H. B. 2770
(By Delegate Ellem, Webster, Hamilton, Proudfoot, Schadler,
Guthrie, Shook, Burdiss, Amores, Kessler and Mahan)
[Introduced January 31, 2007; referred to the committee on the
Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §61-2-10b of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; relating to court security personnel;
enhancing penalties for certain acts against court security
personnel; and defining "court security personnel."
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
recidivism of battery; assault on police officers,
conservation officers, probation officers, humane officers,
emergency medical service personnel, firefighters, fire
marshal, Division of Forestry employees, and county or state correctional employees; penalties.
(a)
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 police officer,
probation officer, conservation officer, humane officer, emergency
medical service personnel, firefighter, State Fire Marshal or
employee, Division of Forestry employee, county correctional
employee or state correctional employee, employee of an urban mass
transportation system
, court security personnel or Public Service
Commission motor carrier inspector acting in his or her official
capacity and the person committing the malicious assault knows or
has reason to know that the victim is
a police officer, probation
officer, conservation officer, humane officer, emergency medical
service personnel, firefighter, State Fire Marshal or employee,
Division of Forestry employee, county correctional employee, state
correctional employee, employee of an urban mass transportation
system or Public Service Commission motor carrier inspector 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.
(b)
Unlawful assault. -- Any person who unlawfully but not
maliciously shoots, stabs, cuts or wounds or by any means causes a
police officer, probation officer, conservation officer, humane
officer, emergency medical service personnel, firefighter, State
Fire Marshal or employee, Division of Forestry employee, county correctional employee or state correctional employee, employee of
an urban mass transportation system
, court security personnel or
Public Service Commission motor carrier inspector 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
a police
officer, probation officer, conservation officer, humane officer,
emergency medical service personnel, firefighter, State Fire
Marshal or employee, Division of Forestry employee, county
correctional employee, state correctional employee, employee of an
urban mass transportation system or Public Service Commission motor
carrier inspector 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.
(c)
Battery. -- Any person who unlawfully, knowingly and
intentionally makes physical contact of an insulting or provoking
nature with a police officer, probation officer, conservation
officer, humane officer, emergency medical service personnel,
firefighter, State Fire Marshal or employee, Division of Forestry
employee, county correctional employee, state correctional
employee, employee of a mass transportation system
, court security
personnel or Public Service Commission motor carrier inspector
acting in his or her official capacity, or unlawfully and
intentionally causes physical harm to
that person a police officer,
probation officer, conservation officer, humane officer, emergency medical service personnel, firefighter, State Fire Marshal or
employee, Division of Forestry employee, county correctional
employee, state correctional employee, employee of an urban mass
transportation system or a Public Service Commission motor carrier
inspector acting in such capacity, is guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for not less
than one month nor more than twelve months, fined the sum of five
hundred dollars, or both. If any person commits a second such
offense, he or she is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be confined in a correctional facility for not less
than one year nor more than three years or fined the sum of one
thousand dollars or both fined and confined. Any person who commits
a third violation of this subsection is guilty of a felony and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a correctional
facility not less than two years nor more than five years or fined
not more than two thousand dollars or both fined and confined.
(d)
Assault. -- Any person who unlawfully attempts to commit
a violent injury to the person of a police officer, probation
officer, conservation officer, humane officer, emergency medical
service personnel, firefighter, State Fire Marshal or employee,
Division of Forestry employee, county correctional employee, state
correctional employee, employee of a mass transportation system
,
court security personnel or Public Service Commission motor carrier
inspector acting in his or her official capacity, or unlawfully
commits an act which places
that person a police officer, probation
officer, conservation officer, humane officer, emergency medical service personnel, firefighter, Division of Forestry employee,
county correctional employee or state correctional employee,
employee of a mass transportation system or Public Service
Commission motor carrier inspector 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 two hundred
dollars, or both fined and confined.
(e) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Police officer" means any person employed by the State
Police, any person employed by the state to perform law-enforcement
duties, any person employed by a political subdivision of this
state who is responsible for the prevention or detection of crime
and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of this
state or employed as a special police officer as defined in section
forty-one, article three of this chapter.
(2) "Employee of an urban mass transportation system" means
any person employed by an urban mass transportation system as such
is defined in section three, article twenty-seven, chapter eight of
this code or by a system that receives federal transit
administration funding under 49 U.S.C. §5307 or §5311.
(3) "Division of Forestry employee" means an officer, agent,
employee or servant, whether full-time or not, of the Division of
Forestry.
(4) "Court security personnel" means any person employed by a circuit court, family court, magistrate court, county commission,
sheriff, the state or other political subdivision to operate and
maintain security devices, including but not limited to a metal
detector, x-ray machine, video monitoring equipment and/or other
security devices, prevent or detect crime, enforce the laws of this
state, or otherwise provide court security.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to enhance penalties for
certain acts against court security personnel and define court
security personnel.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.