Bill to reclassify West Virginia criminal code gets sent to Sentencing Commission

(The Center Square) – Legislation to set up new classifications in the West Virginia criminal code and increase penalties for some crimes will be put on hold until next session after the Senate referred the bill to the Sentencing Commission.

House Bill 2017, which passed the House, is a 412-page rewrite of the state’s criminal sentencing rules. Current code has unique punishments for individual crimes, but the rewrite would set different classifications for certain crimes and set up penalties for crimes based on those classifications.

Although the House passed the bill with some bipartisan support, Senate lawmakers determined that there was not enough time to properly review the bill with the session set to end Saturday. The bill received criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia, which said it would increase penalties for more than 200 crimes, and urged lawmakers to send it to the commission for review before passing anything.

“This is a great bill,” lead bill sponsor Del. Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, said in a statement. “It’s a great starting place for us to update, modernize our code, as many of our sister states around the country have done over the past 20 years.”

As written, the legislation would establish six classifications for felonies and three classifications for misdemeanors.

Class 1 felonies would be punished by life in prison. These include first degree murder, first degree sexual assault of a minor and kidnapping with harmed abductees. Class 2 felonies would be punished by 15 to 60 years in prison and they include solicitation of an underage prostitute, abducting a child for prostitution, sexual servitude of an adult and kidnapping without harm, but with a ransom.

Other felonies would carry lighter sentences. Class 3 felonies, which includes attempted robbery, incest, some forms of sexual assault and nonsexual trafficking of a minor, would carry between five and 30 years. Class 4 felonies, which include voluntary manslaughter, child neglect causing death and some forms of arson, carry between three and 15 years. Class 5 felonies, which include malicious assault, stalking and fraud, would carry between two and 10 years. Class 6 felonies, which include child abuse, grand larceny between $2,500 and $25,000 and other financial crimes, would carry between one and five years.

For misdemeanors, a Class 1 could carry up to a year in prison, Class 2 up to six months and Class 3 up to 90 days. The classifications also carry different fines, depending on the severity of the classification.

“This is a big deal. This is 150 years of the entire criminal law of the state of West Virginia,” Del. Chad Lovejoy, D-Cabell, said in a statement. “I know we’re in a rush to kind of get things done, but sometimes, getting it done right is more important than getting it done first.”

The legislation would also add a section to the code for restitution and fines. It would also allow grant judges the discretion to change a Class 6 felony to a Class 1 misdemeanor.

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