H. B. 3061


(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegates Fahey,
Shaver, Ennis, Pino, Swartzmiller and Paxton)
[Introduced March 29, 2001; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]



A BILL to amend and reenact section fifteen-a, article two, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to providing that battery of an athletic official committed at an athletic event is a felony; and, criminal penalties.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fifteen-a, article two, 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 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
§61-2-15a. Assault, battery on athletic officials; penalties.

(a) If any person commits an assault as defined in subsection (b), section nine of this article, to the person of an athletic official during the time the official is acting as an athletic official at an athletic event, the offender is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, and imprisoned in the county jail not less than twenty-four hours nor more than thirty days.
(b) If any person commits a battery, as defined in subsection (c), section nine of this article, against an athletic official during the time the official is acting as an athletic official at an athletic event, the offender is guilty of a misdemeanor felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one hundred thousand dollars nor more than five hundred thousand dollars, and imprisoned in the county jail a correctional facility not less than twenty-four hours one nor more than thirty days two years.
(c) For the purpose of this section, "athletic official" means a person at a sports event who enforces the rules of that event, such as an umpire or referee, or a person who supervises the participants, such as a coach.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that battery of an athletic official committed while the person is acting as an official at a sporting event is a felony. The bill also provides criminal penalties for the crime.

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