H. B. 2536


(By Delegates Michael, Mezzatesta,

Stemple and Williams)


[Introduced February 26, 2001; referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary.]




A BILL to amend and reenact section seventeen, article five, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to crimes; obstructing an officer; fleeing from an officer; clarifying that it is a crime to provide false information to a law-enforcement officer; providing for criminal penalties; and providing that any law-enforcement officer who witnesses or who is aggrieved by a criminal violation of obstructing an officer of the law or fleeing from an officer of the law may either arrest the offender or cite or summons the offender to court regardless of any the law-enforcement officer's jurisdiction.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That section seventeen, article five, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 5. CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC JUSTICE.

§61-5-17. Obstructing or interfering with officer; false information; fleeing from officer; fleeing from officer in a vehicle; penalties; definitions.

(a) Any person who by threats, menaces, acts or otherwise, forcibly or illegally hinders or obstructs, or attempts to hinder or obstruct, any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer acting in his or her official capacity is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars, and may, in the discretion of the court, be confined in the county or regional jail not more than one year.
(b) Any person who at any time intercepts, molests or interferes with any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer acting in his or her official capacity , or who knowingly gives false or misleading information to any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer acting in his or her official capacity 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 imprisoned in the county or regional jail for not more than sixty days, or both fined and imprisoned.
(b) (c) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee by any means other than the use of a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer acting in his or her official capacity who is attempting to make a lawful arrest of the person, and who knows or reasonably believes that the officer is attempting to arrest him or her, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars, and may, in the discretion of the court, be confined in the county or regional jail not more than one year.
(c) (d) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer acting in his or her official capacity, after the officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the person to stop, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars, and shall be confined in the county or regional jail not more than one year.
(d) (e) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer acting in his or her official capacity, after the officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the person to stop, and who causes damage to the real or personal property of any person during or resulting from his or her flight, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one thousand nor more than three thousand dollars, and shall be confined in the county or regional jail for not less than six months nor more than one year.
(e) (f) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer acting in his or her official capacity, after the officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the person to stop, and who causes bodily injury to any person during or resulting from his or her flight, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a state correctional facility not less than one nor more than five years.
(f) (g) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer acting in his or her official capacity, after the officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the person to stop, and who causes death to any person during or resulting from his or her flight, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a definite term of imprisonment in a state correctional facility which is not less than three nor more than fifteen years. A person imprisoned pursuant to the provisions of this subsection is not eligible for parole prior to having served a minimum of three years of his or her sentence or the minimum period required by the provisions of section thirteen, article twelve, chapter sixty-two of this code, whichever is greater.
(g) (h) Any person who intentionally flees or attempts to flee in a vehicle from any law-enforcement officer, probation officer or parole officer acting in his or her official capacity, after the officer has given a clear visual or audible signal directing the person to stop, and who is under the influence of alcohol, controlled substances or drugs at the time, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a state correctional facility not less than one nor more than five years.
(h) (i) For purposes of this section, the term "vehicle" includes any motor vehicle, motorcycle, motorboat, all-terrain vehicle or snowmobile, as those terms are defined in section one, article one, chapter seventeen-a of this code, whether or not it is being operated on a public highway at the time and whether or not it is licensed by the state.
(i) (j) For purposes of this section, the terms "flee," "fleeing" and "flight" do not include any person's reasonable attempt to travel to a safe place, allowing the pursuing law-enforcement officer to maintain appropriate surveillance, for the purpose of complying with the officer's direction to stop.
(k) Any law-enforcement officer who witnesses or who is the victim of any violation of the provisions of this section may either arrest or issue a citation or summons to any person or persons violating the provisions of this section notwithstanding any other limitation in this code upon the powers or jurisdiction of that law-enforcement officer.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify that any law-enforcement officer may arrest or issue a citation or summons to any person who obstructs that officer in the performance of his or her official duties. The bill also clarifies that providing false information to a law-enforcement officer is unlawful.

 Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.