H. B. 2833
(By Delegate Ashley and Smirl)
[Introduced March 28, 1997; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section fifty-two, article three,
chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to providing
that the wrongful taking of timber valued at one thousand
dollars or more is a felony, and the wrongful taking of
timber valued at less than one thousand dollars is a
misdemeanor; penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fifty-two, 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.
§61-3-52. Wrongful injuries to timber; criminal penalties.
(a) Any person who willfully and maliciously and with intent to do harm unlawfully enters upon the lands of another, cuts
down, injures, removes or destroys any timber valued at more than
one thousand dollars or more, without the permission of the owner
or his or her representative is guilty of a felony and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than three times the
value of timber injured, removed or destroyed, or imprisoned in
a regional jail for thirty days, state correctional facility not
less than one year, or both fined and imprisoned.
(b) Any person who willfully and maliciously and with intent
to do harm unlawfully enters upon the lands of another, cuts
down, injures, removes or destroys any timber valued at one
thousand dollars or less, less than one thousand dollars, without
the permission of the owner or his or her representative is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned in the
county or regional jail for not more than thirty days.
(c) The necessary trimming and removal of timber to permit
the construction, repair, maintenance, cleanup and operations of
pipelines and utility lines and appurtenances of public
utilities, public service corporations and to aid registered land
surveyors and professional engineers in the performance of their
professional services and municipalities, and pipeline companies
or lawful operators and product purchasers of natural resources other than timber shall not be deemed determined a willful and
intentional cutting down, injuring, removing or destroying of
timber.
(d) The necessary trimming and removal of timber for
boundary line maintenance, for the construction, maintenance and
repair of streets, roads and highways or for the control and
regulation of traffic thereon by the state and its political
subdivisions or registered land surveyors and professional
engineers shall may not be deemed consideredcerned a willful and
intentional cutting down, injuring, removing or destroying of
timber.
(e) No fine or imprisonment imposed pursuant to this section
shall be construed to limit any cause of action by a landowner
for recovery of damages otherwise allowed by law.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that the
wrongful taking of timber valued at one thousand dollars or more
is a felony punishable by not less than one year in a state
correctional facility.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.