H. B. 4295


(By Delegate Webb)
[Introduced February 6, 1998; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]




A BILL to amend article two-b, chapter forty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section six-a, relating to grandparent visitation when the parent's parental right is terminated due to a felony conviction; petitioning circuit court; and criteria for visitation right.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article two-b, chapter forty-eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section six-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2B. GRANDPARENT VISITATION.

 §48-2B-6a. Grandparent visitation when parent's parental right is terminated due to felony conviction.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, a grandparent may petition the circuit court of the county of residence of the minor child with whom visitation is sought for an order granting the grandparent reasonable visitation rights where:
(1) The parent of the minor child through whom the grandparent is related has had parental rights terminated by court order due to a conviction for a felony; and
(2) The parent of the minor child or other individual who has custody of the child refuses to allow the petitioning grandparent reasonable visitation with the minor child.
(b) In determining the appropriateness of granting visitation rights to a grandparent pursuant to this section, the court shall consider the amount of personal contact between the grandparent and the minor child prior to the filing of the petition, whether or not the granting of visitation would interfere with the parent-child relationship, or custodial-child relationship, and the overall effectiveness of such visitation on the minor child's best interest.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow a grandparent to petition a circuit court for visitation rights to his or her grandchild when the child's parent's parental rights have been terminated because of a felony conviction

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.