H. B. 4389
(By Delegates Webster, Stemple, Hrutkay, Fleischauer, Lane, Long,
Shook, Longstreth, Miley and Ellem)
[Introduced February 4, 2008; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact § 17C-19-3, of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to removing requirement
that resident violators of traffic laws be required to sign
citations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That § 17C-19-3
of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 19. PARTIES, PROCEDURE UPON ARREST AND REPORTS IN CRIMINAL
COURTS.
§ 17C-19-3. When person arrested must be taken immediately before
a magistrate or court.
(a) Whenever any person is arrested for any violation of this
chapter punishable as a misdemeanor, the arrested person shall be
immediately taken before a magistrate or court within the county in
which the offense charged is alleged to have been committed and who has jurisdiction of the offense and is nearest or most accessible
with reference to the place where the arrest is made, in any of the
following cases:
(1) When a person arrested demands an immediate appearance
before a magistrate or court;
(2) When the person is arrested upon a charge of negligent
homicide;
(3) When the person is arrested upon a charge of driving while
under the influence of alcohol, or under the influence of any
controlled substance, or under the influence of any other drug, or
under the combined influence of alcohol and any controlled
substance or any other drug;
(4) When the person is arrested upon a charge of failure to
stop in the event of an accident causing death, personal injury or
damage to property;
(5) When the person is arrested upon a charge of violating
section fourteen, article seventeen of this chapter relating to
weight violations, except as otherwise provided in that section;
(6) When the person arrested is a resident of a state that has
not entered into a nonresident violator compact with this State;
(7) In any other event when the person arrested refuses to
give his written accept the summons as his promise to appear in
court or comply with the terms of the summons as provided in
section four of this article.
(b) When the person arrested is a resident of a state that has
entered into a nonresident violator compact with this State, the
arresting officer shall issue the person a written notice as
provided for in section four of this article and may not take the
person immediately before a magistrate or court, except under the
terms of the compact or under the circumstances set forth in
subsection (a) of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the requirement
that resident violators of traffic laws be required to sign
citations.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.