West Virginia Code 61-3-29 – Damage or destruction of railroad or public utility company property, or real or personal property used for producing, generating, transmitting, distributing, treating or collecting electricity, natural gas, coal, water, …
(a) Any person who knowingly and willfully damages or destroys any commercial or industrial real or personal property owned by a railroad company, or public utility company, or any real or personal property used for producing, generating, transmitting, distributing, treating storing or collecting electricity, natural gas, oil, coal, timber, timber processing, water, wastewater, stormwater, telecommunications or cable service, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $2,000, or confined in jail not more than one year, or both fined and confined.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 61-3-29
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Offense: includes every act or omission for which a fine, forfeiture, or punishment is imposed by law. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- personal property: includes goods, chattels, real and personal, money, credits, investments, and the evidences thereof. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
(b) Any person who knowingly and willfully damages or destroys any commercial or industrial real or personal property owned by a railroad company, or public utility company, or any real or personal property used for producing, generating, transmitting, distributing, treating, storing or collecting electricity, natural gas, oil, coal, timber, timber processing, water, wastewater, stormwater, telecommunications or cable service and thereby creates a substantial risk of serious bodily injury to another or results in the interruption of service to the public is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned in a state correctional facility not less than one nor more than three years, or both fined and imprisoned.
(c) Any person who knowingly and willfully damages or destroys any commercial or industrial real or personal property owned by a railroad company, or public utility company, or any real or personal property used for producing, generating, transmitting, distributing, treating, storing or collecting electricity, natural gas, oil, coal, timber, timber processing, water, wastewater, stormwater, telecommunications or cable service and thereby causes serious bodily injury to another is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $5,000 nor more than $50,000, or imprisoned in a state correctional facility not less than one nor more than five years, or both fined and imprisoned.
(d) Any person who knowingly and willfully damages or destroys any commercial or industrial real or personal property owned by a railroad company, or public utility company, or any real or personal property used for producing, generating, transmitting, distributing, treating, storing or collecting electricity, natural gas, oil, coal, timber, timber processing, water, wastewater, stormwater, telecommunications or cable service and thereby hinders, impairs or disrupts, directly or indirectly, the normal operation of any equipment, device, system or service put in place, in whole or in part, to protect, promote or facilitate the health or safety of any person is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $5,000 nor more than $10,000, or imprisoned in a state correctional facility for not less than one nor more than five years, or both fined and imprisoned.
(e) For purposes of restitution under article eleven-a of this article, a railroad company, public utility, business, or owner of property that is damaged, destroyed or disrupted may be deemed a victim and entitled to restitution, should the court so order, from any person convicted of an offense under this section.
(f) Nothing in this section limits or restricts the ability of an entity referred to in subsection (a), (b), (c) or (d) of this section or a property owner or other person who has been damaged or injured as a result of a violation of this section from seeking recovery for damages arising from violation of this section.