[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6326629,"mediaKeyId","2323865-d78b4ded808415da5f35847173847683","parentId",2323865,"title","Committee approves residency requirement and party-selection amendment for legislative vacancies","audioSeconds",1254,"startMs",807485,"endMs",2062215,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2323865-d78b4ded808415da5f35847173847683&start=807&end=2062","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2323865-d78b4ded808415da5f35847173847683/thumbnail_807485.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6326629/West-Virginia/Committee-approves-residency-requirement-and-party-selection-amendment-for-legislative-vacancies","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6326629-3bd684a50528d20db19cd5d48bc6f77b/orig.mp4?Expires=1771202364&Signature=HZa2DE5I-QQWTAUI1YbvCqpBNL1YYDQYb0dP-mddrL3DX1EbHKRRqqoMlggL55Etx6tV8ie2pv6yJlI8hIDfTJgOD68JxIFLdujpwEIGYsx~YoxPbe2fV1jwmpul-NsnkqVzhbtWIoBEDtMTYYIZC3-7bfF3t7KnLzBTdk4eFsrrG7kDvGIoMN~iFUJCW44vIG01FKoUXJkm1Szzb56HiODLi6j4eo-cg5-GswK8L9dp-We3QK~~8h8cfAk9VvV6p~XgKG5tYYjpg59lKL-N6gy0IFdkGjZnBw~VYXP54eNqBcYZ94Ty8tfzNcsMIDry8Epdv~~dfebp9NTYsTqWkw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","West Virginia Legislature","date","2025-02-17T00:00:00Z","article","The committee reported Senate Bill 139, as conceptually amended, to the full Senate with a recommendation that it do pass. The bill would require that a person appointed to a vacancy in the office of state senator or as a member of the House of Delegates have been a resident of the district they would represent for one year immediately preceding the appointment.

Counsel explained the bill’s principal language and read the new residency provision to the committee: \"No person shall be appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of state senator or as a member of the House of Delegates who has not for 1 year preceding the appointment been a resident within the district he or she will represent,\" the counsel said. Committee members discussed placement and scope of additional cleanup that might be needed elsewhere in the code.

The senior senator from the fourth offered a conceptual amendment to address how political parties compose and submit lists to the governor when vacancies occur. The amendment would add language stating that the process by which a party composes and submits a list of nominees shall be governed by the rules of the state executive committee of that political party. The amendment’s sponsor said the change was intended to provide consistent statewide rules for local executive committees that currently operate with varying procedures.

Members debated technical placement of the amendment's language within the statute. The senator from Jefferson suggested the language might fit earlier in the paragraph that already describes the governor’s appointment from a list submitted by the party executive committee. Counsel and members discussed whether subsection language addressing multi-county or multi-county-delegate districts required further cleanup; counsel noted subsection b relates to multi-county delegate districts and recommended specific review rather than immediate deletion. David Cove, general counsel for the Secretary of State’s Office, told the committee he was not aware of any conflicting code sections and said he would look further if needed.

On the amendment, the vice chair moved to approve the conceptual amendment and the committee adopted it by voice vote. The vice chair then moved that Senate Bill 139, as conceptually amended, be reported to the full Senate with the recommendation that it do pass; the motion carried by voice vote and the bill will be reported.

Committee members asked counsel to convert the conceptual language into formal committee-substitute text so the bill’s amended language can be prepared for the record and for the full Senate report.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Judiciary Committee Feb 17, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The committee reported Senate Bill 139, which would require appointees to legislative vacancies to have lived within the district they would represent for one year before appointment; the committee also adopted a conceptual amendment requiring the party’s state executive committee rules to govern how local lists are composed and submitted.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature WV, West Virginia","taxId",77714,"location","West Virginia","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6326634,"Committee advances bill raising penalties for vehicle fleeing offenses",588,216965,804975,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2323865-d78b4ded808415da5f35847173847683&start=216&end=804","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2323865-d78b4ded808415da5f35847173847683/thumbnail_216965.jpg","/articles/6326634/West-Virginia/Committee-advances-bill-raising-penalties-for-vehicle-fleeing-offenses","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6326634-03f900a45d7dd355b99edb2daff0271f/orig.mp4?Expires=1771202364&Signature=GUKWkSB~qIIAnwe2M8UBVqn3rUJegn8EYyKF27UBg~GPQVbGx~KtzSjNEgcNaOm-RhoAre49~AnvuygvvNPWHcrEZcCBenTigmHMjfnAs2Y5VSXiC1AGeIKz6zdmVEDjFavOMFJLTgBDfz1f3tMbo7eZ~3kcZwrGW-FcElU9Hn~5TDW~3aM5ewcLXRSaaGOoM53ocLOrIiP0kbKGWrJunVZEdHpXzf6H4XpxJIw300FoxZULrwRUr1PNTpbAqKV1qfZCgothwAk-fauIr430qlgew3~McMBhjRZd7C9WaI8wcaFWlJdWmpdb5-PJZowv35ZkZ3XYprwYB2If7jOLOg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The committee approved a committee substitute for Senate Bill 138, which increases criminal penalties for repeated instances of fleeing in a vehicle and adds some second and subsequent offenses to recidivist-sentencing rules.

Counsel told the committee that the substitute raises penalties for fleeing in a vehicle that causes property damage, bodily injury, or death, and for fleeing while driving under the influence. The committee substitute makes second offenses and third-or-subsequent offenses felonies for several categories and adds those offenses to the recidivist-sentencing statute referenced in the bill. Counsel said the period during which a prior conviction may be considered for recidivist sentencing would change from 10 years to 15 years.

The change to recidivist sentencing was described as an amendment in the committee substitute; Counsel provided a table to the committee showing side-by-side comparisons of current and proposed penalties. The transcript records the counsel explaining the core changes, including the 15-year lookback and the addition to the recidivist provision (§61-11-18 as cited in committee discussion).

Committee members asked for further factual context. The senator from Jefferson asked whether counsel had compared the proposed penalties with surrounding states; Counsel said he had not reviewed neighboring states but that he could obtain that information. The chairman directed Counsel to provide a comparison showing how the bill’s penalties line up with contiguous states or other states in general and asked that information be provided to the committee.

The senator from Ohio asked about likely time served under a typical sentence; Counsel confirmed that under subsection I (fleeing in a vehicle causing death) a second-offense range discussed by the senator — 10 to 20 years — applies and that good-time reductions commonly reduce served time (the committee discussion framed good time as typically cutting a sentence roughly in half, per Counsel’s explanation). The committee also discussed the statutory threshold for what constitutes an instruction to pull over: senators asked whether a clear visual or audible signal is required, and Counsel noted the code language reads ‘‘clear visual or audible signal,’’ interpreted in the committee as an ‘‘or’’ (visual or audible) rather than an ‘‘and.’’

The committee also clarified that the statute’s language excludes ‘‘a person’s reasonable attempt to travel to a safe place’’ from the definition of fleeing; Counsel identified that exception in subsection L of the code text presented to the committee.

Procedural action: the vice chair moved to approve the language of the committee substitute and the committee approved the substitute language by voice vote. The vice chair then moved that the committee substitute for Senate Bill 138 be reported to the full Senate with the recommendation that it do pass; the motion carried by voice vote and the bill was advanced to be reported to the full Senate.

The committee requested that Counsel provide a comparison of the bill’s penalties with surrounding states and other states and supply that analysis to the committee prior to further consideration by the full Senate.","A Senate committee approved a committee substitute for Senate Bill 138 that increases penalties for repeated instances of fleeing in a vehicle, adds certain second and subsequent offenses to recidivist-sentencing provisions, and extends the lookback period for prior convictions.","actionData","errors"]

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Committee approves residency requirement and party-selection amendment for legislative vacancies

Committee advances bill raising penalties for vehicle fleeing offenses