H. B. 4143


(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss (By Request), and

Delegates Amores, Dempsey and Boggs)

[Introduced January 24, 2002; referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary.]
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 parents parent, guardians guardian or custodians custodian 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
(B) (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 court judge 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 concealing 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.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt probation officers from the prohibitions against the carrying of weapons in courthouses and 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.