Senate Bill No. 209
(By Senators Kessler, Edgell, Green, D. Facemire and Laird)
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[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §61-2-10b of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to making it a criminal act to
assault emergency medical service personnel acting in their
official capacities.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-2-10b of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
§61-2-10b. Malicious assault; unlawful assault; battery; and
malicious assault on governmental representatives
and health care providers providing services to the
public; penalties.
(a) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Government representative" means any officer or employee
of the state or a political subdivision thereof, or a person under
contract with a state agency or political subdivision thereof.
(2) "Health care worker" means any nurse, nurse practitioner, physician, physician assistant or technician practicing at, and all
persons employed by or under contract to a hospital, county or
district health department, long-term care facility, physician's
office, clinic or outpatient treatment facility.
(3) "Emergency medical services personnel" means paid or
volunteer firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics
or other emergency services personnel, providers or entities acting
within the usual course of their professions.
(b)
Malicious assault. -- Any person who maliciously shoots,
stabs, cuts or wounds or by any means causes bodily injury with
intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill a government
representative,
or health care worker
or emergency medical service
personnel acting in his or her official capacity, and the person
committing the malicious assault knows or has reason to know that
the victim is acting in his or her official capacity is guilty of
a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a
correctional facility for not less than three nor more than fifteen
years.
(c)
Unlawful assault. -- Any person who unlawfully but not
maliciously shoots, stabs, cuts or wounds or by any means causes a
government representative,
or health care worker
or emergency
medical service personnel acting in his or her official capacity
bodily injury with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill him
or her and the person committing the unlawful assault knows or has
reason to know that the victim is acting in his or her official
capacity is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a correctional facility for not less than two nor
more than five years.
(d)
Battery. -- Any person who unlawfully, knowingly and
intentionally makes physical contact of an insulting or provoking
nature with a government representative,
or health care worker
or
emergency medical service personnel acting in his or her official
capacity, or unlawfully and intentionally causes physical harm to
that person acting in such capacity, is guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $500 or
confined in jail not less than one month nor more than twelve
months or both fined and confined. If any person commits a second
such offense, he or she is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned in a
state correctional facility not less than one year nor more than
three years, or both fined and imprisoned. Any person who commits
a third violation of this subsection is guilty of a felony and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $2,000 or
imprisoned in a state correctional facility not less than two years
nor more than five years, or both fined and imprisoned.
(e)
Assault. -- Any person who unlawfully attempts to commit
a violent injury to the person of a government representative,
or
health care worker
or emergency medical service personnel acting in
his or her official capacity, or unlawfully commits an act which
places that person acting in his or her official capacity in
reasonable apprehension of immediately receiving a violent injury,
is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for not less than twenty-four hours nor more than
six months, fined not more than $200, or both fined and confined.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make it a criminal act to
assault emergency medical service personnel, including paid and
volunteer firefighters, when acting in an official capacity. The
bill also establishes criminal penalties.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.