Senate Bill No. 519
(By Senators Anderson, Caldwell, Helmick, Ross, Minard, Sharpe
and Hunter)
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[Introduced March 19, 2001; referred to the Committee on
Agriculture; and then to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article nineteen, chapter nineteen of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
six, relating to liability for damage or destruction of an
agriculture field test crop; and recoverable damages.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article nineteen, chapter nineteen of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section six, to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 19. PRESERVATION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION.
§19-19-6. Liability for damage or destruction of agriculture field test crop; damages.
(a) Any person who willfully and knowingly damages, or allows
an instrumentality within his or her control to damage, a field
crop product that is grown for personal or commercial purposes, or
for testing or research purposes in the context of a product
development program in conjunction or coordination with a private
research facility or a university or any federal, state or local
government agency, is liable for twice the value of the crop
damaged or destroyed.
(b) In awarding damages under this section, the court shall
consider the market value of the crop prior to damage or
destruction and the production, research, testing, replacement and
crop development costs directly related to the crop that has been
damaged or destroyed, as part of the value of the crop.
(c) Damages available under this section are limited to twice
the market value of the crop prior to damage or destruction plus
twice the actual damages involving production, research, testing,
replacement and crop development costs directly related to the crop
that has been damaged or destroyed.
(d) The rights and remedies available under this section are
in addition to any other rights or remedies otherwise available in law or statute.
(e) For purposes of this section, the word "person" means an
individual, group, association, corporation or any other entity.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create an action for
damage to, or destruction of, an agriculture field test crop and to
establish the monetary damages recoverable in court.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.