Bill Text: WV HB2804 | 2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Enhancing penalties for assault on athletic officials
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 6-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-21 - To House Judiciary [HB2804 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2025-HB2804-Introduced.html
WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2025 REGULAR SESSION
Introduced
House Bill 2804
By Delegates Linville, Rohrbach, Lucas, Browning, Hite, and Hornby
[Introduced February 21, 2025; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary]
A BILL to amend and reenact §61-2-15a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to enhancing penalties for assault on athletic officials; and creating criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 2. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON.
§61-2-15a. Assault, battery on athletic officials; penalties.
(a) If any person commits an assault as defined in subsection (b), section nine of this article, to the person of an athletic official during the time the official is acting as an athletic official, the offender is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than a minimum of $500, or confined in jail not for no less than one nor more than six months, or both fined and confined.
(b) If any person commits a battery, as defined in subsection (c), section nine of this article, against an athletic official during the time the official is acting as an athletic official, the offender is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than a minimum of $1,000, or confined in jail not no less than six nor more than twelve 12 months, or both fined and confined.
(c) For the purpose of this section, "athletic official" means a person at a sports event who enforces the rules of that event, such as an umpire or referee, or a person who supervises the participants, such as a coach.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to enhance the criminal penalties for assault and battery on athletic officials.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
