of law or in the offices of a family law master.
(2) This subsection shall not apply to:
(A) A law-enforcement officer acting in his or her official
capacity; and
(B) A person exempted from the provisions of this subsection
by order of record entered by a court with jurisdiction over such
premises or offices.
(3) Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
more than one thousand dollars, or shall be confined in jail not
more than one year, or both.
(h) (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any
firearm or any other deadly weapon on any premises which houses
a court of law or in the offices of a family law master with the
intent to commit a crime.
(2) Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of
a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in
the penitentiary of this state for a definite term of years of
not less than two years nor more than ten years, or fined not
more than five thousand dollars, or both.
(i) Nothing in this section may be construed to be in conflict with the provisions of federal law.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to include all knives
within the definition of deadly weapons pursuant to the Safe
Schools Act of 1995.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.