Senate Bill No. 487
(By Senator Craigo and Rowe)
____________
[Introduced February 1, 2002; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
____________

A BILL to amend article three, chapter twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty-one-a, relating to creating the offense of damaging or tampering with fire safety systems or equipment in a jail or prison; and penalties.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article three, chapter twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty-one-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTROL ACT.

§29-3-21a. Tampering with fire safety equipment in prisons and jails; penalties.

(a) A person who destroys, damages or tampers with a fire safety system or fire safety equipment, including, but not limited to, a fire extinguisher, fire alarm, sprinkler system or standpipe system, situated in a county or regional jail or state correctional facility is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a county or regional jail for not more than six months. A person convicted of a second offense is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a county or regional jail not less than six months nor more than one year. A person convicted of a third or subsequent offense is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in a state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than three years.
(b) A sentence resulting from a conviction under subsection (a) of this section may not run concurrently with any other sentence. A person imprisoned in a county or regional jail or state correctional facility at the time of sentencing pursuant to a conviction under subsection (a) of this section may be required to serve that sentence in the county or regional jail or state correctional facility where the person is imprisoned at the time of sentencing.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the offense of damaging or tampering with fire safety systems or equipment in a jail or prison.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.