H. B. 3081
(By Delegate Ennis)
[Introduced March 17, 2005; 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 §61-1-10, relating to
making it a crime for a person to fail to appear in court on
a criminal matter when under a mandate to do so; and providing
a penalty for violation.
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 §61-1-10, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1. CRIMES AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT.
§61-1-10.
Failure to Appear; penalties.
Where any person has failed to appear in any court in this
state on a criminal matter in accordance with a citation, summons,
warrant, bond or court ordered continuance, in addition to any
other remedies provided in this code, that person is guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more
than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned in jail not more than thirty days. Each court date missed constitutes a separate
offense.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make it a misdemeanor for
a person to fail to appear for court.
This section is new; therefore strike-throughs and underlining
have been omitted.