H. B. 2169
(By Delegate Webb)
[Introduced January 13, 2003; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section thirty, article three, chapter
sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to providing the
felony offense of destruction of property when the cost of the
property damage exceeds one thousand dollars.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirty, article three, 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 3. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY.
§61-3-30. Removal, injury to or destruction of property, monuments
designating land boundaries and of certain no
trespassing signs; penalties.
(a) If any person unlawfully, but not feloniously, take and
carry away, or destroy, injure or deface any property, real or personal, not his own, and the replacement or repair cost of the
property is less than one thousand dollars he or she shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the
regional or county jail not more than one year, or both fined and
imprisoned.
(b) If any person unlawfully and feloniously, take and carry
away, or destroy, injure or deface any property, real or personal,
not his or her own, and the replacement or repair cost of the
property is one thousand dollars or greater, he or she shall be
guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
less than one thousand five hundred nor more than ten thousand
dollars, and imprisoned in a correctional facility not less than
one nor more than three years: Provided, That in order for a
person to be guilty of a felony under this subsection the value of
the property must have been at least one thousand dollars at the
time it was taken and carried away, destroyed, injured or defaced.
(c) If any person shall break down, destroy, injure, deface or
remove any monument erected for the purpose of designating the
boundaries of a municipality, tract or lot of land, or any tree
marked for that purpose, or any sign or notice upon private
property designating no trespassing upon
such the
property, except
signs or notices posted in accordance with the provisions and
purposes of sections seven, eight and ten, article two, chapter twenty of this code, he or she shall be guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than twenty
dollars nor more than two hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the
regional or county jail not less than one nor more than six months,
or both fined and imprisoned. Justices of the peace and
magistrates shall have concurrent jurisdiction of all offenses
arising under the provisions of this section. The provisions of
this paragraph shall not apply to the owner, or his agent, of the
lands on which
such the
signs or notices are posted.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the felony
offense of destruction of property when the replacement or repair
cost of the property involved exceeds $1,000. However, unless the
underlying value of the property wasn't at least $1,000 at the time
of the criminal act, a person cannot be found guilty of a felony in
spite of the repair or replacement cost. The bill also deletes
useless and archaic language.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.