West Virginia Code 17-24A-2 – Abandonment of motor vehicle prohibited; inoperative household appliances prohibited in certain places; penalty
(a) No person may, within this state, abandon a motor vehicle or major part thereof upon the right-of-way of any public highway, upon any other public property or upon any private property without the consent of the owner or person in control of the property, or upon property owned or controlled by that person, unless it be at a licensed salvage yard or at the business establishment of a demolisher, or a business licensed to do business in the State of West Virginia and not in the primary business of offering motor vehicles or parts thereof for sale. Any person who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced and fined as set forth below.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 17-24A-2
- Abandoned motor vehicle: means any motor vehicle, or major part thereof, which is inoperative and which has been abandoned on public property for any period over five days, other than in an enclosed building or in a licensed salvage yard or at the business establishment of a demolisher. See West Virginia Code 17-24A-1
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Demolisher: means any person licensed by the Commissioner of the Division of Highways whose business, to any extent or degree, is to convert a motor vehicle or any part thereof or an inoperative household appliance into processed scrap or scrap metal or into saleable parts or otherwise to wreck or dismantle vehicles or appliances. See West Virginia Code 17-24A-1
- Division: means the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles. See West Virginia Code 17-24A-1
- Inoperative household appliance: means a refrigerator, freezer, range, stove, automatic dishwasher, clothes washer, clothes dryer, trash compactor, television set, radio, air conditioning unit, commode, bed springs, mattress or other furniture, fixture or appliance which by reason of mechanical or physical defects can no longer be used for its intended purpose and which is either not serving a functional purpose or use or is not in an enclosed building, a licensed salvage yard or the actual possession of a demolisher. See West Virginia Code 17-24A-1
- Junked motor vehicle: means a motor vehicle, or any part thereof which: . See West Virginia Code 17-24A-1
- Licensed salvage yard: means a salvage yard licensed under article twenty-three of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 17-24A-1
- Motor vehicle: means a vehicle which is or was self-propelled, including, but not limited to, automobiles, trucks, buses and motorcycles. See West Virginia Code 17-24A-1
- Person: means a natural person, corporation, firm, partnership, association or society and the plural as well as the singular. See West Virginia Code 17-24A-1
- 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) No person may, within this state, place or abandon any inoperative household appliance upon the right-of-way of any public highway or upon any other public property; nor may any person, within this state, place or abandon any inoperative household appliance upon any private property unless it be at a licensed salvage yard, solid waste facility, other business authorized to accept solid waste or at the business establishment of a demolisher. Any person who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced and fined as set forth below.
(c) Any person who is guilty of a misdemeanor as described in this section and the abandoned motor vehicle, junked motor vehicle, or inoperative household appliance does not exceed one hundred pounds in weight or twenty-seven cubic feet in size is subject to a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $1,000 or, in the discretion of the court, sentenced to perform community service by cleaning up litter from any public highway, road, street, alley or any other public park or public property or waters of the state, as designated by the court, for not less than eight nor more than sixteen hours, or both.
(d) Any person who is guilty of a misdemeanor as described in this section and the abandoned motor vehicle, junked motor vehicle or inoperative household appliance is greater than one hundred pounds in weight or twenty-seven cubic feet in size, but less than five hundred pounds in weight or two hundred sixteen cubic feet, is subject to a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $2,000 or, in the discretion of the court, may be sentenced to perform community service by cleaning up litter from any public highway, road, street, alley or any other public park or public property or waters of the state, as designated by the court, for not less than sixteen nor more than thirty-two hours, or both.
(e) Any person who is guilty of a misdemeanor as described in this section and the abandoned motor vehicle, junked motor vehicle or inoperative household appliance is greater than five hundred pounds in weight or two hundred sixteen cubic feet in size is subject to a fine not less than $2,500 or not more than $25,000 or confinement in jail for not more than one year, or both. In addition, the violator may be guilty of creating or contributing to an open dump as defined in section two, article fifteen, chapter twenty-two of this code and subject to the enforcement provisions of section fifteen of said article.
(f) Any person convicted of a second or subsequent violation of this section is subject to double the authorized range of fines and community service for the subsection violated.
(g) The sentence of litter cleanup shall be verified by natural resources police officers from the Division of Natural Resources or environmental inspectors from the Department of Environmental Protection. Any defendant receiving the sentence of litter cleanup shall provide within a time to be set by the court written acknowledgment from a natural resources police officer or environmental inspector that the sentence has been completed and the litter has been disposed of lawfully.
(h) Any person who has been found by the court to have willfully failed to comply with the terms of a litter cleanup sentence imposed by the court pursuant to this section is subject to, at the discretion of the court, double the amount of the original fines and community service penalties.