Chapter 61, Chapter 61

Any person who gives or offers, directly or through any other person or persons, or promises, directly or indirectly, to give any money or other thing of value to a commissioner appointed by a court, Auditor, justice of the peace, arbitrator, umpire, juror (although not impaneled…

It shall be unlawful for any person to solicit, accept or agree to accept, or agree that any political party or political party committee or other person shall accept, or offer, confer or agree to confer, any pecuniary benefit as consideration for approval or disapproval by a pub…

It shall be no defense to any prosecution under the provisions of section three or section five of this article that a person whom the actor sought to influence or otherwise affect or deal with was not qualified to act in the desired way, whether because he was a candidate for of…

(a) Where any adult or juvenile is lawfully detained in custody or confinement in any jail, state correctional facility, juvenile facility, juvenile detention center, or federal correctional facility, if any other person delivers anything into the place of custody or confinement …

(a) Any person who violates any of the provisions of section three of this article shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished, if an individual, by imprisonment in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than ten years, and, if a corporation,…

If a jailer or other officer, or private correctional officer aid or voluntarily suffer a prisoner convicted or charged with felony to escape from his custody, he shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than one nor…

All members of the West Virginia State Police, the Division of Protective Services, all sheriffs within their respective counties and all mayors within their respective jurisdiction, may suppress riots, routs and unlawful assemblages. It shall be the duty of each of them to go am…

The Governor is hereby authorized, whenever in his opinion it is proper to do so, to offer rewards, and employ special policemen and detectives, and to employ any and all means in his power, including the employment of any portion of the military forces of the state, to secure th…

Any collection of individuals, five or more in number, assembled for the unlawful purpose of offering violence to the person or property of anyone supposed to have been guilty of a violation of the law, or for the purpose of exercising correctional or regulative powers over any p…

(a) If any person willfully interrupts, obstructs, or substantially disturbs any assembly of people meeting for religious worship, he or she is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail not more than one year and fined not less than $250 nor more tha…

If any person wilfully interrupt, molest or disturb any free school, Sunday school, or other school, a school exhibition, or any literary society, or any other society or meeting formed or convened for intellectual, social or moral improvement, or for improvement in music, either…

No person, not a student in regular attendance, shall loiter in or about any school, school building or school grounds in violation of any posted rules or regulations governing the use of any such school without written permission from the principal. Any person who shall violate …

(a) Any person who imparts or conveys or causes to be imparted or conveyed any false information, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe the information to be false, concerning the presence of any bomb or other explosive device in, at, on, near, under or against any dwelli…

If any person shall go upon the ground or lawn surrounding or adjacent to (1) the state Capitol building or any state office building which is a part of the state Capitol complex, or (2) a county courthouse, or (3) any municipal office building where the principal business of the…

(a) If any person willfully interrupts or molests the orderly and peaceful process of any department, division, agency, or branch of state government or of its political subdivisions, he or she is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than …

Members of the West Virginia State Police, the Division of Protective Services, sheriffs and mayors, and those acting under their order, may, when engaged in suppressing a riot, rout or unlawful assemblage, cordon off any area or areas threatened by such riot, rout or unlawful as…

(a) Any person who, in a public place, any office or office building of the State of West Virginia, or in the State Capitol complex, or on any other property owned, leased, occupied or controlled by the State of West Virginia, a mobile home park, a public parking area, a common a…

If any person be arrested for a riot, rout or unlawful assemblage, he shall be taken without unreasonable delay before a justice of the county in which the arrest is made who shall commit him to jail, unless he shall enter into a recognizance, with sufficient security, to appear …

(a) For purposes of this section: (1) “Crime of violence" means any criminal offense, whether classified as a felony or misdemeanor under the laws of this state, that requires as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against another person. (2) “T…

(a) All persons within the boundaries of the State of West Virginia have the right to be free from any violence, or intimidation by threat of violence, committed against their persons or property because of their race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affilia…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no person, whether in a motor vehicle or otherwise, while wearing any mask, hood or device whereby any portion of the face is so covered as to conceal the identity of the wearer, may: (1) Come into or appear upon any walk, alley, …

(a) As used in this section: (1) “Person” means an individual, proprietorship, partnership, corporation, club or other legal entity; and (2) “Shooting range” means an area, whether indoor or outdoor, designed and operated for the use of rifles, shotguns, pistols, silhouettes, ske…

(a) As used in this section: (1) "Economic harm" means all direct, incidental and consequential pecuniary harm suffered by a victim as a result of criminal conduct. Economic harm includes, but is not limited to, the following: (A) All wages, salaries or other compensation lost as…

(a) Any person who knowingly and intentionally reports or causes to be reported to a law-enforcement officer, child protective service worker, or judicial officer that another has committed child sexual abuse, child abuse, or neglect as those terms are defined in §49-1-201 of thi…

If any member of the West Virginia State Police, the Division of Protective Services, sheriff, or mayor have notice of a riotous, tumultuous, or unlawful assemblage in his or her respective jurisdiction as provided in section one of this article, and fail to proceed immediately t…

If any person engaged in such assemblage, being commanded, as hereinbefore provided, to disperse or to peaceably leave the scene of such assemblage, fail to do so without delay, any such member of the West Virginia State Police, the Division of Protective Services, sheriff or may…

If, by any means taken under the authority of this article to disperse any such assemblage or arrest those engaged in it, any person present, as spectator or otherwise, be killed or wounded, and neither malice, nor premeditation be present, any member of the West Virginia State P…

If any person engaged in a riot, rout or unlawful assemblage, pull down or destroy, in whole or in part, any dwelling house, courthouse, jail, prison, asylum, hospital, school or college building, or any public building of any character, or assist therein, he shall be guilty of a…

If two or more persons under the name of “Red Men,” “Regulators,” “Vigilance Committee,” or any other name or without a name, combine or conspire together for the purpose of inflicting any punishment or bodily injury upon any other person or persons, or for the purpose of destroy…

If any person, by force, or other unlawful means, shall release or rescue, or attempt to release or rescue, a person in prison or other custody, charged with, or convicted of an offense under the provisions of the preceding section of this article, he shall be guilty of a felony,…

If any person shall, by threats, menaces, or otherwise, intimidate, or attempt to intimidate, a witness for the state in any prosecution under the provisions of sections seven and eight of this article, for the purpose of preventing the attendance of such witness at the trial of …

This article shall be known and may be cited as the "West Virginia Firearms Marketing Clarification Act."

The Legislature finds that the overwhelming support of the citizens of West Virginia for article three, section twenty-two of the Constitution of this state, commonly known as the “Right to Keep and Bear Arms Amendment”, combined with the obligation of the state to reasonably reg…

This article shall be known and may be cited as the West Virginia Second Amendment Preservation and Anti-Federal Commandeering Act.

It is the intention of the Legislature in the enactment of this article to clarify the persons whom it intends to proscribe from the possession of firearms due to mental illness; establish a process in reporting the names of persons proscribed from possession of firearms due to m…

(a) No head of a law-enforcement agency or law-enforcement officer under his or her command may be required, at the direction of an agency of the federal government, to act in a law-enforcement capacity to enforce a federal statute, executive order, agency order, rule or regulati…

(a) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (b) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $5,000 or confined in jail for not more than one year, or both fined and confined, except that where the person viola…

It shall be unlawful for any person armed with a firearm or other deadly weapon, whether licensed to carry the same or not, to carry, brandish or use such weapon in a way or manner to cause, or threaten, a breach of the peace. Any person violating this section shall be guilty of …

(a) The Legislature finds that the safety and welfare of the citizens of this state are inextricably dependent upon assurances of safety for children attending and persons employed by schools in this state and for persons employed by the judicial department of this state. It is f…

Any person who wantonly performs any act with a firearm which creates a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to another shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in the penitentiary for a definite term of years of not less than one…

This section may be referred to as "The Business Liability Protection Act". (a) As used in this section: (1) "Parking lot" means any property that is used for parking motor vehicles and is available to customers, employees, or invitees for temporary or long‐term parking or storag…

(a) A person who wears or is otherwise equipped with body armor while committing a felony offense, an element of which is force, the threat of force, physical harm to another or the use or presentment of a firearm or other deadly weapon, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction…

As a separate and distinct offense, and in addition to any and all other offenses provided for in this code, any person who, while engaged in the commission of a felony, uses or presents a firearm shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be imprisoned in a state co…

(a) When certification of a chief law-enforcement officer is required by federal law or regulation for the making, transfer, receipt or possession of a firearm, the chief law-enforcement officer shall, within thirty days of receipt of such a request, provide such certification up…

Nothing in this article should be construed to abrogate or modify statutory provisions and common law decisions related to defense of self or others.

As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Antique firearm" means: (A) Any firearm, including, but not limited to, a firearm with a match lock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system which was manufactured on or before 1898; (B) An…

As used in this article and as the terms are deemed to mean in 18 U. S. C. § 922(g) and §61-7-7 of this code as each exists as of January 31, 2008: (1) “A person adjudicated as a mental defective” means a person who has been determined by a duly authorized court, tribunal, board …

For the purposes of this article: "Firearm" means any weapon which will, is designed to, or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive, as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3); "Manufacturer" means any person engaged in the business of manufacturing …

The Legislature of the State of West Virginia finds: (1) The right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right and freedom enshrined in the federal and state constitutions. The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States provides “A well regulated Militia, being ne…

(a) The Superintendent of the West Virginia State Police and the Secretary of the Department of Human Services, or their designees, shall cooperate with the circuit clerk of each county and Administrator of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in compiling and maintaining a…