Senate Bill No. 388
(By Senators Anderson, Kessler, Minard, Ross,
Fanning, Ball, Dittmar, Hunter, Snyder, Oliverio,
Mitchell, Schoonover, Wooton, Unger, Bailey, Sharpe, McKenzie,
Edgell and Sprouse)
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[Introduced February 2, 1999;
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A Bill to amend and reenact section seventeen, article five,
chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to obstruction of police
officers; fleeing from or interference with police officers and
adding special police officers to those officers included in law;
and penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seventeen, article five, 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 5. CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC JUSTICE.
§61-5-17. Obstructing officer; fleeing from officer; fleeing from officer in a vehicle; penalties; definitions.
(a) Any person who by threats, menaces, acts or otherwise,
forcibly or illegally hinders or obstructs, or attempts to hinder
or obstruct, any law-enforcement officer or special police officer, as defined in section forty-one, article three of this
chapter, acting in his or her official capacity is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars, and may, in the
discretion of the court, be confined in the county or regional
jail not more than one year.
(b) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee by
any means other than the use of a vehicle from any law- enforcement officer or special police officer, as defined in
section forty-one, article three of this chapter, acting in his
or her official capacity who is attempting to make a lawful
arrest of the person, and who knows or reasonably believes that
the officer is attempting to arrest him or her, is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars, and may, in the
discretion of the court, be confined in the county or regional
jail not more than one year.
(c) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in
a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer or special police
officer, as defined in section forty-one, article three of this
chapter, acting in his or her official capacity, after the
officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the
person to stop, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not less than five hundred nor more than
one thousand dollars and shall be confined in the county or
regional jail not more than one year.
(d) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in
a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer or special police
officer, as defined in section forty-one, article three of this
chapter, acting in his or her official capacity, after the
officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the
person to stop, and who causes damage to the real or personal
property of any person during or resulting from his or her
flight, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not less than one thousand nor more than three
thousand dollars and shall be confined in the county or regional
jail for not less than six months nor more than one year.
(e) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer or special police
officer, as defined in section forty-one, article three of this
chapter, acting in his or her official capacity, after the
officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the
person to stop, and who causes bodily injury to any person during
or resulting from his or her flight, is guilty of a felony and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in the state
correctional facility not less than one nor more than five years.
(f) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in
a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer or special police
officer, as defined in section forty-one, article three of this
chapter, acting in his or her official capacity, after the
officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the
person to stop, and who causes death to any person during or
resulting from his or her flight, is guilty of a felony and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be punished by a definite term of
imprisonment in the state correctional facility which is not less
than three nor more than fifteen years. A person imprisoned
pursuant to the provisions of this subsection is not eligible for
parole prior to having served a minimum of three years of his or
her sentence or the minimum period required by the provisions of section thirteen, article twelve, chapter sixty-two, whichever is
greater.
(g) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in
a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer or special police
officer, as defined in section forty-one, article three of this
chapter, acting in his or her official capacity, after the
officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the
person to stop, and who is under the influence of alcohol,
controlled substances or drugs at the time, is guilty of a felony
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in the state
correctional facility not less than one nor more than five years.
(h) For purposes of this section, the term "vehicle" includes
any motor vehicle, motorcycle, motorboat, all-terrain vehicle or
snowmobile, as those terms are defined in section one, article
one, chapter seventeen-a of this code, whether or not it is being
operated on a public highway at the time and whether or not it is
licensed by the state.
(i) For purposes of this section, the terms "flee",
"fleeing", and "flight" shall not include any person's reasonable
attempt to travel to a safe place, allowing the pursuing law- enforcement officer or special police officer, as defined in section forty-one, article three of this chapter, to maintain
appropriate surveillance, for the purpose of complying with the
officer's direction to stop.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make obstruction of,
fleeing from, or interference with a special police officer a
crime, and to add penalties.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.)
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JUDICIARY COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
On page one, by striking out the title and substituting
therefor a new title, to read as follows:
Eng. Senate Bill No. 388--A Bill to amend and reenact section
seventeen, article five, chapter sixty-one of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
relating to obstruction of police officers; fleeing from or
interference with police officers and adding special police
officers to those officers included in law; and penalties.