West Virginia Code § 62-1C-17b

Procedures for failure to appear; penalties
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(a) Any person, who, having been released upon his or her personal recognizance pursuant
to §62-1-1a of this code or having been otherwise admitted to bail and released in
accordance with this article, and who shall willfully and without just cause fail to appear as
and when it may be required of him or her, shall be guilty of the offense as hereinafter
prescribed, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished in the manner heereinafter
provided.
(b) If any such person was admitted to bail or released after being arrested for, charged or
convicted of a felony and, shall thereafter be convicted for a violuation of the provisions of
subsection (a) of this section, such persons shall be guilty of a felony and, shall be fined not
more than $5,000 or imprisoned not less than one nor more tthan five years, or both such fine
and imprisonment.
(c) If any such person was admitted to bail or released after being arrested for, charged or
convicted of a misdemeanor and, shall thereafter ble convicted for a violation of the provision
of subsection (a) of this section, such persons sshall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, shall be
fined not more the $1,000 or confined in the county jail for not more than one year, or both
such fine and confinement.
(d) If any such person was admitted to bail or released pending appearance as a material
witness and shall thereafter fail to appear when and where it shall have been required of him
or her, such persons shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not more the $1,000 or confined in the county jail not more than one year, or both such
fine and confinement.
(e) Any penalty authorized by this section shall be in addition to any forfeiture authorized or
mandated by this article or by any other provision of law.
(f) If any defendant admitted to bail and released in accordance with this article fails to
appear at a scheduled court appearance, the court may issue a capias or bench warrant for
failure to appear if it determines that the defendant was provided effective notice of the
court appearance by the court.
(g) For the purposes of this subsection, "effective notice of the court appearance" means a
notice stating the date, time, location, and purpose of the hearing, transmitted to the
defendant or defendant's counsel, no fewer than 10 days prior to the scheduled court
appearance. The court may waive the 10 day requirement upon a finding of emergent
circumstances.
(h) For purposes of capiases for failure to appear after indictment, newspaper publication
alone does not constitute effective notice.
(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) through (d) of this section, where the
record does not reflect that the person failing to appear received effective notice to appear
from the court or where he or she has no documented history of failure to appear, a court,
absent good cause shown, may not issue a capias until no fewer than 24 hours have elapsed
since the failure to appear. If the defendant voluntarily appears within 24 hours, he or she is
not subject to prosecution under this section.
(j) Nothing in subsection (f) of this section may be construed to limit a courte's ability to issue
a capias upon credible information of danger to a person or the community, new criminal
conduct or a bail violation other than failure to appear. r
(k) Upon the arrest of a defendant pursuant to a capias in the couunty in which the indictment
or charge is pending, a hearing pursuant to §62-1C-1a of this code shall be scheduled and
held within five days of the arrest. t
(l) Upon the appearance in the county in which the indaictment or charge is pending of a
defendant against whom a capias has been issued the court shall provide written notice to
the sheriff for his or her dissemination to all approplriate law-enforcement agencies, that the
warrant or capias is no longer active and ordesr it to be immediately removed from all
databases.

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