Senate Bill No. 133
(By Senators Craigo, Dittmar, Sharpe, Anderson, Schoonover,
Ball, Fanning, Buckalew, Bailey, Ross, Love and Jackson)
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[Introduced February 26, 1997; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section nine, article twelve, chapter
seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the prosecution
of persons who pass a parked, loading school bus.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nine, article twelve, chapter seventeen-c of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
§17C-12-9. County transportation supervisor or school bus
drivers may present complaint directly to magistrate.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, a person authorized by law to operate a school bus, as
that term is defined in section seven, article one, chapter seventeen-c of this code, or the county transportation supervisor
with an affidavit signed by the school bus driver may submit a
complaint directly to a magistrate without first presenting the
complaint to the prosecuting attorney or other law-enforcement
agency, if the complaint is based upon a violation of subsection
(a), section seven, article twelve, chapter seventeen-c of this
code.
The complaint shall be in the form of a written statement of
the essential facts constituting the offense charged. The
complaint shall be presented to and sworn before a magistrate in
the county where the offense is alleged to have occurred.
If it appears from the complaint, or from an affidavit or
affidavits filed with the complaint, that there is probable cause
to believe that an offense has been committed and that the
defendant committed it, a warrant for the arrest of the defendant
shall be issued to any officer authorized by law to arrest
persons charged with offenses against the state.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to enable the county
transportation supervisor to initiate prosecutions against
persons who pass a parked, loading school bus.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.