Senate Bill No. 661
(By Senator Barnes)
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[Introduced February 13, 2008; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §61-3B-2 and §61-3B-3 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to increasing
penalties for certain criminal trespassing offenses.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-3B-2 and §61-3B-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931,
as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3B. TRESPASS.
§61-3B-2. Trespass in structure or conveyance.
Any person who knowingly enters in, upon or under a structure
or conveyance without being authorized, licensed or invited, or
having been authorized, licensed or invited is requested to depart
by the owner, tenant or the agent of such owner or tenant, and
refuses to do so, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one hundred
dollars nor more than one five hundred dollars.
If the offender is armed with a firearm or other dangerous
weapon while in the structure or conveyance, with the unlawful and felonious intent to do bodily injury to a human being in said
structure or conveyance at the time the offender knowingly
trespasses, such offender shall, notwithstanding the provisions of
section one, article seven, chapter sixty-one of this code, be
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than one hundred thousand dollars nor more than five
hundred two thousand dollars, or be confined in jail for a period
not to exceed twelve months or both such fine and imprisonment or
both fined and imprisoned.
§61-3B-3. Trespass on property other than structure or
conveyance.
(a) Any person who knowingly and without being authorized,
licensed or invited, enters or remains on any property, other than
a structure or conveyance, as to which notice against entering or
remaining is either given by actual communication to such person or
by posting, fencing or cultivation, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than one hundred dollars nor more than one five hundred dollars.
(b) If the offender defies an order to leave, personally
communicated to him or her by the owner, tenant or agent of such
owner or tenant, or if the offender opens any door, fence or gate,
and thereby exposes animals, crops or other property to waste,
destruction or freedom, or causes any damage to property by such
trespassing on property other than a structure or conveyance, he or
she shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not less than one five hundred dollars nor more than five hundred one thousand dollars or imprisoned in the county jail
for a period not to exceed six months, or both such fine and
imprisonment.
(c) If the offender is armed with a firearm or other dangerous
weapon with the unlawful and felonious intent to do bodily injury
to a human being during his or her commission of the offense of
trespass on property other than a structure or conveyance, such
offender shall, notwithstanding the provisions of section one,
article seven, chapter sixty-one of this code, be guilty of a
misdemeanor felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined
in the county jail for a term not to exceed six months, or fined
not more than one hundred dollars, or both such fine and
imprisonment fined not less than one thousand dollars nor more than
two thousand dollars or imprisoned in a state correctional facility
not less than one year, or both fined and imprisoned.
(d) Notwithstanding and in addition to any other penalties
provided by law, any person who performs or causes damage to
property in the course of a willful trespass shall be liable to the
property owner in the amount of twice the amount of such damage:
Provided, That the provisions of this article shall not apply in a
labor dispute.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase penalties for
certain criminal trespassing offenses.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.