West Virginia § 61-3-60 Damage, destruction, or theft of equipment used by emergency responders; criminal penalties

West Virginia Statutes

§ 61-3-60 — Damage, destruction, or theft of equipment used by emergency responders; criminal penalties

West Virginia § 61-3-60

Ch. 61CRIMES AND THEIR PUNISHMENT

Art. 3CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY

This text of West Virginia § 61-3-60 (Damage, destruction, or theft of equipment used by emergency responders; criminal penalties) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

W. Va. Code § 61-3-60 (2026).

Text

(a)Any person who knowingly and willfully damages, destroys, or commits the larceny of any equipment, or personal property, owned or operated by the state, a county or a municipality of this state, a volunteer fire department of this state, or a private entity that has contracted with the state or a county or municipality of the state for the performance of emergency response duties, that is used by emergency responders in the performance of emergency response duties, whether that equipment or personal property is in use or maintained in a garage or other building, structure, or location, and that action thereby creates a substantial risk of bodily injury or actual bodily injury to another person, results in property loss to any person served by the emergency responder, or results in the

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(a) Any person who knowingly and willfully damages, destroys, or commits the larceny of any equipment, or personal property, owned or operated by the state, a county or a municipality of this state, a volunteer fire department of this state, or a private entity that has contracted with the state or a county or municipality of the state for the performance of emergency response duties, that is used by emergency responders in the performance of emergency response duties, whether that equipment or personal property is in use or maintained in a garage or other building, structure, or location, and that action thereby creates a substantial risk of bodily injury or actual bodily injury to another person, results in property loss to any person served by the emergency responder, or results in the interruption of service by emergency responders 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.

(b) The offense established by this section shall be in addition to and a separate and distinct offense from any other offense set forth in this code.

(c) For purposes of this section:

(1) “Emergency responder" has the same meaning as that term is defined in §5H-1-2 of this code and shall additionally include any entity of a political subdivision of the state providing emergency services pursuant to the provisions of §15-5-8 of this code and any county commission, political subdivision, or county 911 public safety answering point.

(2) “Emergency response duties” has the same meaning as that term is defined in §5H-1-2 of this code and shall additionally include disaster response activities and emergency services as those terms are defined in §15-5-2 of this code and activities of a county commission, political subdivision, or county 911 public safety answering point in providing emergency responder services.