H. B. 2176
(By Delegate Pulliam)
[Introduced February 20, 1997; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article nine-a, chapter
sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and reenact section
one, article two, chapter seventeen-b of said code; and to
amend and reenact section twenty-two, article three, chapter
sixty of said code, all relating to state control of
alcoholic liquors and tobacco usage restriction; and
requiring sellers of alcoholic liquors and nonintoxicating
beer and tobacco products to require proof of age from all
purchasers; and prohibiting the sale of tobacco products by
vending machines.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article nine-a, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; that section one, article two,
chapter seventeen-b of said code, be amended and reenacted; and
that section twenty-two, article three, chapter sixty of said
code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 16. PUBLIC HEALTH.
ARTICLE 9A. TOBACCO USAGE RESTRICTIONS.
§16-9A-2. Sale or gift of cigarette, cigarette paper, pipe,
cigar, snuff or chewing tobacco to persons under
eighteen; penalty.
No person, firm or corporation may sell, give or furnish, or
cause to be sold, given or furnished, to any person under the age
of eighteen years:
(a) Any cigarette, cigarette paper or any other paper
prepared, manufactured or made for the purpose of smoking any
tobacco or tobacco product; or,
(b) Any cigar, pipe, snuff, chewing tobacco or tobacco
product, in any form.
(c) Beginning on the effective date of the amendment to this
section, sales of tobacco products by vending machines are
prohibited. Sellers of tobacco products are required to request
identification establishing proof of age from all purchasers. The identification cards or driver's license from the division of
motor vehicles shall be considered sufficient proof of age.
Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the
provisions of subdivisions (a) or (b) or (c) of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than ten nor more than twenty-five dollars for the
first offense, and for each subsequent offense, not less than
twenty-five nor more than three hundred dollars.
CHAPTER 17B. MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVER'S LICENSE.
ARTICLE 2. ISSUANCE OF LICENSE, EXPIRATION AND RENEWAL.
§17B-2-1. Drivers must be licensed; types of licenses; licensees
need not obtain local government license; motorcycle
driver license; identification cards.
(a) No person, except those hereinafter expressly exempted,
may drive any motor vehicle upon a street or highway in this
state or upon any subdivision street, as used in article
twenty-four, chapter eight of this code, when the use of such the
subdivision street is generally used by the public unless the
person has a valid driver's license under the provisions of this
code for the type or class of vehicle being driven.
Any person licensed to operate a motor vehicle as provided
in this code may exercise the privilege thereby granted as provided in this code and, except as otherwise provided by law,
shall may not be required to obtain any other license to exercise
such this privilege by any county, municipality or local board or
body having authority to adopt local police regulations.
(b) The division, upon issuing a driver's license, shall
indicate on the license the type or general class or classes of
vehicle or vehicles the licensee may operate in accordance with
the provisions of this code, federal law or rule.
(c) Driver's licenses issued by the division shall be
classified in the following manner:
(1) Class A, B or C license shall be issued to those persons
eighteen years of age or older with two years driving experience
and who have qualified for the commercial driver's license
established by chapter seventeen-e of this code and the federal
Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986, Title XII of public
law 99870 and subsequent rules, and have paid the required fee.
(2) Class D license shall be issued to those persons
eighteen years and older with one year driving experience who
operate motor vehicles other than those types of vehicles which
require the operator to be licensed under the provisions of
chapter seventeen-e of this code and federal law and rule and
whose primary function or employment is the transportation of persons or property for compensation or wages and have paid the
required fee. For the purposes of the regulation of the
operation of a motor vehicle, wherever the term chauffeur's
license is used in this code, it shall be construed to mean the
Class A, B, C or D license described in this section or chapter
seventeen-e of this code or federal law or rule: Provided, That
anyone who is not required to be licensed under the provisions of
chapter seventeen-e of this code and federal law or rule and who
operates a motor vehicle which is registered or which is required
to be registered as a Class A motor vehicle as that term is
defined in section three, article ten, chapter seventeen-a of
this code with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than eight
thousand one pounds, is not required to obtain a Class D license.
(3) Class E license shall be issued to those persons who
have qualified under the provisions of this chapter and who are
not required to obtain a Class A, B, C or D license and who have
paid the required fee. The Class E license may be endorsed under
the provisions of section seven-b of this article for motorcycle
operation.
(4) Class F license shall be issued to those persons who
successfully complete the motorcycle examination procedure
provided for by this chapter and have paid the required fee, but who do not possess a Class A, B, C and D or E driver's license.
(d) No person, except those hereinafter expressly exempted,
shall drive any motorcycle upon a street or highway in this state
or upon any subdivision street, as used in article twenty-four,
chapter eight of this code, when the use of such the subdivision
street is generally used by the public unless the person has a
valid motorcycle license or a valid license which has been
endorsed under section seven-b of this article for motorcycle
operation or has a valid motorcycle instruction permit.
(e) (1) A nonoperator identification card may be issued to
any person who:
(A) Is a resident of this state in accordance with the
provisions of section one-a, article three, chapter seventeen-a
of this code;
(B) Does not have a valid driver's license;
(C) Has reached the age of sixteen years;
(D) Has paid the required fee of ten dollars: Provided,
That such the fee is not required if the applicant is sixty-five
years or older or is legally blind; and
(E) Presents a birth certificate or other proof of age and
identity acceptable to the division with a completed application
on a form furnished by the division.
(2) The nondriver identification card shall contain the same
information as a driver's license except that such identification
card shall be clearly marked as identification card. The
identification card shall expire every four years. It may be
renewed on application and payment of the fee required by this
section.
(A) After the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-six, every identification card issued to persons
who have attained their twenty-first birthday shall expire on the
last day of the month in which the applicant's birthday occurs in
those years in which the applicant's age is evenly divisible by
five. Except as provided in paragraph (B) of this subdivision,
no identification card may be issued for less than three years
nor more than seven years and such identification card shall be
renewed in the month in which the applicant's birthday occurs and
shall be valid for a period of five years expiring in the month
in which the applicant's birthday occurs and in a year in which
the applicant's age is evenly divisible by five.
(B) Every identification card issued to persons who have not
attained their twenty-first birthday shall expire on the last day
of the month in the year in which the applicant attains the age
of twenty-one years.
(3) The identification card shall be surrendered to the
division when the holder is issued a driver's license. The
division may issue an identification card to an applicant whose
privilege to operate a motor vehicle has been refused, canceled,
suspended or revoked under the provisions of this code.
The division shall superimpose on every driver's license and
identification card issued under the provisions of this article,
where applicable, words indicating when the holder of the
driver's license or identification reaches the age of twenty-one
years, such as: "TWENTY-ONE ON".
CHAPTER 60. STATE CONTROL OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS.
ARTICLE 3. SALES BY COMMISSIONER.
§60-3-22. Sales to certain persons prohibited.
(a) Alcoholic liquors and nonintoxicating beer as defined in
section three, article sixteen, chapter eleven of this code shall
may not be sold to a person who is:
(1) Less than twenty-one years of age;
(2) An habitual drunkard;
(3) Intoxicated;
(4) Addicted to the use of any controlled substance as
defined by any of the provisions of chapter sixty-a of this code;
or
(5) Mentally incompetent.
(b) It shall be a defense to a violation of subdivision (1),
subsection (a) of this section if the seller shows that the
purchaser:
(1) Produced written evidence which showed his or her age to
be at least the required age for purchase and which bore a
physical description of the person named on the writing which
reasonably described the purchaser; or
(2) Produced evidence of other facts that reasonably
indicated at the time of sale that the purchaser was at least the
required age.
(c) Beginning on the effective date of this amendment to
this section, sellers of alcoholic liquors and nonintoxicating
beer as defined in section three, article sixteen, chapter eleven
of this code are required to request identification establishing
proof of age from all purchasers. The identification cards or
driver's license from the division of motor vehicles shall be
considered sufficient proof of age.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require sellers of
alcoholic liquors and nonintoxicating beer and tobacco products
to require proof of age from all purchasers. The Division of
Motor Vehicles is required to superimpose on all driver's license
and identification cards the date when the person to whom the license or card was issued becomes 21 years of age. It prohibits
sale of tobacco products in vending machines.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.