H. B. 4278
(By Delegates Fletcher, Anderson, Webster,
Hrutkay, Amores and Michael)
[Introduced January 29, 2002; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend article ten, chapter twenty-one of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by
adding thereto four new sections, designated sections sixteen,
seventeen, eighteen and nineteen, all relating to amusement
ride safety; providing a criminal penalty for any person who
operates or assembles an amusement ride while intoxicated;
allowing suspension and revocation of permits; limiting age of
amusement ride operators and permittees; and providing civil
penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article ten, chapter twenty-one of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto four new sections, designated sections sixteen, seventeen, eighteen and nineteen, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. AMUSEMENT RIDES AND AMUSEMENT ATTRACTIONS SAFETY ACT.
§21-10-16. Operating or assembling an amusement ride while
intoxicated; criminal penalty.
(a) A person may not operate an amusement ride or assemble an
amusement ride while the person is intoxicated.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "intoxicated" means
influenced or affected by the ingestion of alcohol, a controlled
substance, any intoxicant or any combination of alcohol, controlled
substances and intoxicants, to such a degree that the operator's
reactions, motor skills and judgment are substantially altered.
For purposes of this section a person is intoxicated if the person
has an alcohol concentration in his or her blood of five hundredths
of one percent or more, by weight.
(c) Any law-enforcement officer may arrest without a warrant
a person who, in his or her presence, violates subsection (a) of
this section.
(d) A person who violates subsection (a) of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined no less than one thousand dollars and not more than twenty
thousand dollars, and confined in the county or regional jail for
no less than sixty days and no more than one year.
(e) The clerk of the magistrate court or circuit court in
which a person is convicted of a violation of this section shall,
within ten days of the conviction, or the entering of a guilty plea
or a plea of nolo contendere to a violation of this section, notify
the commissioner of labor of the conviction or plea.
§21-10-17. Minimum age for operating amusement ride.
No individual under the age of eighteen may be issued a permit
under this article or operate an amusement ride.
§21-10-18. Revocation and suspension of permits.
The commissioner may revoke or temporarily suspend all permits
issued under the provisions of this article, held by:
(1) An individual who has been convicted of, or entered a
guilty plea or a plea of nolo contendere to, a violation of
subsection (a), section sixteen of this article; or
(2) Any legal entity who has an employee or contractor who is
convicted of, or enters a guilty plea or a plea of nolo contendere
to, a violation of subsection (a), section sixteen of this article.
§21-10-19. Civil penalties for violations.
(a) If an individual is convicted of, or enters a guilty plea
or a plea of nolo contendere to, a violation of subsection (a),
section sixteen of this article, and the individual was not the
owner of the ride being operated or assembled, the commissioner may impose a civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars on the
owner of the ride being operated or assembled.
(b) All civil penalties collected by the commissioner shall be
deposited into the amusement rides and amusement attractions safety
fund, created in section four of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide criminal and
civil penalties for individuals operating or assembling amusement
rides while intoxicated, as well as for the permittee of the ride.
The bill also requires that amusement ride operators and permittees
be at least 18 years old.
All sections in this bill are new; therefore, strike-throughs
and underscoring have been omitted.