ENGROSSED
Senate Bill No. 702
(By Senator Ross)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported March 28, 2001.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections eleven-a and fourteen, article
seven, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating to
permitting probation officers to carry weapons on private
property and in courthouses.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections eleven-a and fourteen, article seven, chapter
sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 7. DANGEROUS WEAPONS.
§61-7-11a. Possessing deadly weapons on premises of educational
facilities; reports by school principals; suspension of driver
license; possessing deadly weapons on premises housing courts
of law and in family court offices.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds that the safety and welfare
of the citizens of this state are inextricably dependent upon
assurances of safety for children attending, and the persons
employed by, schools in this state and for those persons employed with the judicial department of this state. It is for the purpose
of providing such assurances of safety, therefore, that subsections
(b), (g) and (h) of this section are enacted as a reasonable
regulation of the manner in which citizens may exercise those
rights accorded to them pursuant to section twenty-two, article
three of the constitution of the state of West Virginia.
(b) (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess any
firearm or any other deadly weapon on any school bus as defined in
section one, article one, chapter seventeen-a of this code or in or
on any public or private primary or secondary education building,
structure, facility or grounds thereof, including any vocational
education building, structure, facility or grounds thereof where
secondary vocational education programs are conducted or at any
school-sponsored function.
(2) This subsection shall not apply to:
(A) A law-enforcement officer acting in his or her official
capacity;
(B) A person specifically authorized by the board of education
of the county or principal of the school where the property is
located to conduct programs with valid educational purposes;
(C) A person who, as otherwise permitted by the provisions of
this article, possesses an unloaded firearm or deadly weapon in a
motor vehicle or leaves an unloaded firearm or deadly weapon in a
locked motor vehicle;
(D) Programs or raffles conducted with the approval of the
county board of education or school which include the display of unloaded firearms; or
(E) The official mascot of West Virginia university, commonly
known as "The Mountaineer", acting in his or her official capacity.
(3) Any person violating this subsection shall be is guilty of
a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned confined
in the penitentiary of this state a state correctional facility for
a definite term of years of not less than two years nor more than
ten years or fined not more than five thousand dollars, or both
fined and confined.
(c) It shall be the duty of the principal of each school
subject to the authority of the state board of education to report
any violation of subsection (b) of this section discovered by such
principal to the state superintendent of schools within seventy-two
hours after such violation occurs. The state board of education
shall keep and maintain such reports and may prescribe rules
establishing policy and procedures for the making and delivery of
the same as required by this subsection. In addition, it shall be
the duty of the principal of each school subject to the authority
of the state board of education to report any violation of
subsection (b) of this section discovered by such principal to the
appropriate local office of the division of public safety within
seventy-two hours after such violation occurs.
(d) In addition to the methods of disposition provided by
article five, chapter forty-nine of this code, any court which
adjudicates a person who is fourteen years of age or older as
delinquent for a violation of subsection (b) of this section may, in its discretion, order the division of motor vehicles to suspend
any driver's license or instruction permit issued to such person
for such period of time as the court may deem appropriate, such
suspension, however, not to extend beyond such person's nineteenth
birthday; or, where such person has not been issued a driver's
license or instruction permit by this state, order the division of
motor vehicles to deny such person's application for the same for
such period of time as the court may deem appropriate, such denial,
however, not to extend beyond such person's nineteenth birthday.
Any suspension ordered by the court pursuant to this subsection
shall be effective upon the date of entry of such order. Where the
court orders the suspension of a driver's license or instruction
permit pursuant to this subsection, the court shall confiscate any
driver's license or instruction permit in the adjudicated person's
possession and forward the same to the division of motor vehicles.
(e) (1) If a person eighteen years of age or older is
convicted of violating subsection (b) of this section and if such
person does not act to appeal such conviction within the time
periods described in subdivision (2) of this subsection, such
person's license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle in this
state shall be revoked in accordance with the provisions of this
section.
(2) The clerk of the court in which the person is convicted as
described in subdivision (1) of this subsection shall forward to
the commissioner a transcript of the judgment of conviction. If
the conviction is the judgment of a magistrate court, the magistrate court clerk shall forward such transcript when the
person convicted has not requested an appeal within twenty days of
the sentencing for such conviction. If the conviction is the
judgment of a circuit court, the circuit clerk shall forward such
transcript when the person convicted has not filed a notice of
intent to file a petition for appeal or writ of error within thirty
days after the judgment was entered.
(3) If, upon examination of the transcript of the judgment of
conviction, the commissioner shall determine that the person was
convicted as described in subdivision (1) of this subsection, the
commissioner shall make and enter an order revoking such person's
license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle in this state for
a period of one year or, in the event the person is a student
enrolled in a secondary school, for a period of one year or until
the person's twentieth birthday, whichever is the greater period.
The order shall contain the reasons for the revocation and the
revocation period. The order of suspension shall advise the person
that because of the receipt of the court's transcript, a
presumption exists that the person named in the order of suspension
is the same person named in the transcript. The commissioner may
grant an administrative hearing which substantially complies with
the requirements of the provisions of section two, article five-a,
chapter seventeen-c of this code upon a preliminary showing that a
possibility exists that the person named in the notice of
conviction is not the same person whose license is being suspended.
Such request for hearing shall be made within ten days after receipt of a copy of the order of suspension. The sole purpose of
this hearing shall be for the person requesting the hearing to
present evidence that he or she is not the person named in the
notice. In the event the commissioner grants an administrative
hearing, the commissioner shall stay the license suspension pending
the commissioner's order resulting from the hearing.
(4) For the purposes of this subsection, a person is convicted
when such person enters a plea of guilty or is found guilty by a
court or jury.
(f) (1) It shall be is unlawful for any parent(s), guardian(s)
or custodian(s) of a person less than eighteen years of age minor
who knows that said person minor is in violation of subsection (b)
of this section, or who has reasonable cause to believe that said
person's minor's violation of said subsection is imminent, to fail
to immediately report such knowledge or belief to the appropriate
school or law-enforcement officials.
(2) Any person violating this subsection shall be is guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more
than one thousand dollars or shall be confined in the county or
regional jail not more than one year, or both fined and confined.
(g) (1) It shall be is unlawful for any person to possess any
firearm or any other deadly weapon on any premises which houses a
court of law or in the offices of a family law master court judge.
(2) This subsection shall not apply to:
(A) A law-enforcement officer acting in his or her official
capacity;
(B) A probation officer entering or exiting his or her office
located in a courthouse; and
(C) A person exempted from the provisions of this subsection
by order of record entered by a court with jurisdiction over such
premises or offices.
(3) Any person violating this subsection shall be is guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more
than one thousand dollars or shall be confined in a county or
regional jail not more than one year, or both fined and confined.
(h) (1) It shall be is unlawful for any person to possess any
firearm or any other deadly weapon on any premises which houses a
court of law or in the offices of a family law master with the
intent to commit a crime.
(2) Any person violating this subsection shall be is guilty of
a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned confined
in the penitentiary of this state a state correctional facility for
a definite term of years of not less than two years nor more than
ten years or fined not more than five thousand dollars, or both
fined and confined.
(i) Nothing in this section may be construed to be in conflict
with the provisions of federal law.
§61-7-14. Right of certain persons to limit possession of firearms
on premises.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this article, any owner,
lessee or other person charged with the care, custody and control
of real property may prohibit the carrying openly or concealed of any firearm or deadly weapon on property under his or her domain:
Provided, That, for purposes of this section, "person" means an
individual or any entity which may acquire title to real property.
Any person carrying or possessing a firearm or other deadly
weapon on the property of another who refuses to temporarily
relinquish possession of such firearm or other deadly weapon, upon
being requested to do so, or to leave such premises while in
possession of such firearm or other deadly weapon, shall be is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not more than one thousand dollars or confined in the county
or regional jail not more than six months, or both fined and
confined: Provided, That the provisions of this section shall not
apply to those persons set forth in subsections (3) through (6)
(7), inclusive, of section six of this code article while such
persons are acting in an official capacity: Provided, however, That
under no circumstances may any person possess or carry or cause the
possession or carrying of any firearm or other deadly weapon on the
premises of any primary or secondary educational facility in this
state unless such person is a law-enforcement officer, or he or she
has the express written permission of the county school
superintendent.
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(Note: The purpose of this bill is to exempt probation
officers from the prohibitions against the carrying of weapons upon
private property in the conduct of official business.)
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.