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§61-4-1. Forgery of public record, certificate, return or attestation of court or officer; penalty.
If any person forge a public record, or a certificate, return or attestation of a clerk of a court, notary public, judge, justice, or any public officer, in relation to any matter wherein such certificate, return, or attestation may be received as legal proof, or utter or attempt to employ as true such forged record, certificate, return or attestation, knowing the same to be forged, he shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than ten years.

§61-4-2. Forgery of official seals; keeping or concealing instrument for forging same; penalty.
If any person forge, or keep or conceal any instrument for the purpose of forging, the seal of a court, or of any public office or body politic or corporate in this state, he shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than ten years.

§61-4-3. Counterfeiting; penalty.
If any person forge any coin, current by law or usage in this state, or any note or bill of a banking institution, or fraudulently make any base coin, or a note or bill purporting to be the note or bill of a banking institution, when such banking institution does not exist; or utter or attempt to employ as true, or sell, exchange or deliver, or offer to sell, exchange or deliver, or receive on sale, exchange, or delivery, with intent to utter or employ or to have the same uttered or employed as true, any such false, forged, or base coin, note or bill, knowing it to be so, he shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than ten years.

§61-4-4. Making plates, etc., for forgery; possession of same; penalty.
If any person engrave, stamp, or cast, or otherwise make or mend any plate, block, press or other thing adapted and designed for the forging and false-making of any writing or other thing, the forging or false-making whereof is punishable by this article; or if such person have in his possession any such plate, block, press, or other thing, with intent to use, or cause or permit it to be used, in forging or false-making any such writing or other thing, he shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than two nor more ten years.

§61-4-5. Forging or uttering other writing; penalty; creation of unauthorized demand draft.
(a) If any person forge any writing, other than such as is mentioned in the first and third sections of this article, to the prejudice of another's right, or utter or attempt to employ as true such forged writing, knowing it to be forged, he shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than ten years, or, in the discretion of the court, be confined in jail not more than one year and be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars.

(b) It is a violation of this section to create a demand draft under the purported authority of another person for the purpose of charging the other person's account with a bank or other financial institution, or to utter or attempt to employ as true such demand draft, if the demand draft is created with the intent to defraud, and either or both of the following elements is present:

(1) The person does not, in fact, have the authority to charge the other person's account; or

(2) The amount of the demand draft exceeds the amount authorized to be charged.

(c) If a person creates a demand draft without authority or which exceeds the amount authorized to be charged to an account, and the demand draft contains the account holder's printed or typewritten name or account number, or a notation that the account holder authorized the draft, or a statement "No signature required", "Authorization on file", "Signature on file", or words to that effect, the demand draft is the equivalent of a check on which the drawer's signature is forged or altered.

(d) For purposes of this section, the term "demand draft" shall have the meaning ascribed to it in section one hundred four, article three, chapter forty-six of this code.

§61-4-6. Possession of counterfeit with intent to utter; penalty.
If any person have in his possession forged bank notes, or pieces of forged or base coin, such as are mentioned in the third section of this article, knowing the same to be forged or base, with intent to utter or employ the same as true, or to sell, exchange, or deliver them, so as to enable any other person to utter or employ them as true, he shall, if the number of such notes or pieces of coin in his possession, at the same time, be ten or more, be deemed guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than five years, and if the number thereof be less than ten, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail not less than six months nor more than one year and be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars.

§61-4-7. Unauthorized currency; penalty.
If any person shall, without authority of law, issue any note or other security purporting that money or other thing of value is payable by or on behalf of such person, with intent thereby to create a circulating medium, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail not more than six months and fined not more than five hundred dollars; and the acceptance of any such note or security shall not operate as a payment of any debt or claim due or to become due to the person so accepting the same: Provided, That nothing in this section shall be so construed as to prevent the giving of checks, promissory notes, single bills, bonds, orders, drafts or bills of exchange for a debt or claim due or to become due.

§61-4-8. Passing or receiving unauthorized currency knowingly; penalty.
If any person not punishable under the provisions of the preceding section shall knowingly pass or receive in payment any such note or security, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be fined not less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars.

Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2012 1st Special Session