Senate Judiciary Committee reports multiple House bills to full Senate

The West Virginia Senate Judiciary Committee reported a slate of House bills to the full Senate with recommendations that they do pass, committee members announced during a routine session. Many measures drew brief explanations from committee counsel and were advanced by voice vote.

Committee Counsel summarized the scope of several bills for the panel. On House Bill 3434, Counsel said, "It is the Controlled Substances Act, with the updates to our controlled substance schedules consistent with the schedules of the federal government. That's the bill, mister chairman." The vice chair moved each bill to the full Senate and the committee chair declared the motions adopted after voice votes.

The package covers criminal and civil changes, including updates to controlled-substance schedules, protections for eligible adults facing suspected financial exploitation by allowing institutions to delay or refuse transactions, a change to make certain consumer-credit claims survivable after a plaintiff's death, limits on civil liability for servers of alcohol, expansion of the state's critical-infrastructure list to include certain agricultural and livestock facilities, an engrossed substitute tied to the Joel Archer substance-use intervention act, a Truth in Giving disclosure law for thrift operators, and a $125 annual registry fee for registrants on the state registry.

Votes at a glance

- House Bill 3434: Controlled Substances Act (scheduling update). Committee Counsel described the bill as updating state schedules to match federal schedules. Action: reported to the full Senate with a recommendation that it do pass (motion moved by the Vice Chair; voice vote: ayes have it).

- House Bill 3294 (strike-and-insert adopting Senate Bill 848): Banking protections for eligible adults. The amendment permits depository institutions, broker-dealers and investment advisers to delay, refuse or prevent certain transactions when financial exploitation of an elder or incapacitated adult is suspected; requires disclosure to an authorized third party and mandatory notification to designated state agencies including the West Virginia Department of Human Services and the Attorney General; imposes a maximum 15-day hold absent court order; and shields financial institutions from private causes of action absent clear and convincing proof they did not act in good faith. Action: amended and reported to the full Senate with recommendation that it do pass (motion moved by the Vice Chair; voice vote: ayes have it).

- House Bill 3162 (as amended): Consumer Credit Protection Act / survivability. The bill amends the definition of "consumer" so a duly appointed personal representative may pursue consumer-credit claims after a plaintiff's death, overturning a prior West Virginia Supreme Court outcome as described by counsel. Action: amended and reported to the full Senate with recommendation that it do pass (motion moved by the Vice Chair; voice vote: ayes have it).

- House Bill 3513 (as amended): Civil liability related to furnishing alcohol. The measure creates civil-liability standards and rebuttable presumptions for age verification, limits certain damages and punitive awards, and specifies that owners/lessors generally are not liable for acts of intoxicated patrons except in listed circumstances. Effective date language begins for cases filed on or after Aug. 1, 2025, as counsel described. Action: amended and reported to the full Senate with recommendation that it do pass (motion moved by the Vice Chair; voice vote: ayes have it).

- House Bill 3504 (engrossed): Critical infrastructure definition. The bill adds livestock stockyards, licensed livestock slaughter facilities and commercial poultry production and processing facilities to the state's critical-infrastructure list, enhancing penalties for trespass, vandalism or related criminal acts at those sites. Action: reported to the full Senate with recommendation that it do pass (motion moved by the Vice Chair; voice vote: ayes have it).

- House Bill 2347 (engrossed committee substitute for Senate Bill 761, "Joel Archer" substance-use intervention act): The engrossed substitute would expand bases for involuntary hospitalization where persons are unable to appreciate the need for services and to provide procedural authorities tied to voluntary treatment, firearms-possession-restoration incentives and removal from a mental-health registry tied to rehabilitation completion, as described by counsel. Action: amended (strike-and-insert) and reported to the full Senate with recommendation that it do pass (motion moved by the Vice Chair; voice vote: ayes have it).

- House Bill 2710 (engrossed committee substitute, Truth in Giving Act): Requires disclosure by thrift operators and provides enforcement by the Secretary of State and the Attorney General; creates misdemeanor penalties for willful violations. Action: reported to the full Senate with recommendation that it do pass (motion moved by the Vice Chair; voice vote: ayes have it).

- House Bill 3164: Registry fee. The bill implements a $125 registry fee to be paid to the circuit clerk where a registrant resides; funds are designated for state police mental-health support and other essential state police operations; nonpayment results in civil judgment exposure, not criminal punishment. Action: reported to the full Senate with recommendation that it do pass (motion moved by the Vice Chair; voice vote: ayes have it).

Context and next steps

Most measures were advanced with no recorded roll-call tallies in the committee transcript; committee action was taken by voice vote and the chair declared the ayes to have it. Committee members indicated they were expediting remaining business and had no further meetings on the immediate agenda. A small number of bills were laid over for later consideration; one laid-over item is the subject of separate committee discussion.