Senate 838

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE

2025 REGULAR SESSION

Introduced

Senate Bill 838

By Senator Thorne

[Introduced March 20, 2025; referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §61-1A-12, relating to prohibiting law-enforcement officers from placing a surveillance camera or game camera on certain private land; providing an exception; and defining "private land".

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 1A. SEARCH AND SEIZURE.

§62-1A-12. Prohibitions on surveillance cameras on private property.

(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, no law-enforcement officer may place any surveillance camera or game camera on private land without first obtaining consent from the owner, lessee, or other person entitled to possession of the private land or a valid search warrant: Provided, That nothing in this subsection may prohibit a law-enforcement officer from placing a camera in an area where the law-enforcement officer has a lawful right to be and facing a location on any land that is open to public view without first obtaining consent or a search warrant.

(b) For purposes of this section, "private land" means posted land, cultivated land, or fenced land, as those terms are defined in §61-3B-1 of this code.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit law enforcement officers from placing a surveillance camera or game camera on certain private land; providing an exception; and defining "private land".

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.