Senate Bill No. 570

(By Senator Rowe and Mitchell)

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[Introduced February 12, 2002; referred to the Committee

on the Judiciary.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-seven, article three, chapter twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to increasing the criminal offense for a false fire alarm to a felony.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-seven, article three, chapter twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTROL ACT.
§29-3-27. Penalties.

(a) Any person who violates any regulations promulgated by the state fire commission as provided in section five of this article, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned in the county or regional jail not more than ninety days, or both fined and imprisoned.
Each and every day during which any illegal erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, maintenance or use continues after knowledge or official notice that same is illegal shall be deemed considered a separate offense.
(b) Any person who violates the provisions of section twenty-one of this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined for a first offense not more than one hundred five thousand dollars or imprisoned in the county jail for not more than thirty days a state correctional facility for not less than one nor more than three years, or both fined and imprisoned. and for a second and each subsequent offense fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned in the county jail for not less than ninety days nor more than one year, or both fined and imprisoned.
(c) Any officer who shall fail to perform any duty required of him or her by this article or who shall violate any of its provisions shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than fifty dollars for each failure or violation.
(d) Any person who violates any other provision of this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the county or regional jail not more than ninety days, or both fined and imprisoned.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the criminal offense for a false fire alarm to a felony.

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