H. B. 4269
(By Delegates Fleischauer, Amores, Kominar,
Caputo, Palumbo, Brown and Faircloth)
[Introduced
February 3, 2004
; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend
the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended by
adding thereto a new section, designated §61-3-5a
,
relating to
establishing the offense of setting fires in a public right of
way as arson in the fifth degree
; providing a criminal penalty
for violations
;
and, providing for enhanced penalties for
subsequent violations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That
the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §61-3-5a
, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 3. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY.
§61-3-5a. Burning personal property in a right of way; fifth
degree arson; penalties.
No person may willfully and maliciously set fire to or burn,
or cause to be burned, or aid, counsel, procure, persuade, incite, entice or solicit any other person to burn, anything in a public
right-of-way.
A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty
of arson in the fifth degree and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand
dollars or sentenced to a county or regional jail for a first
offense for not less than thirty days nor more than one year or
both fined and confined.
A person who violates the provisions of this section for a
second or subsequent offense is guilty of arson in the fifth degree
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one
thousand dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars or sentenced to
a state correctional facility for
a term of imprisonment which is
not less than one nor more than three years or both fined and
confined.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish the crime of
setting fires in public rights-of-way
as arson in the fifth degree.
The bill provides criminal penalties for violations with enhanced
penalties for subsequent violations.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.