ENROLLED
H. B. 2022
(By Delegates Coleman and Stemple)
[Passed March 13, 1999; in effect from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact section three, article four, chapter
seventeen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to altering the
criminal and administrative penalties for driving a motor
vehicle while the operator's license is suspended or
revoked.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article four, chapter seventeen-b of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. VIOLATIONS OF LICENSE PROVISIONS.
§17B-4-3. Driving while license suspended or revoked; driving
while license revoked for driving under the influence of alcohol, controlled substances or drugs, or while having
alcoholic concentration in the blood of ten hundredths of
one percent or more, by weight, or for refusing to take
secondary chemical test of blood alcohol contents.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) or (d) of
this section, any person who drives a motor vehicle on any public
highway of this state at a time when his or her privilege to do
so has been lawfully suspended or revoked by this state or any
other jurisdiction is, for the first offense, guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars; for
the second offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for a period
of ten days and, in addition to the mandatory jail sentence,
shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than
five hundred dollars; for the third or any subsequent offense,
the person is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be confined in jail for six months and, in
addition to the mandatory jail sentence, shall be fined not less
than one hundred fifty dollars nor more than five hundred
dollars.
(b) Any person who drives a motor vehicle on any public
highway of this state at a time when his or her privilege to do
so has been lawfully revoked for driving under the influence of
alcohol, controlled substances or other drugs, or for driving
while having an alcoholic concentration in his or her blood of
ten hundredths of one percent or more, by weight, or for refusing
to take a secondary chemical test of blood alcohol content, is,
for the first offense, guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for six months and
in addition to the mandatory jail sentence, shall be fined not
less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars;
for the second offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for a
period of one year and, in addition to the mandatory jail
sentence, shall be fined not less than one thousand dollars nor
more than three thousand dollars; for the third or any subsequent
offense, the person is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary for not less
than one year nor more than three years and, in addition to the
mandatory prison sentence, shall be fined not less than three thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars.
(c) Upon receiving a record of the first or subsequent
conviction of any person under subsection (b) of this section
upon a charge of driving a vehicle while the license of such
person was lawfully suspended or revoked, the division shall
extend the period of such suspension or revocation for an
additional period of one year from and after the date such person
would otherwise have been entitled to apply for a new license.
Upon receiving a record of the second or subsequent conviction of
any person under subsection (a) of this section upon a charge of
driving a vehicle while the license of such person was lawfully
suspended or revoked, the division shall extend the period of
such suspension or revocation for an additional period of one
year from and after the date such person would otherwise have
been entitled to apply for a new license.
(d) Any person who drives a motor vehicle on any public
highway of this state at a time when his or her privilege to do
so has been lawfully suspended for driving while under the age of
twenty-one years with an alcohol concentration in his or her
blood of two hundredths of one percent or more, by weight, but less than ten hundredths of one percent, by weight, is guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in
jail for twenty-four hours or shall be fined not less than fifty
dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or both.
(e) An order for home detention by the court pursuant to the
provisions of article eleven-b, chapter sixty-two of this code
may be used as an alternative sentence to any period of
incarceration required by this section.