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Introduced Version House Bill 2117 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
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H. B. 2117

 

                        (By Mr. Speaker, (Mr. Armstead) and Delegate Miley))

                        [By Request of the Executive]

                        [Introduced January 20, 2015; referred to the

                        Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and Homeland Security then the Judiciary.]

 

 

 

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §15-5-19b, relating to providing criminal penalties for using automated telephone calls to disseminate false, misleading or deceptive information with the intent to create panic, incite violence or cause harm during a proclaimed state of emergency or state of preparedness.

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 §15-5-19b, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 5. DIVISION OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.

§15-5-19b. Criminal penalties for using automated telephone calls to disseminate false, misleading or deceptive information with the intent to create panic, incite violence or cause harm during a proclaimed state of emergency or state of preparedness.

            Any person who, during a proclaimed state of emergency or state of preparedness, disseminates false, misleading or deceptive information with the intent to create panic, incite violence or cause harm to individuals affected by the state of emergency or state of preparedness using an automated telephone call or calling device, including, but not limited to, technology designed to disseminate a previously recorded message or “robocall,” is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for a period not to exceed one year, or be fined an amount not to exceed $5,000, or both. For purposes of this section, the dissemination of one false, misleading, or deceptive message to multiple individuals is one violation, regardless of the number of telephone calls actually placed or answered in that particular instance.

 


            NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide misdemeanor criminal penalties for using automated telephone calls to disseminate false, misleading or deceptive information with the intent to create panic, incite violence or cause harm to individuals during a declared state of emergency or state of preparedness.


            This section is new; therefore, it has been completely underscored.

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