House 4999

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE

2026 REGULAR SESSION

Introduced

House Bill 4999

By Delegates Browning, McCormick, Stephens, Campbell, Akers, and Foggin

[Introduced January 30, 2026; 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 crimes against athletic officials; clarifying that victims include participants; establishing minimum jail penalties; creation definitions; authorizing a person convicted of the offenses to be banned from certain sports events; requiring written notice to the person banned; establishing that a violation of the ban is a form of trespass; creating certain exemptions for participating athletes; 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 or participants; penalties.

(a) If any person commits an assault as defined in subsection (b), section nine of this article §61-2-9(b) of this code to the person of an athletic official or participant during the time the official is acting as an athletic official or participant, the offender is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $250, nor more than $500 or and confined in jail not 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 §61-2-9(c) of this code against an athletic official or participant during the time the official is acting as an athletic official or participant, the offender is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $500, nor more than $1,000 or and confined in jail not more than twelve months one year, or both fined and confined.

(c) For the purpose of this section, "athletic official or participant" means a player on a sports team, person at a sports event who enforces the rules of that event, such as including, but not limited to, an umpire or referee, or a person who supervises the participants, such as including, but not limited to, a coach, assistant coach, or any other official team members during the course of a game or related event.

(d)(1) In addition to the criminal penalties set forth in this section, a county board of education or a governing board for a state institution of higher education may provide written notification to any person convicted of an offense under subsection (a) or subsection (b) of this section that he or she is banned from all state school sports events or school-sponsored sports events as a result of the conviction for a minimum of 365 days.

(2) Any person receiving the written notification set forth in subdivision (1) of this subsection who refuses to leave the premises of any state school sports event or school-sponsored sports event upon request shall be subject to prosecution pursuant to the provisions of §61-3B-1 et seq. of this code.

(e) Participants who are players on a sports team in the game are exempt from prosecution under this section for acts, including, but limited to, hard fouls, committed during the sporting event, provided such acts are within the scope of the rules or nature of the sport.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to modify the criminal and administrative penalties for assault or battery on athletic officials or participants.

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