COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

Senate Bill No. 374

(By Senators Kessler, Mitchell, McKenzie, Dawson, Unger, Bailey, Love, Ball, Hunter, Edgell and Sprouse)

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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;

reported February 29, 2000.]


A BILL to amend article five, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section seventeen-a, relating to defining the misdemeanor offense of making a false statement to a law-enforcement officer; and providing penalties therefor.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article five, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section seventeen-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC JUSTICE.
§61-5-17a. Making a false statement to a law-enforcement officer; penalty.

(a) A person is guilty of making a false statement to a law-enforcement officer when:
(1) The person, other than the person who is the subject of the investigation or prosecution, with the intent to impede the law-enforcement officer in the lawful exercise or discharge of his or her official duty, knowingly and willfully makes any false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation, or makes or uses any false writing or document knowing it to contain any false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or entry;
(2) The statement, representation, writing or document is made or given to the law-enforcement officer when the officer is in the lawful exercise or discharge of his or her official duties and is conducting an investigation of an alleged criminal offense; and
(3) The misrepresentation is material.
(b) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section are not applicable to a person in the relation of husband and wife, parent or grandparent, child or grandchild, brother or sister, by consanguinity or affinity, of an accused in any criminal case, when the person, after the commission of an offense, aids or assists the accused to avoid or escape from prosecution or punishment.
(c) Any person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than two hundred dollars, or confined in a county or regional jail for not more than sixty days, or both fined and imprisoned.
(d) For purposes of this section, "law-enforcement officer" means any duly authorized member of a law-enforcement agency who is authorized to maintain public peace and order, prevent and detect crime, make arrests and enforce the laws of the state or any county or municipality thereof, other than parking ordinances. As used in this section, the term "law-enforcement officer" does not apply to the chief executive of any West Virginia law-enforcement agency or any watchman, college campus security personnel or special conservation officer, nor does it apply to members of the West Virginia state police, who are governed by the provisions of section sixteen, article two, chapter fifteen of this code.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to impose misdemeanor penalties for interfering with or misleading a law-enforcement officer.)