Bill Text: WV HB3020 | 2018 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to criminal penalties for the offenses of hunting, trapping or fishing on the lands of another person
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 8-2)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-02-08 - To Judiciary [HB3020 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2018-HB3020-Comm_Sub.html
WEST virginia legislature
2018 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
House Bill 3020
By Delegates Harshbarger, Howell, Cowles, Ambler, Boggs, Paynter, Atkinson, Kessinger, Eldridge, Statler and Overington
[Introduced
January 10,2018; Referred
to the Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources then the Judiciary]
A BILL to amend and reenact §20-7-9 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to criminal penalties for the offense of hunting, trapping or fishing on the lands of another person; criminal penalties for the offense of entering on to posted lands; criminal penalties for the offense of destroying posted land signs; and setting those criminal penalties for such offenses to be equivalent to those of the offense of criminal trespass, including for conviction of subsequent offenses of the same.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §20-7-9 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. LAW ENFORCEMENT, MOTORBOATING, LITTER.
§20-7-9. Violations of chapter generally; penalties.
Any person violating any of
the provisions of this chapter or rules promulgated under the provisions of
this chapter, the punishment for which is not prescribed, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall for each offense be fined not
less than $20 nor more than $300 or confined in jail not less than ten or more
than one hundred days, or be both fined and imprisoned within the limitations
aforesaid and, in the case of a violation by a corporation, every officer or agent
thereof directing or engaging in such violation shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be subject to the same
penalties and punishment as herein provided: Provided, That any person
violating subdivision (3), section five, article two, §20-2-7, §20-2-8,
or §20-2-10 of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction of a first offence thereof,
shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500 and or shall
be imprisoned for not less than ten days nor more than one hundred days, or
both fined and imprisoned. A person who is convicted of a second
offence of violation of the aforementioned sections is guilty of a misdemeanor
and shall be fined not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 or shall be
imprisoned for not less than ten days nor more than one hundred days, or both
fined and imprisoned. A person who is convicted of a third and subsequent
offense of violation of the aforementioned sections is guilty of a misdemeanor
and shall be fined not less than $1,000 nor more than $1,500 or shall be
imprisoned for not less than ten days nor more than one hundred days, or both
fined and imprisoned: Provided, however, That any person who is in violation of section
twenty-seven, article two of this chapter as a result of their failure to have
a valid Class E nonresident hunting and trapping license, as defined by section
forty-two-d of this article, or a valid Class EE nonresident bear hunting
license, as defined by section forty-two-e of this article, shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $250
nor more than $500, or confined in jail not less than ten nor more than one
hundred days, or both fined and imprisoned: Provided further, That any
person who is in violation of section twenty-seven, article two of this chapter
as a result of their failure to have a Class F nonresident fishing license, as
defined by section forty-two-f of this article, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, fined not less than $100 nor more
than $300 or confined in jail not less than ten nor more than one hundred days,
or both fined and imprisoned: And provided further, That any person
violating any parking or speeding regulations as promulgated by the director on
any state parks, state forests, public hunting and fishing areas and all other
lands and waters owned, leased or under the control of the Division of Natural
Resources shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be fined not less than $2 nor more than $100 or imprisoned in jail not more
than ten days, or both fined and imprisoned.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that the penalty for hunting, trapping or fishing on the lands of another, entering upon posted lands, or destroying posted land signs shall be equivalent to the penalty for criminal trespass.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.