Senate Bill No. 421
(By Senators Nohe, Boley, Carmichael and Walters)
____________
[Introduced March 4, 2013; referred to the Committee on
Education; and then to the Committee on the Judiciary .]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §61-7-11a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to providing an exemption for the
official mascot of Parkersburg South High School, commonly
known as The Patriot, which would allow the mascot to carry a
musket on school grounds when the mascot is acting in his or
her official capacity.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-7-11a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. DANGEROUS WEAPONS.
§61-7-11a. Possessing deadly weapons on premises of educational
facilities; reports by school principals; suspension
of driver license; possessing deadly weapons on premises housing courts of law and in offices of
family law master.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds that the safety and welfare
of the citizens of this state are inextricably dependent upon
assurances of safety for children attending and the persons
employed by schools in this state and for those persons employed
with by the judicial department of this state. It is for the
purpose of providing such assurances of safety therefore, that
subsections (b), (g) and (h) of this section are enacted as a
reasonable regulation of the manner in which citizens may exercise
those the rights accorded to them pursuant to section twenty-two,
article three of the Constitution of the State of West Virginia.
(b) (1) It shall be is unlawful for any a person to possess
any a firearm or any other deadly weapon on any a school bus as
defined in section one, article one, chapter seventeen-a of this
code, or in or on any a public or private primary or secondary
education building, structure, facility or grounds thereof,
including any a vocational education building, structure, facility
or grounds thereof where secondary vocational education programs
are conducted or at any a school-sponsored function.
(2) This subsection shall does not apply to:
(A) A law-enforcement officer acting in his or her official
capacity;
(B) A person specifically authorized by the board of education
of the county or principal of the school where the property is
located to conduct programs with valid educational purposes;
(C) A person who, as otherwise permitted by the provisions of
this article, possesses an unloaded firearm or deadly weapon in a
motor vehicle or leaves an unloaded firearm or deadly weapon in a
locked motor vehicle;
(D) Programs or raffles conducted with the approval of the
county board of education or school which include the display of
unloaded firearms; or
(E) The official mascot of West Virginia University, commonly
known as "The Mountaineer," acting in his or her official capacity;
or
_____(F) The official mascot of Parkersburg South High School,
commonly known as "The Patriot," acting in his or her official
capacity.
(3) Any A person violating this subsection shall be is guilty
of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in
the penitentiary of this state a state correctional facility for a
definite term of years of not less than two years nor more than ten
years, or fined not more than $5,000, or both.
(c) It shall be is the duty of the principal of each school
subject to the authority of the State Board of Education to report any a violation of subsection (b) of this section discovered by
such the principal to the State Superintendent of Schools within
seventy-two hours after such the violation occurs. The State Board
of Education shall keep and maintain such these reports and may
prescribe rules establishing policy and procedures for the making
and delivery of the same the reports as required by this
subsection. In addition, it shall be is the duty of the principal
of each school subject to the authority of the State Board of
Education to report any a violation of subsection (b) of this
section discovered by such the principal to the appropriate local
office of the Division of Public Safety within seventy-two hours
after such the violation occurs.
(d) In addition to the methods of disposition provided by
article five, chapter forty-nine of this code, any a court which
adjudicates a person who is fourteen years of age or older as
delinquent for a violation of subsection (b) of this section may,
in its discretion, order the Division of Motor Vehicles to suspend
any a driver's license or instruction permit issued to such the
person for such a period of time as the court may deem considers
appropriate, such suspension, however, not to extend beyond such
the person's nineteenth birthday. or, Where such Where the person
has not been issued a driver's license or instruction permit by
this state, a court may order the Division of Motor Vehicles to deny such the person's application for the same for such a license
or permit for a period of time as the court may deem considers
appropriate, such denial, however, not to extend beyond such the
person's nineteenth birthday. Any A suspension ordered by the
court pursuant to this subsection shall be is effective upon the
date of entry of such the order. Where the court orders the
suspension of a driver's license or instruction permit pursuant to
this subsection, the court shall confiscate any driver's license or
instruction permit in the adjudicated person's possession and
forward the same to the Division of Motor Vehicles.
(e) (1) If a person eighteen years of age or older is
convicted of violating subsection (b) of this section, and if such
the person does not act to appeal such the conviction within the
time periods described in subdivision (2) of this subsection, such
the person's license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle in
this state shall be revoked in accordance with the provisions of
this section.
(2) The clerk of the court in which the person is convicted as
described in subdivision (1) of this subsection shall forward to
the commissioner a transcript of the judgment of conviction. If
the conviction is the judgment of a magistrate court, the
magistrate court clerk shall forward such the transcript when the
person convicted has not requested an appeal within twenty days of the sentencing for such the conviction. If the conviction is the
judgment of a circuit court, the circuit clerk shall forward such
transcript a transcript of the judgment of conviction when the
person convicted has not filed a notice of intent to file a
petition for appeal or writ of error within thirty days after the
judgment was entered.
(3) If, upon examination of the transcript of the judgment of
conviction, the commissioner shall determine determines that the
person was convicted as described in subdivision (1) of this
subsection, the commissioner shall make and enter an order revoking
such the person's license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle
in this state for a period of one year or, in the event the person
is a student enrolled in a secondary school, for a period of one
year or until the person's twentieth birthday, whichever is the
greater period. The order shall contain the reasons for the
revocation and the revocation period. The order of suspension
shall advise the person that because of the receipt of the court's
transcript, a presumption exists that the person named in the order
of suspension is the same person named in the transcript. The
commissioner may grant an administrative hearing which
substantially complies with the requirements of the provisions of
section two, article five-a, chapter seventeen-c of this code upon
a preliminary showing that a possibility exists that the person named in the notice of conviction is not the same person whose
license is being suspended. Such The request for hearing shall be
made within ten days after receipt of a copy of the order of
suspension. The sole purpose of this hearing shall be is for the
person requesting the hearing to present evidence that he or she is
not the person named in the notice. In the event If the
commissioner grants an administrative hearing, the commissioner
shall stay the license suspension pending the commissioner's order
resulting from the hearing.
(4) For the purposes of this subsection, a person is convicted
when such person enters a plea of guilty or is found guilty by a
court or jury.
(f) (1) It shall be is unlawful for any a parent(s),
guardian(s) or custodian(s) of a person less than eighteen years of
age who knows that said the person is in violation of subsection
(b) of this section or who has reasonable cause to believe that
said the person's violation of said subsection (b) is imminent, to
fail to immediately report such his or her knowledge or belief to
the appropriate school or law-enforcement officials.
(2) Any A person violating this subsection shall be is guilty
of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
more than $1,000, or shall be confined in jail not more than one
year, or both.
(g) (1) It shall be is unlawful for any a person to possess
any a firearm or any other deadly weapon on any premises which
houses premises of a court of law or in the offices of a family law
master. including family courts.
(2) This subsection shall does not apply to:
(A) A law-enforcement officer acting in his or her official
capacity; and
(B) A person exempted from the provisions of this subsection
by order of record entered by a court with jurisdiction over such
the premises or offices.
(3) Any A person violating this subsection shall be is guilty
of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
more than $1,000, or shall be confined in jail not more than one
year, or both.
(h) (1) It shall be is unlawful for any a person to possess
any a firearm or any other deadly weapon on any premises which
houses a court of law or in the offices of a family law master the
premises of a court of law, including family courts, with the
intent to commit a crime.
(2) Any A person violating this subsection shall be is guilty
of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in
the penitentiary of this state a state correctional facility for a
definite term of years of not less than two years nor more than ten years, or fined not more than $5,000, or both.
(i)Nothing in this section may be construed to be is in
conflict with the provisions of federal law.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide an exemption for
the official mascot of Parkersburg South High School, commonly
known as "The Patriot," which would allow the mascot to carry a
musket on school grounds when the mascot is acting in his or her
official capacity. This is the same exemption that is granted to
the West Virginia University Mountaineer.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.