ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 6002
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Sprouse,
By Request of the Executive)
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[Passed November 30, 2001; in effect from passage.]
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AN ACT 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 article by adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty-four, all relating to acts which threaten public safety; prohibiting threats of terrorist acts; prohibiting conveying false information concerning a terrorist act; prohibiting using hoax substances or devices to commit a terrorist act; providing penalties; requiring restitution and reimbursement; and providing definitions.

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 article be further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty- four, 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 imparts or conveys or causes to be imparted or conveyed any false information, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe the 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 bomb or other explosive device is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than two thousand dollars or confined in a state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than three years, or both.
(b) If any person violates any provision of this section and the violation directly causes economic harm as defined in subsection (d) 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 the violation in an amount not to exceed the economic harm suffered. Nothing in this section may be construed to limit the circuit court's authority to order restitution pursuant to other 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 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 five years or fined not more than ten thousand dollars, or both. Each injury resulting from a violation of subsection (a) of this section constitutes a separate offense.
(d) 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, the following:
(1) All wages, salaries or other compensation lost as a result of the criminal conduct;
(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 criminal conduct;
(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 criminal conduct; or
(4) The overhead costs incurred for the time that a business is shut down as a result of the criminal conduct.

§61-6-24. Threats of terrorist acts, conveying false information concerning terrorist acts and committing terrorist hoaxes prohibited; penalties.

(a) As used in this section:
(1) "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, the following:
(A) All wages, salaries or other compensation lost as a result of the criminal conduct;
(B) 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 criminal conduct;
(C) The cost of all wages, salaries or other compensation paid to employees for time those employees spent in reacting to the results of the criminal conduct; or
(D) The overhead costs incurred for the time that a business is shut down as a result of the criminal conduct.
(2) "Hoax substance or device" means any substance or device that is shaped, sized, colored, marked, imprinted, numbered, labeled, packaged, distributed, priced or delivered so as to cause a reasonable person to believe that the substance or device is of a nature which is capable of causing serious bodily injury or damage to property or the environment.
(3) "Terrorist act" means an act that is:
(A) Likely to result in serious bodily injury or damage to property or the environment; and
(B) Intended to:
(i) Intimidate or coerce the civilian population;
(ii) Influence the policy of a branch or level of government by intimidation or coercion;
(iii) Affect the conduct of a branch or level of government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iv) Retaliate against a branch or level of government for a policy or conduct of the government.
(b) Any person who knowingly and willfully threatens to commit a terrorist act, without the intent to commit the act, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than five thousand dollars nor more than twenty-five thousand dollars or confined in a state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than three years, or both.
(c) Any person who knowingly and willfully conveys false information knowing the information to be false concerning an attempt or alleged attempt being made or to be made of a terrorist act is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than five thousand dollars nor more than twenty-five thousand dollars or confined in a state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than three years, or both.
(d) Any person who uses a hoax substance or device with the specific intent to commit a terrorist act is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than ten thousand dollars nor more than fifty thousand dollars or confined in a state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than five years, or both.
(e) The court shall order any person convicted of an offense under this section to pay the victim restitution in an amount not to exceed the total amount of any economic harm suffered.
(f) The court shall order any person convicted of an offense under this section to reimburse the state or any subdivision of the state for any expenses incurred by the state or the subdivision incident to its response to a violation of this section.
(g) The conviction of any person under the provisions of this section does not preclude or otherwise limit any civil proceedings arising from the same act.