Senate Bill No. 456
(By Senator Bailey)
____________
[Introduced March 9, 2001; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
____________
A BILL to amend chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article thirteen, relating
to enacting the fraud offense registration act; requiring
registration of persons convicted of criminal offenses of
fraud against persons, corporations or other entities in this
state; and prohibiting those persons from obtaining a license
or other authority to engage in business in this state.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding
thereto a new article, designated article thirteen, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 13. FRAUD OFFENSE REGISTRATION ACT.
§61-13-1. Short title.
This article may be cited as the "Fraud Offense Registration
Act."
§61-13-2. Registration.
(a) Any person, corporation or other entity convicted of a
violation of committing a fraud, any person, corporation or other
entity in this state under the provisions of any chapter of this
code or in another jurisdiction must register as set forth in this
article. Any person who has been convicted of an attempt to commit
any offense of fraud as set forth in any chapter of this code must
register as set forth in this article.
(b) On the date that any person, who acted individually or as
an agent, officer, director or other representative of a
corporation or other entity, convicted of the crime of fraud as
stated in this article is released, is granted probation, is
granted a suspended sentence, is released on parole or probation,
or is ordered to be placed on home detention, the commissioner of
corrections, regional jail supervisor or city or sheriff operating
a jail which releases that person and any parole or probation
officer who releases that person or supervises the person following the release shall obtain all information required by this
subsection prior to the release of the person and shall send
written notice of the release of the person to the state police and
secretary of state within three days of receiving the information.
The notice shall include:
(1) The full name of the person, who acted individually or as
an agent, officer, director or other representative of a
corporation or other entity;
(2) The address where the person resides or where the business
of the corporation or other entity operates;
(3) The person's social security number;
(4) A recent photograph of the person;
(5) A brief description of the crime for which the person was
convicted; and
(6) Fingerprints.
(c) At the time the person, who acted individually or as an
agent, officer, director or other representative of a corporation
or other entity is convicted of a crime set forth in subsection (a)
of this section, the person shall sign in open court, a statement
acknowledging that he or she understands the requirements imposed
by this article. The court shall inform the person so convicted of the requirements to register imposed by this article and shall
further satisfy itself by interrogation of the defendant or his or
her counsel that the defendant has received notice of the
provisions of this article and that the defendant understands the
provisions. The statement, when signed and witnessed constitutes
prima facie evidence that the person had knowledge of the
requirements of this article.
(d) When a person required to register under this article is
released following incarceration, the commissioner of corrections,
the regional jail supervisor or the city or sheriff or any other
person supervising the operation of the place of confinement shall,
within three days, inform the state police and secretary of state
of the release and provide such further information as is required
by this article.
(e) The state police and the secretary of state shall maintain
a central registry of all persons, convicted of criminal fraud, who
acted individually or as an agent, officer, director or other
representative of a corporation or other entity who register under
this article and may release information only as provided in this
article.
§61-13-3. Duration of registration requirement.
Any person required to register under this article must do so
for a period of ten years after conviction for the offense defined
herein if not imprisoned, and if imprisoned, for a period of ten
years after release from prison by discharge or parole. A person
is no longer required to register at the expiration of ten years
from the date of initial registration, when that convicted person
is not otherwise required, during that period, to register. A
person whose conviction is overturned for the offense which
required them to register under this article may petition the court
for removal of their name from the registry.
§61-13-4. Prohibition from obtaining license to engage in
business.
Any person, corporation or other entity who is convicted of
any criminal offense of committing a fraud against any person,
corporation or other entity in this state under the provisions of
any chapter of this code or in another jurisdiction is prohibited
from engaging any business activity in this state and is not
eligible to obtain any business license, certificate or charter or
other authority to engage in any business activity in this state as
a sole proprietor, partner or officer, director or incorporator of
any corporation.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require registration of
any person convicted of a criminal offense of fraud against a
person, corporation or other business entity of this state and to
bar that person from obtaining a license to engage in business in
this state, either as a sole proprietor, partner, incorporator,
officer or director of a corporation.
This article is new; therefore strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.