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Introduced Version House Bill 2058 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2058


          (By Delegate Craig)
          [Introduced February 13, 2013; 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 §62-1-1a, relating to permitting the temporary detention of criminal suspects by law-enforcement officers in order to determine the identity of the suspect and other matters involving the commission of a crime where probable cause appears to exist; establishing limits on the location and length of the detention; permitting arrests to be made; and permitting certain searches.
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 §62-1-1a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. PRELIMINARY PROCEDURE.
§62-1-1a. Temporary detention by law-enforcement officer of person suspected of criminal behavior or violating conditions of parole or probation; limitations; arrests; searches.
_____
(a)
When any law-enforcement officer of this state encounters any person under circumstances which reasonably indicate that the person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a violation of the criminal laws of this state or the criminal ordinances of any municipality, the officer may temporarily detain the person for the purpose of ascertaining the identity of that person and the circumstances surrounding the person's presence in the place that led the officer to believe that the person had committed, was committing, or was about to commit a criminal offense.
_____(b) A person may not be temporarily detained pursuant to subsection (a) of this section any longer than is reasonably necessary to effect the purposes of that subsection. Any temporary detention may not extend beyond the place where it was first effected or the immediate vicinity. However,
no detention undertaken pursuant to subsection (a) of this section may last more than six hours.
_____(c) If, at any time after the onset of the temporary detention permitted by subsection (a) of this section, probable cause for arrest of person appears, the person shall be arrested. If, after an inquiry into the circumstances which prompted the temporary detention, no probable cause for the arrest of the person appears, the person must be released.
_____(d) When any law-enforcement officer authorized to detain temporarily any person pursuant to subsection (a) of this section has probable cause to believe that any person whom the officer has temporarily detained, or is about to detain temporarily, is armed with a dangerous weapon and therefore offers a threat to the safety of the officer or any other person, the officer may search the person so temporarily detained only to the extent necessary to disclose, and for the purpose of disclosing, the presence of a weapon. If the search discloses a weapon or any evidence of a criminal offense, it may be seized.
_____(e) Evidence seized by a law-enforcement officer in any search under this section is not admissible against any person in any court of this state or its political subdivision unless the search which disclosed its existence was authorized by and conducted in compliance with this section.



     NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit the temporary detention of criminal suspects by law-enforcement officers in order to determine the identity of the suspect and other matters involving the commission of a crime where probable cause appears to exist. The bill establishes limits on the location and length of the detention. The bill also permits arrests and searches under certain circumstances.


     §62-1-1a is new; therefore, it has been completely underscored.
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