House 5246

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE

2026 REGULAR SESSION

Introduced

House Bill 5246

By Delegate Hornbuckle

[Introduced February 05, 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 increasing the fines for conviction of assault or battery of athletic officials.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

Article 2. Crimes Against the Person.

§61-2-15a. Assault, battery on athletic officials; penalties.

(a) If any person commits an assault, as defined in §61-2-9(b), to the person of an athletic official during the time the official is acting as an athletic official, the offender is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more less than $500 nor more than $1,000, or confined in jail not more than six months, or both fined and confined.

(b) If any person commits a battery, as defined in §61-2-9(c), against an athletic official during the time the official is acting as an athletic official, the offender is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more less than $1,000 nor more than $3,000, or confined in jail not more than twelve months, or both fined and confined.

(c) For the purpose of this section, "athletic official" means a person at a sports event who enforces the rules of that event, such as an umpire or referee, or a person who supervises the participants, such as a coach.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the penalties for persons convicted of assault or battery upon athletic officials: the Safe Play Act.

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