H. B. 2071
(By Delegate Webb)
[Introduced January 13, 1999; 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 five-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
five-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2B. GRANDPARENT VISITATION.
§48-2B-5a. 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 the
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.