H. B. 2519
(By Delegates Ennis, Pethtel, Evans, Klempa, Caputo and
Carmichael)
[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the
Committee on Education.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §29-3-24 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §61-7-11a of said
code, all relating to allowing fireworks displays on public
school property upon approval of the State Superintendent of
Schools and the State Fire Marshal.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §29-3-24 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §61-7-11a of said code be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 29. MISCELLANEOUS BOARDS AND OFFICERS.
ARTICLE 3. FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTROL ACT.
§29-3-24. Unlawful sale, possession or use of fireworks; permit
for public display.
(a) Except as hereinafter provided, no person, firm, copartnership or corporation shall offer for sale, possess, expose
for sale, sell at retail, keep with intent to sell at retail or use
or explode any fireworks:
Provided, That the State Fire Marshal
may adopt reasonable rules
and regulations for the granting of
permits for the supervised displays of fireworks by municipalities,
fair associations, amusement parks and other organizations or
groups of individuals. The State Fire Marshal shall have the
authority to charge a fee of $10 to each applicant requesting a
license to be a pyrotechnic operator as set forth in this article.
The State Fire Marshal shall charge a scaled fee for all
applications requesting permits to establish a pyrotechnics display
as provided in this section. All fees required to be paid by the
provisions of this section
shall be are paid to the State Fire
Marshal and thereafter deposited by him
or her into a special
account for the operation of the State Fire Commission. Such
permits may be granted upon application to said State Fire Marshal
and after approval of the local police and fire authorities of the
community wherein the display is proposed to be held as provided
herein and the filing of a bond by the applicant as provided
hereinafter. Every such display shall be handled by a competent
operator licensed or certified as to competency by the State Fire
Marshal and shall be of such composition, character and so located,
discharged or fired as in the opinion of the chief of the fire
department, after proper inspection, and of the chief of police as to not be hazardous to property or endanger any person or persons.
After such privilege shall have been granted, the sale, possession,
use and distribution of fireworks for such display
shall be is
lawful for that purpose only. No permit granted hereunder
shall be
is transferable.
The governing body or chief executive authority of the
municipality shall require a bond from the licensee in a sum not
less than $1,000.00 conditioned on compliance with the provisions
of this article and the regulations of the State Fire Commission:
Provided, That no municipality shall be required to file such bond.
Before any permit for a pyrotechnic display
shall be is
issued, the person, firm or corporation making application therefor
shall must furnish proof of financial responsibility to satisfy
claims for damages to property or personal injuries arising out of
any act or omission on the part of such person, firm or corporation
or any agent or employee thereof, in such amount, character and
form as the State Fire Marshal determines to be necessary for the
protection of the public.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, a permit for a pyrotechnic display on public school
property may be issued upon the approval of the State
Superintendent of Schools and the State Fire Marshal. A permit
issued under this subsection (b) is otherwise subject to the
permitting and bonding requirements of subsection (a), except that no county board of education or other public school entity may be
required to file bond under the provisions of subsection (a).
CHAPTER 61. CRIMES AND THEIR PUNISHMENT.
ARTICLE 7. DANGEROUS WEAPONS.
§61-7-11a. Possessing deadly weapons on premises of educational
facilities; reports by school principals; suspension
of driver license; possessing deadly weapons on
premises housing courts of law and in offices of
family law master.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds that the safety and welfare
of the citizens of this state are inextricably dependent upon
assurances of safety for children attending, and the persons
employed by, schools in this state and for those persons employed
with the judicial department of this state. It is for the purpose
of providing such assurances of safety, therefore, that subsections
(b), (g) and (h) of this section are enacted as a reasonable
regulation of the manner in which citizens may exercise those
rights accorded to them pursuant to section twenty-two, article
three of the Constitution of the State of West Virginia.
(b) (1) It
shall be is unlawful for any person to possess any
firearm or any other deadly weapon on any school bus as defined in
section one, article one, chapter seventeen-a of this code, or in
or on any public or private primary or secondary education
building, structure, facility or grounds thereof, including any vocational education building, structure, facility or grounds
thereof where secondary vocational education programs are conducted
or at any school-sponsored function.
(2) This subsection shall not apply to:
(A) A law-enforcement officer acting in his or her official
capacity;
(B) A person specifically authorized by the board of education
of the county or principal of the school where the property is
located to conduct programs with valid educational purposes;
(C) A person who, as otherwise permitted by the provisions of
this article, possesses an unloaded firearm or deadly weapon in a
motor vehicle, or leaves an unloaded firearm or deadly weapon in a
locked motor vehicle;
(D) Programs or raffles conducted with the approval of the
county board of education or school which include the display of
unloaded firearms; or
(E) The official mascot of West Virginia University, commonly
known as "The Mountaineer", acting in his or her official capacity.
(3) Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of a
felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in
the
penitentiary a correctional facility of this state for a definite
term of years of not less than two years nor more than 10 years, or
fined not more than $5,000.00, or both.
(c) It
shall be is the duty of the principal of each school subject to the authority of the State Board of Education to report
any violation of subsection (b) of this section discovered by such
principal to the State Superintendent of Schools within 72 hours
after such violation occurs. The State Board of Education
shall
must keep and maintain such reports and may prescribe rules
establishing policy and procedures for the making and delivery of
the same as required by this subsection. In addition, it
shall be
is the duty of the principal of each school subject to the
authority of the State Board of Education to report any violation
of subsection (b) of this section discovered by such principal to
the appropriate local office of the
Division of Public Safety State
Police within 72 hours after such violation occurs.
(d) In addition to the methods of disposition provided by
article five, chapter forty-nine of this code, any court which
adjudicates a person who is 14 years of age or older as delinquent
for a violation of subsection (b) of this section may, in its
discretion, order the Division of Motor Vehicles to suspend any
driver's license or instruction permit issued to such person for
such period of time as the court may deem appropriate, such
suspension, however, not to extend beyond such person's 19th
birthday; or, where such person has not been issued a driver's
license or instruction permit by this state, order the Division of
Motor Vehicles to deny such person's application for the same for
such period of time as the court may deem appropriate, such denial, however, not to extend beyond such person's 19th birthday. Any
suspension ordered by the court pursuant to this subsection
shall
be is effective upon the date of entry of such order. Where the
court orders the suspension of a driver's license or instruction
permit pursuant to this subsection, the court shall confiscate any
driver's license or instruction permit in the adjudicated person's
possession and forward the same to the Division of Motor Vehicles.
(e) (1) If a person 18 years of age or older is convicted of
violating subsection (b) of this section, and if such person does
not act to appeal such conviction within the time periods described
in subdivision (2) of this subsection, such person's license or
privilege to operate a motor vehicle in this state shall be revoked
in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(2) The clerk of the court in which the person is convicted as
described in subdivision (1) of this subsection shall forward to
the commissioner a transcript of the judgment of conviction. If
the conviction is the judgment of a magistrate court, the
magistrate court clerk shall forward such transcript when the
person convicted has not requested an appeal within 20 days of the
sentencing for such conviction. If the conviction is the judgment
of a circuit court, the circuit clerk shall forward such transcript
when the person convicted has not filed a notice of intent to file
a petition for appeal or writ of error within 30 days after the
judgment was entered.
(3) If, upon examination of the transcript of the judgment of
conviction, the commissioner shall determine that the person was
convicted as described in subdivision (1) of this subsection, the
commissioner shall make and enter an order revoking such person's
license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle in this state for
a period of one year, or, in the event the person is a student
enrolled in a secondary school, for a period of one year or until
the person's 20th birthday, whichever is the greater period. The
order shall contain the reasons for the revocation and the
revocation period. The order of suspension
shall advise advises
the person that because of the receipt of the court's transcript,
a presumption exists that the person named in the order of
suspension is the same person named in the transcript. The
commissioner may grant an administrative hearing which
substantially complies with the requirements of the provisions of
section two, article five-a, chapter seventeen-c of this code upon
a preliminary showing that a possibility exists that the person
named in the notice of conviction is not the same person whose
license is being suspended. Such request for hearing
shall be is
made within 10 days after receipt of a copy of the order of
suspension. The sole purpose of this hearing
shall be is for the
person requesting the hearing to present evidence that he or she is
not the person named in the notice. In the event the commissioner
grants an administrative hearing, the commissioner shall stay the license suspension pending the commissioner's order resulting from
the hearing.
(4) For the purposes of this subsection, a person is convicted
when such person enters a plea of guilty or is found guilty by a
court or jury.
(f) (1) It
shall be is unlawful for any parent(s), guardian(s)
or custodian(s) of a person less than 18 years of age who knows
that said person is in violation of subsection (b) of this section,
or who has reasonable cause to believe that said person's violation
of said subsection is imminent, to fail to immediately report such
knowledge or belief to the appropriate school or law-enforcement
officials.
(2) Any person violating this subsection
shall be is guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more
than $1,000.00, or shall be confined in jail not more than one
year, or both.
(g) (1) It
shall be is unlawful for any person to possess any
firearm or any other deadly weapon on any premises which houses a
court of law or in the offices of a family law master.
(2) This subsection shall not apply to:
(A) A law-enforcement officer acting in his or her official
capacity; and
(B) A person exempted from the provisions of this subsection
by order of record entered by a court with jurisdiction over such premises or offices.
(3) Any person violating this subsection
shall be is guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more
than $1,000.00, or shall be confined in jail not more than one
year, or both.
(h) (1) It
shall be is unlawful for any person to possess any
firearm or any other deadly weapon on any premises which houses a
court of law or in the offices of a family law master with the
intent to commit a crime.
(2) Any person violating this subsection
shall be is guilty of
a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in
the
penitentiary a correctional facility of this state for a definite
term of years of not less than two years nor more than ten years,
or fined not more than $5,000.00, or both.
(i) Nothing in this section may be construed to be in conflict
with the provisions of federal law.
(j) Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit a
pyrotechnic display on public school property in accordance with
the provisions of §29-3-24.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow fireworks displays
on public school property upon approval of the State Superintendent
of Schools and the State Fire Marshal.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.