security prisoners, unemployed or delinquent youth.
Old cemeteries are part of our heritage, and are
gradually deteriorating and disappearing. Farm
Bureau suggests that the state use offenders who have
been sentenced to community service to clean up
old cemeteries. Cleaning up road banks and public
stream banks adds beauty to the community and gives
individuals work experience and self-respect.
Farm Bureau favors the passage of “Jessica’s
Law,” which calls for a mandatory sentence of life
imprisonment for the molestation of a child.
Criminal Disclosure and Public Office
State criminal laws should be changed to allow
public access to adult and juvenile criminal histories,
including prison disciplinary records and transfers.
Victims, family members and police must be
notified of escapes, impending paroles, furloughs, or
other releases.
Sex-crime victims should be able to require that
their assailants undergo blood tests to reveal any
transmissible disease, and the victim should then be
informed of the results.
WVFB supports legislation to require all sexual
offenders to wear an electronic tracking device.
Legislation should be enacted that prohibits the
appointment of a person convicted of a felony to any
position of authority in state government. Legislation
should also be enacted requiring the forfeiture of
wages, salary, retirement pay and benefits of any
elected or appointed public official who is convicted of
a felony committed while serving in office.
Juvenile Justice
We recommend that the juvenile justice code be
expanded to hold parents accountable for the damages
committed by their children.
Because of the seriousness of juvenile crime, we
recommend that a juvenile who commits a crime be
held accountable for that crime. Juveniles who are
thirteen years of age or older, who commit felonies,
should be prosecuted as an adult.
We also recommend that the names of juveniles and
the crimes committed not be withheld from the media.
Photography of a Corpse
WVFB supports any legislation that prohibits
photography of a dead body as in reference to
proposed bill HB 2734.
124. UNINSURED DRIVERS
To help alleviate the problem of uninsured drivers,
32 West Virginia Farm Bureau News
a driver who wishes to cancel his insurance must first
surrender his or her vehicle license tag and registration
card to the state police or DMV. The state police will
then issue a certificate of surrendered registration that
the driver will be required to present to the insurance
carrier before the insurance is cancelled.
West Virginia Farm Bureau recommends that the
minimum amount of liability insurance required be
increased from 20/40/10 to 50/100/50.
Certificates of insurance should only be issued for
the period of time paid for.
125. IMMIGRATION
West Virginia Farm Bureau requests that the WV
Legislature adopt a resolution demanding that the
Congress and the President honor their Constitutional
duty to protect the border of the United States from
the flood of illegal immigration, and we also support
any other state in their efforts to enforce existing
immigration law.
With the increasing burden on taxpaying
American citizens for social services, law
enforcement and especially the likelihood of highly
contagious and potentially pandemic diseases
entering the country via the influx of illegal
immigrants, this issue must be addressed.
126. WV DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH &
HUMAN RESOURCES PROCEDURE FOR
ASSUMING CUSTODY OF CHILDREN DURING
SCHOOL HOURS
West Virginia Farm Bureau strongly urges the WV
Department of Health and Human Resources to amend
their procedures for seizing custody of children bound
for foster care directly from the classroom. If it is
deemed necessary to take a child into custody during
school hours, it should be done in cooperation with the
school administration, and in such a way that it does
not further add to the child’s trauma or interrupt the
classroom environment.
127. SOCIAL SECURITY
West Virginia Farm Bureau recommends that all
income taxes on Social Security cease.
128. HEALTH INSURANCE
West Virginia Farm Bureau is opposed to
national X[[