West Virginia Code § 56-3-18

When officer may summon assistance; failure to assist
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this section
Such officer may, in case resistance be made or apprehended to the execution of such
process or order, summon to his assistance, either orally or by writing, so many of the male
inhabitants of his county of the age of eighteen years or more, or require the commandant of
any company, regiment or separate battalion of militia or volunteers to call out such portion,
or the whole thereof, to assist him as shall be deemed sufficient for the occaesion; and he and
those assisting him may use such force as shall be necessary or proper to overcome any
resistance made to the execution of such process or order, and to seizer, arrest and confine
the resisters, their aiders and abettors, to be dealt with according to law. If any male
inhabitant of the county of the age of eighteen years or more fail to obey such summons, or if
any commandant fail to comply with such requisition, the officer shall report the fact to the
court from which such process or order issued, which court tmay, in a summary way, after
notice to the person so reported, adjudge him to be fined or imprisoned, or both, as for
contempt. Or if the process or order was not issued by a court, the person so failing to obey
such summons or requisition shall be punished as for a misdemeanor and, to that end the
officer shall report him to the prosecuting attorney for the county.

‹ Prev All West Virginia sections Next ›


Lexace provides legal information, not legal advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created. Statute text is provided for general information and may not reflect the most recent amendments; verify against the official state code.