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W. Va. Code § 61-8-16

Obscene, anonymous, harassing, repeated and threatening telephone calls; penalty

Applied in 8 court decisions — leading case State v. Richards (1995)

Most recently applied in State Ex Rel. Judicial Investigation Commission v. Putnam County Board of Ballot Commissioners (April 2016)

How often courts cite this section

19731980199020002010201620
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(a) It is unlawful for any person with intent to harass or abuse another by means of telephone to:

(1) Make any comment, request, suggestion or proposal which is obscene; or

(2) Make a telephone call, whether or not conversation ensues, without disclosing his or her identity and with intent to harass any person at the called number; or

(3) Make or cause the telephone of another repeatedly or continuously to ring, with intent to harass any person at the called number; or

(4) Make repeated telephone calls, during which conversation ensues, with intent to harass any person at the called number; or

(5) Threaten to commit a crime against any person or property.

(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly permit any telephone under his or her control to be used for any purpose prohibited by this section.

(c) Any offense committed under this section may be deemed to have occurred at the place at which the telephone call was made, or the place at which the telephone call was received.

(d) Any person who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $500, or confined in jail not more than six months, or both fined and confined.

Official source: West Virginia Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain West Virginia statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.