ENGROSSED

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

Senate Bill No. 459

(By Senators Redd, Rowe, Mitchell and Snyder)

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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;

reported April 2, 2001.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-three, article six, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to hotel and restaurants; creating misdemeanor offense for certain discriminatory practices; and establishing penalties.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-three, article six, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS.

§16-6-23. Offenses.

(a) Any person, firm or corporation who shall operate a hotel or a restaurant in this state or who shall let a building to be used for such purposes, without first having complied with the provisions of this article, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined five dollars for each day such failure to comply shall continue.
(b) No keeper of a hotel or restaurant shall refuse service to any person based upon that person's mode of transportation or the fact that the person has the name of a motorcycle club or other insignia pertaining to motorcycles on his or her clothing. Any person violating the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in an amount not exceeding three hundred dollars.