H. B. 3193
(By Delegates Ellis, Eldridge, Rodighiero,
Reynolds, Boggs, Stephens, Fragale,
Kominar, Yost, Argento and Moore)
[Introduced February 22, 2007; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §61-2-15a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to doubling the fines for
assaulting athletic officials.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-2-15a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
§61-2-15a. Assault, battery on athletic officials; penalties.
(a) If any person commits an assault as defined in subsection
(b), section nine of this article, to the person of an athletic
official during the time the official is acting as an athletic
official, the offender is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty one hundred
dollars nor more than one two hundred dollars, and imprisoned in
the county jail not less than twenty-four hours nor more than
thirty days.
(b) If any person commits a battery, as defined in subsection (c), section nine of this article, against an athletic official
during the time the official is acting as an athletic official, the
offender is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not less than one two hundred dollars nor more than
five hundred one thousand dollars, and imprisoned in the county
jail not less than twenty-four hours nor more than thirty days.
(c) For the purpose of this section, "athletic official" means
a person at a sports event who enforces the rules of that event,
such as an umpire or referee, or a person who supervises the
participants, such as a coach.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to double the fines for
assaulting athletic officials.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.