ENGROSSED

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

Senate Bill No. 6002

(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Sprouse,

By Request of the Executive)

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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;

reported October 25, 2001.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section seventeen, article six, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said chapter by adding thereto a new article, designated article six-a, all relating to false terrorist threats; making the penalty for false reports concerning bombs or other explosive devices a felony; allowing for economic loss as restitution; penalties; prohibiting the use, manufacture or possession of counterfeit or hoax materials to commit a terrorist act; defining terms; prohibiting false threats or conveying false information in certain instances; allowing for economic loss as restitution; and penalties.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seventeen, article six, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said chapter be further amended by adding thereto a new article, designated article six-a, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. CRIMES AGAINST THE PEACE.

§61-6-17. False reports concerning bombs or other explosive devices; penalties.
(a) Any person who shall impart or convey or cause to be imparted or conveyed any false information, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe such information to be false, concerning the presence of any bomb or other explosive device in, at, on, near, under or against any dwelling house, structure, improvement, building, bridge, motor vehicle, vessel, boat, railroad car, airplane or other place, or concerning an attempt or alleged attempt being made or to be made to so place or explode any such bomb or other explosive device, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one two thousand dollars, or by confinement in the county jail for not more than one year a state correctional facility for not less than one nor more than three years, or both.
(b) Any person violating any provision of subsection (a) of this section shall, for the second or any subsequent offense under this section, be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for not less than one year nor more than five years, or both, or, in the discretion of the court, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars and by confinement in the county jail for not more than one year.
(b) If any person violates any provision of this section and the violation directly causes economic harm as defined in subsection (c) of this section, in addition to any other penalty, the circuit court may order the offender to pay the victim or victims restitution, in accordance with the provisions of article eleven-a of this chapter, for economic loss caused by such violation, in an amount not to exceed the economic harm suffered. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the circuit court's authority to order restitution pursuant to the provisions of this code.
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, any person violating the provisions of subsection (a) of this section whose violation of the subsection results in another suffering serious bodily injury shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a correctional facility for not less than one nor more than five years or fined not more than ten thousand dollars, or both. Each such injury covered by a violation of subsection (a) shall constitute a separate offense.
(c) As used in this section "economic harm" means all direct, incidental, and consequential pecuniary harm suffered by a victim as a result of criminal conduct. "Economic harm" includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(1) All wages, salaries, or other compensation lost as a result of the terrorist act;
(2) The cost of all wages, salaries, or other compensation paid to employees for time those employees are prevented from working as a result of the terrorist act;
(3) The cost of all wages, salaries or other compensation paid to employees for time those employees spent in reacting to the results of the terrorist act.
(4) The overhead costs incurred for the time that a business is shut down as a result of the terrorist act;
(5) The loss of value to tangible or intangible property that was damaged as a result of the terrorist conduct.
 ARTICLE 6A. CRIMES AGAINST THE PUBLIC SAFETY AND CONFIDENCE.
§61-6A-1. Short title.
This article shall be known and cited as "The West Virginia Terrorist Threat Act."
§61-6A-2. Definitions.
As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) "Biological agent" means any micro-organism, virus, infectious substance, or biological product designed or engineered as a result of biotechnology, or any naturally occurring or bioengineered component of any microorganism, virus, infectious substance, or biological product, capable of causing:
(1) Death, disease, or other biological malfunction in a human, an animal, a plant, or another living organism;
(2) Deterioration of food, water, equipment, supplies, or material of any kind; or
(3)
Deleterious alteration of the environment.

(b) "Counterfeit biological agent, nuclear material, nuclear byproduct material, toxic chemical, toxin, or vector" means a substance which, or the container or labeling of which, without authorization bears the trademark, trade name, or other identifying, imprint, number or device, or any likeness of a biological agent, nuclear material, nuclear byproduct material, toxic chemical, toxin or vector or of any manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser other than the person who in fact manufactured, distributed or dispensed the biological agent, nuclear material, nuclear byproduct material, toxic chemical, toxin or vector.
(c) "Economic harm" means all direct, incidental, and consequential pecuniary harm suffered by a victim as a result of criminal conduct. "Economic harm" includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(1) All wages, salaries, or other compensation lost as a result of the terrorist act;
(2) The cost of all wages, salaries, or other compensation paid to employees for time those employees are prevented from working as a result of the terrorist act;
(3) The cost of all wages, salaries or other compensation paid to employees for time those employees spent in reacting to the results of the terrorist act.
(4) The overhead costs incurred for the time that a business is shut down as a result of the terrorist act;
(5) The loss of value to tangible or intangible property that was damaged as a result of the criminal conduct.
(d) "Hoax biological agent, nuclear material, nuclear byproduct material, toxic chemical, toxin or vector" means a substance which is not a biological agent, nuclear material, nuclear byproduct material, toxic chemical, toxin or vector but is falsely represented to be a biological agent, nuclear material, nuclear byproduct material, toxic chemical, toxin or vector, or a substance which is not a biological agent, nuclear material, nuclear byproduct material, toxic chemical, toxin or vector which is shaped, sized, colored, marked, imprinted, numbered, labeled, packaged, distributed, priced, delivered so as to cause a reasonable person to believe that the substance is a biological agent, nuclear material, nuclear byproduct material, toxic chemical, toxin or vector.
(e) "Nuclear material" means material containing any:

(1) Plutonium;
(2) Uranium not in the form of ore or ore residue that contains the mixture of isotopes as occurring in nature;
(3) Enriched uranium, which means uranium that contains the isotope 233 or 235 or both in such amount that the abundance ratio of the sum of those isotopes to the isotope 238 is greater than the ratio of the isotope 235 to the isotope 238 occurring in nature; or,
(4) Uranium 233;
(f) "Nuclear byproduct material" means any material containing any radioactive isotope created through an irradiation process in the operation of a nuclear reactor or accelerator;
(g) "Toxic chemical" means any chemical which through its chemical action on life processes can cause death, temporary incapacitation or permanent harm to humans or animals. The term includes all such chemicals, regardless of their origin or of their method of production, and regardless of whether they are produced in facilities, in munitions or elsewhere.
(h) "Terrorist act" means an act willfully and intentionally committed that is intended to:
(1) Intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(2) Influence the policy of a branch or level of government by intimidation or coercion;
(3) Affect the conduct of a branch or level of government by intimidation or coercion; or
(4) Retaliate against a branch or level of government for a policy or conduct of the government.
(i) "Toxin" means the toxic material of plants, animals, microorganisms, viruses, fungi, or infectious substances, or a recombinant molecule, whatever its origin or method of production, including any poisonous substance or biological product engineered as a result of biotechnology produced by a living organism; or any poisonous isomer or biological product, homology, or derivative of a poisonous substance or biological product.
(j) "Vector" means a living organism, or molecule, including a recombinant molecule, or biological product that may be engineered as a result of biotechnology, capable of carrying a biological agent or toxin to a host.
§61-6A-3. Manufacture, delivery or possession or use of a counterfeit or hoax biological agent, nuclear material, nuclear byproduct material, toxic chemical, toxin or vector; threats cause injury; penalties.

(a) It is unlawful for any person to manufacture, deliver, or possess a counterfeit biological agent, nuclear material, nuclear byproduct material, toxic chemical, toxin or vector with the specific intent to commit a terrorist act. Any person who violates the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a state correctional facility for a not less than one nor more than three years or fined not more than five thousand dollars, or both.
(b) It is unlawful for any person to manufacture, deliver, or possess a hoax biological agent, nuclear material, nuclear byproduct material, toxic chemical, toxin or vector with the specific intent to commit a terrorist act. Any person who violates the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a regional or county jail for not less than one year nor more than three years or fined not less than five thousand dollars, or both.
(c) It is unlawful for any person to use a counterfeit or hoax biological agent, nuclear material, nuclear byproduct material, toxic chemical, toxin or vector with the specific intent to commit a terrorist act. Any person who violates the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than three years or fined not more than five thousand dollars, or both.
(d) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly and willfully make any threat, or convey false information knowing the same to be false, concerning an attempt or alleged attempt being made, or to be made, to kill, injure, or intimidate any individual or unlawfully damage or destroy any building, vehicle, or other real or personal property by means of a biological agent, nuclear material, nuclear byproduct material, toxic chemical, toxin or vector. Any person who violates the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than three years or fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or both.
 §61-6A-4. Violations causing economic harm.
If any person violates any provision of this article and the violation directly causes economic harm as defined in section one of this article, in addition to any other penalty, the circuit court may order the offender to pay the victim or victims, restitution in accordance with the provisions of article eleven-a of this chapter for the economic harm caused by such violation in an amount not to exceed the economic harm suffered. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the circuit court's authority to order restitution pursuant to other provisions of this code.