WEST virginia legislature

2020 regular session

Committee Substitute

for

House Bill 4668

By Delegates Miley, Lovejoy, Evans, Caputo, Waxman, Rohrbach, Worrell and Pushkin

[Introduced February 04, 2020; Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]

 

A BILL to amend and reenact §61-3B-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to creating the misdemeanor crime of trespass for entering a structure that has been clearly marked as condemned by a municipality as unfit for human habitation; providing criminal penalty; providing that for a first offense, a municipal judge or magistrate may substitute community correction or pretrial diversion before imposing a penalty.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 3B. TRESPASS.

§61-3B-2. Trespass in structure or conveyance.

(a) Any person who knowingly enters in, upon or under a structure or conveyance without being authorized, licensed or invited, or having been authorized, licensed or invited is requested to depart by the owner, tenant or the agent of such owner or tenant, and refuses to do so, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $100.

(b)  Any person who, without permission, knowingly and willfully enters a structure which has a clear posting that the structure has been condemned by any municipal or county government as unfit for human habitation or use, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $100 or confined in jail not more than 6 months, or both fined and confined: Provided, That  for any first offense of trespass on condemned property, a municipal judge or magistrate may substitute community correction and/or pretrial diversion alternatives available in §62-11C-1, et seq. of this code before imposing any fine or confinement for trespassing on condemned property.

(b)(c) If the offender is armed with a firearm or other dangerous weapon while in the structure or conveyance, with the unlawful and felonious intent to do bodily injury to a human being in said structure or conveyance at the time the offender knowingly trespasses, such offender shall, notwithstanding the provisions of §61-7-1  of this code, be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500, or be confined in the county jail for a period not to exceed up to 1 year, or both such fined and imprisonment confined.

 

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the crime for trespass of a condemned structure.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.