COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2475
(By Delegates C. White, Hubbard, Dempsey
and Davis)
(Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary)
[February 10, 1999]
A BILL to amend and reenact section fifteen, article two, chapter
sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to assault or
battery of a school employee; and adding assault or battery
of an off duty school employee when the motive for the
assault or battery is retaliation for an action taken by the
employee to supervise or discipline one or more pupils.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fifteen, article two, 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 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
§61-2-15. Assault, battery on school employees; penalties.
(a) If any person commits an assault (1) by unlawfully
attempting to commit a violent injury to the person of a school
employee while he or she is engaged in the performance of his or
her duties, is commuting to or from his or her place of
employment or if the motive for the assault is retaliation for some action taken by the employee to supervise or discipline one
or more pupils pursuant to sections one or one-a, article five,
chapter eighteen-a of this code or (2) by unlawfully committing
an act which places a school employee in reasonable apprehension
of immediately receiving a violent injury while the employee is
engaged in the performance of his or her duties, is commuting to
or from his or her place of employment or if the motive for the
assault is retaliation for some action taken by the employee to
supervise or discipline one or more pupils pursuant to sections
one or one-a, article five, chapter eighteen-a of this code, he
or she shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be confined in the county or regional jail not
less than five days nor more than six months and fined not less
than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars.
(b) If any person commits a battery (1) by unlawfully and
intentionally making physical contact of an insulting or
provoking nature with the person of a school employee while he or
she is engaged in the performance of his or her duties, is
commuting to or from his or her place of employment or if the
motive for the battery is retaliation for some action taken by
the employee to supervise or discipline one or more pupils
pursuant to sections one or one-a, article five, chapter
eighteen-a of this code or (2) by unlawfully and intentionally
causing physical harm to a school employee while he or she is
engaged in the performance of his or her duties, is commuting to
or from his or her place of employment or if the motive for the battery is retaliation for some action taken by the employee to
supervise or discipline one or more pupils pursuant to sections
one or one-a, article five, chapter eighteen-a of this code, he
or she shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be confined in the county or regional jail not
less than ten days nor more than twelve months and fined not less
than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars.
(c) For the purposes of this section, "school employee"
means a person employed by a county board of education whether
employed on a regular full-time basis, an hourly basis or
otherwise if, at the time of the commission of any offense
provided for in this section, such person is engaged in the
performance of his duties, or is commuting to or from his place
of employment. For the purposes of this section, a "school
employee" shall be deemed to include includes a student teacher.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.