§17-24A-2 Abandonment of motor vehicle prohibited; inoperative household appliances prohibited in certain places; penalty. - West Virginia Statutes

§17-24A-2. Abandonment of motor vehicle prohibited; inoperative household appliances prohibited in certain places; penalty.
(a) No person shall, 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 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced and fined as set forth below.

(b) No person shall, 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 shall 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 such solid waste or at the business establishment of a demolisher. Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be 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 fifty dollars nor more than one thousand dollars 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 five hundred dollars nor more than two thousand dollars 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 twenty-five hundred dollars or not more than twenty-five thousand dollars or confinement in a county or regional 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 conservation officers from the division of natural resources or environmental inspectors from the division 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 conservation 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.