A Senate committee on [date not specified] debated legislation that would increase penalties for assaulting or battering athletic officials and later adopted a conceptual amendment that narrowed scope and adjusted penalties before referring the bill to the Committee on Judiciary.

Counsel explained the bill would change penalties for assault and battery against athletic officials, increasing fines and elevating penalties in the original draft. The bill sponsor, identified in committee as the senator from Greenbrier and who testified about a local incident involving an official, urged stiffer penalties and a mandatory minimum to deter attacks on officials.

Committee members questioned scope and severity. Senators asked whether simple assault should remain a misdemeanor rather than a felony, how the bill would differ from existing battery statutes, and whether juvenile processing and prosecutorial discretion would affect outcomes. The sponsor said he did not intend to criminalize mere insults but sought mandatory minimum penalties for physical acts against officials. He told the committee that juvenile delinquency procedures already give courts broad discretion for juvenile offenders.

Several senators said the bill should explicitly protect referees and umpires while avoiding overly broad language that could capture bystanders or custodial staff. In response, the sponsor offered and the committee adopted an amendment that: (1) changed the crime of assault back to a misdemeanor with confinement of 1 to 6 months while retaining the increased fine language; (2) changed the battery provision to a misdemeanor with confinement of 6 months to one year while retaining elevated fines; (3) struck the phrase "a person who supervises the participants" and replaced it with more specific examples such as an umpire, referee, coach or other athletic staff; and (4) replaced the term "sports" with "organized sporting event." Counsel confirmed the amendment was drafted as a conceptual change and that further technical drafting would follow.

Committee members debated whether elevating battery to a felony was necessary or whether tougher misdemeanor penalties and higher fines would be sufficient to deter assaults while avoiding long-term collateral consequences for offenders. Witnesses and senators noted enforcement gaps in some localities and warned that prosecutorial discretion and plea bargaining could result in lesser outcomes even if the bill sets higher penalties.

After adopting the amendment, the committee approved a motion to refer the bill to the Committee on Judiciary; the chair declared the ayes had it on a voice vote. No recorded roll-call tally was taken in committee.

The measure now moves to Judiciary for further consideration and technical drafting to reflect the committee's adopted changes.