The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.West Virginia Bill HB 4041 imposes mandatory 25-year sentence for assaulting law enforcement officers or animals
Last action · January 14, 2026: To House JudiciarySponsor: Phil Mallow
Track this bill to get notified when it advances a stage. One tap to stop, anytime.
What This Bill Proposed
West Virginia House Bill 4041 establishes a mandatory 25-year prison sentence for individuals convicted of assaulting a law-enforcement officer or law-enforcement animal acting in an official capacity. The measure amends existing criminal penalties under Chapter 61 of the West Virginia Code.
Changes criminal sentencing guidelines by removing judicial discretion and setting a fixed 25-year term for specific offenses against law enforcement personnel or animals, directly altering potential prison terms for convicted individuals.
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Law-enforcement officers
Receive enhanced legal protections through a mandatory 25-year sentence applied to individuals convicted of assaulting them.
Law-enforcement animals
Receive enhanced legal protections under assault provisions matching those for human officers.
Individuals prosecuted for assault in West Virginia
Subject to a mandatory 25-year confinement term upon conviction for assaulting a law-enforcement officer or animal.
Key Facts
- Establishes a mandatory 25-year sentence of confinement in jail for any person who unlawfully attempts to commit a violent injury to a law-enforcement officer or law-enforcement animal acting in an official capacity.
- Applies to offenders who commit an act placing a law-enforcement officer or law-enforcement animal in reasonable apprehension of immediately receiving a violent injury while knowing the victim is acting in an official capacity.
- Amends §61-2-10b of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended.
- Retains existing misdemeanor and felony tiers for malicious assault, unlawful assault, battery, and general assault against other government representatives, health care workers, utility workers, emergency service personnel, and correctional employees.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the penalty for assaulting a law enforcement officer or animal under HB 4041?
Does this bill change penalties for assaulting other workers like healthcare or utility staff?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
Follow the record
Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
4 actions- Jan 14, 2026HouseCommitteeTo House Judiciary
- Jan 14, 2026HouseIntroducedIntroduced in House
- Jan 14, 2026HouseCommitteeTo Judiciary
- Jan 14, 2026HouseIntroducedFiled for introduction
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Connected Entities
Sources
www.wvlegislature.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 65)
- Controversy60Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
Publisher tools