Chapter 48

"Domestic violence" or "abuse" means the occurrence of one or more of the following acts between family or household members, as that term is defined in section two hundred four of this article: (1) Attempting to cause or intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causing physical ha…

"Emergency hearing" means the hearing before a magistrate upon the filing of a petition for a protective order. An emergency hearing may be held ex parte.

"Family or household members" means persons who: (1) Are or were married to each other; (2) Are or were living together as spouses; (3) Are or were sexual or intimate partners; (4) Are or were dating: Provided, That a casual acquaintance or ordinary fraternization between persons…

"Final hearing" means the hearing before a family court judge following the entry of an order by a magistrate as a result of the emergency hearing.

(a) "Law-enforcement agency" means and is limited to: (1) The state police and its members; (2) A county sheriff and his or her law-enforcement deputies; (3) A police department in any municipality as defined in section two, article one, chapter eight of this code; and (4) Any fe…

"Program for victims of domestic violence" means a licensed program for victims of domestic violence and their children, which program provides advocacy, shelter, crisis intervention, social services, treatment, counseling, education or training.

"Program of intervention for perpetrators" means a licensed program, where available, or if no licensed program is available, a program that: (1) Accepts perpetrators of domestic violence into educational intervention groups or counseling pursuant to a court order; or (2) Offers …

"Protective order" means an emergency protective order entered by a magistrate as a result of the emergency hearing or a protective order entered by a family court judge upon final hearing. "Military protective order" means a protective order issued by a commanding officer in the…

Part III. Procedure. (a) Circuit courts, family courts and magistrate courts have concurrent jurisdiction over domestic violence proceedings as provided in this article. (b) The Supreme Court of Appeals is authorized to assign appropriate judicial officers for five domestic viole…

The action may be heard in the county in which the domestic violence occurred, in the county in which the respondent is living or in the county in which the petitioner is living, either temporarily or permanently. If the parties are married to each other, the action may also be b…

The petitioner's right to relief under this article shall not be affected by his or her leaving a residence or household to avoid further abuse.

(a) An action under this article is commenced by the filing of a verified petition in the magistrate court. (b) No person shall be refused the right to file a petition under the provisions of this article. No person shall be denied relief under the provisions of this article if s…

A petition for a protective order may be filed by: (1) A person seeking relief under this article for herself or himself (2) An adult family or household member for the protection of the victim or for any family or household member who is a minor child or physically or mentally i…

(a) A respondent named in a petition alleging domestic violence may file a verified counterclaim stating any claim that the respondent has against the petitioner that would be a basis for filing a petition under this article. (b) In response to a petition or counterclaim, the per…

No person accompanying a person who is seeking to file a petition under the provisions of this article is precluded from being present if his or her presence is desired by the person seeking a petition unless the person's behavior is disruptive to the proceeding.

No fees shall be charged for the filing of petitions or other papers, service of petitions or orders, copies of orders, or other costs for services provided by, or associated with, any proceedings under this article until the matter is brought before the court for final resolutio…

Any petition filed under the provisions of this article shall be given priority over any other civil action before the court, except actions in which trial is in progress, and shall be docketed immediately upon filing.

Any protective order issued pursuant to this article shall be effective throughout the state in every county. Any protection order issued by any other state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands or any territory or insular p…

A protective order may be served: (1) On the respondent by means of a Class I legal advertisement published notice, with the publication area being the most current known county in which the respondent resides, published in accordance with the provisions of section two, article t…

Notwithstanding any provision of law or any procedural rule to the contrary, any record in a proceeding filed pursuant to this article shall be supplied to any person presenting a subpoena duces tecum issued by a state or federal court in any criminal action or action filed pursu…

(a) During the pendency of a divorce action, a person may file for and be granted relief provided by this article until an order other than a procedural order is entered in the divorce action pursuant to Part 5-501, et seq. (b) If a person who has been granted relief under this a…

(a) The provisions of this section apply where a temporary order has been entered by a family court in an action for divorce, annulment, separate maintenance or custody, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 27-401(c) of this article. (b) A person who is a party to an acti…

(a)(1) Upon the filing of a verified petition under this article, the magistrate court may enter an emergency protective order as it may determine necessary to protect the petitioner or minor children from domestic violence and, upon good cause shown, may do so ex parte without t…

(a) Upon final hearing, the court shall enter a protective order if it finds, after hearing the evidence, that the petitioner has proved the allegations of domestic violence by a preponderance of the evidence. If the respondent is present at the hearing and elects not to contest …

(a) A protective order must order the respondent to refrain from abusing, harassing, stalking, threatening or otherwise intimidating the petitioner or the minor children, or engaging in other conduct that would place the petitioner or the minor children in reasonable fear of bodi…

The terms of a protective order may include: (1) Granting possession to the petitioner of the residence or household jointly resided in at the time the abuse occurred; (2) Ordering the respondent to refrain from entering or being present in the immediate environs of the residence…

When the person to be protected is a person who reported or was a witness to the domestic violence, the terms of a protective order may order: (1) The respondent to refrain from abusing, contacting, telephoning, communicating, harassing, verbally abusing or otherwise intimidating…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (d), section four hundred one of this article, a protective order, entered by the family court pursuant to this article, is effective for either ninety days or one hundred eighty days, in the discretion of the court. Upon receipt of …

No order entered pursuant to this article may in any manner affect title to any real property, except as provided in section 14-301 for past due child support. The personal property of any person ordered to pay child support pursuant to the provisions of this article is subject t…

Mutual protective orders are prohibited unless both parties have filed a petition under part three of this article and have proven the allegations of domestic violence by a preponderance of the evidence. This shall not prevent other persons, including the respondent, from filing …

Any person against whom a protective order is issued shall be assessed costs of $25. Such costs shall be paid to the family court fund established pursuant to section twenty-two, article two-a, chapter fifty-one of this code.

(a) A court may award visitation of a child by a parent who has committed domestic violence only if the court finds that adequate provision for the safety of the child and the petitioner can be made. (b) In a visitation order, a court may: (1) Order an exchange of a child to occu…

(a) A petitioner who has been denied an emergency protective order may file a petition for appeal of the denial, within five days of the denial, to the family court. (b) Any party who alleges that he or she will be adversely affected or aggrieved by a final protective order, or t…

Two years after the entry of a final protective order, the circuit court, may, upon motion, order that the protective order and references to the order be purged from the file maintained by any law-enforcement agency and may further order that the file maintained by the court be …

(a) Upon entry of an order pursuant to section 27-403 or part 27-501, et seq., or an order entered pursuant to part 5-501, et seq., granting relief provided for by this article, a copy of the order shall be immediately transmitted electronically by the court or the clerk of the c…

Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, all law-enforcement officers are hereby authorized to serve all pleadings and orders filed or entered pursuant to this article on Sundays and legal holidays. No law-enforcement officer shall refuse to serve any ple…

(a) Any law-enforcement officer responding to an alleged incident of domestic violence shall inform the parties of the availability of the possible remedies provided by this article and the possible applicability of the criminal laws of this state. Any law-enforcement officer inv…

(a) Each law-enforcement agency shall maintain records on all incidents of domestic violence reported to it and shall monthly make and deliver to the West Virginia state police a report on a form prescribed by the State Police, listing all such incidents of domestic violence. Suc…

(a) The West Virginia State Police shall maintain a registry in which it shall enter certified copies of protective orders entered by courts from every county in this state pursuant to the provisions of this article and of protection orders issued by a jurisdiction outside of thi…

(a) Any party to a protective order or a legal guardian or guardian ad litem may file a petition for civil contempt alleging a violation of an order issued pursuant to the provisions of this article. The petition shall be filed in the family court, if a family court entered an or…

(a) Any person authorized to file a petition pursuant to section three hundred five of this article, and any person authorized to file a petition for civil contempt pursuant to section nine hundred one of this article may file a criminal complaint: (1) Against a respondent who kn…

(a) A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if the person knowingly and willfully violates: (1) A provision of an emergency or final protective order entered pursuant to: (A) Subsection (a) or (b), section five hundred two of this article; (B) If the court has ordered such relief; su…

This article may be cited as the "Uniform Interstate Enforcement of Domestic Violence Protection Orders Act."

This article may be cited as the Uniform Recognition and Enforcement of Canadian Domestic-Violence Protective Orders Act.

This article applies to: (a) Foreign protection orders issued before the effective date of this article; and (b) Continuing actions for enforcement of foreign protection orders commenced before the effective date of this article. A request for enforcement, made on or after the ef…

The Legislature finds that persons attempting to escape from actual or threatened domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking frequently find it necessary to establish a new address in order to prevent their assailants or probable assailants from finding them. The purpose of t…

As used in this article, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings. (1) "Application assistant" means an employee of a state or local agency, or of a nonprofit program that provides counseling, referral, shelter or other specialized s…

(a) On or after the effective date of the enactment of this article, the Secretary of State shall create an Address Confidentiality Program to be staffed by full time employees who have been subjected to a criminal history records search. (b) Upon recommendation of an application…

Certification for the program may be canceled if one or more of the following conditions apply: (1) If the program participant obtains a name change, unless the program participant provides the Secretary of State with documentation of a legal name change within ten business days …

(a) Upon demonstration of a program participant's certification in the program, state and local agencies and the courts of this state shall accept the designated address as a program participant's address for the purposes of creating a new public record unless the Secretary of St…