HB4996 - Bail Conditions for School Terroristic Threats
Summary
West Virginia Governor signed HB4996 into law on April 1, 2026, establishing mandatory bail conditions for individuals charged with making terroristic threats against schools or children. The bill passed both chambers unanimously (House 96-0, Senate 34-0). The legislation creates specific bail requirements for school-related threats, affecting defendants, courts, and law enforcement in West Virginia.
What changed
West Virginia HB4996 enacts mandatory bail conditions for individuals charged with terroristic threats against schools or children, creating a new statutory framework for pretrial release in these cases. The bill was amended during the legislative process by both House and Senate Judiciary committees before receiving unanimous passage and gubernatorial approval.
Affected parties include criminal defendants facing school-related terroristic threat charges, West Virginia courts responsible for setting bail, and law enforcement agencies handling such arrests. The law establishes binding procedural requirements that supersede any discretionary bail practices previously applied in these cases, requiring courts to impose the newly mandated conditions rather than relying on traditional bail evaluation standards.
What to do next
- Courts and judicial officers must apply mandatory bail conditions under the new statutory framework for school threat cases
- Prosecutors and defense counsel should familiarize themselves with the amended bail requirements
- Law enforcement agencies should update procedures for arrest and bail recommendation processes involving school threats
Source document (simplified)
ChangeBridge / West Virginia / HB4996 Signed by Governor HB4996 House Bill Signed by Governor 2026-03-14
Relating to bail in cases involving terroristic threats to schools or children
The purpose of this bill is to creating mandatory bail conditions for individuals charged with making terrorist threats against a school, or a similar location.
Bill Details
State West Virginia
Session 2026 Regular Session
Chamber House
Official Source www.wvlegislature.gov/BillStatus/Billshi...
LegiScan View on LegiScan
Sponsors
Carl Martin (Rep - R) Adam Burkhammer (Rep - R) Chris Phillips (Rep - R) Michael Hornby (Rep - R) Joe Funkhouser (Rep - R) Phil Mallow (Rep - R) Jim Butler (Rep - R) Bill Ridenour (Rep - R) Mark Zatezalo (Rep - R) William Anderson (Rep - R) Pat McGeehan (Rep - R)
Action History
2026-04-01 H Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 2026-03-14 H Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 - House Journal 2026-03-14 S Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 - Senate Journal 2026-03-14 S To Governor 3/25/2026 - Senate Journal 2026-03-25 H To Governor 3/25/2026 2026-03-14 S House Message received 2026-03-14 H Completed legislative action 2026-03-14 H Communicated to Senate 2026-03-14 H House concurred in Senate amendment and passed bill (Roll No. 681) 2026-03-14 H House received Senate message 2026-03-13 S Senate requests House to concur 2026-03-13 S Passed Senate with amended title (Roll No. 553) 2026-03-13 S Read 3rd time 2026-03-13 S On 3rd reading 2026-03-12 S Committee amendment adopted (Voice vote) 2026-03-12 S Read 2nd time 2026-03-12 S On 2nd reading 2026-03-11 S Read 1st time 2026-03-11 S Immediate consideration 2026-03-11 S Reported do pass, with amendment and title amendment 2026-02-17 S To Judiciary 2026-02-17 S To Judiciary 2026-02-17 S Introduced in Senate 2026-02-16 H Communicated to Senate 2026-02-16 H Title amendment adopted (Voice vote) 2026-02-16 H Passed House (Roll No. 95) 2026-02-16 H Read 3rd time 2026-02-16 H On 3rd reading, Special Calendar 2026-02-13 H Read 2nd time 2026-02-13 H On 2nd reading, Special Calendar 2026-02-12 H Read 1st time 2026-02-12 H On 1st reading, Special Calendar 2026-02-11 H By substitute, do pass 2026-02-09 H Markup Discussion 2026-02-06 H To House Judiciary 2026-02-05 H Markup Discussion 2026-02-05 H To House Homeland Security 2026-01-30 H To House Judiciary 2026-01-30 H Introduced in House 2026-01-30 H To Judiciary 2026-01-30 H Filed for introduction
Votes
2026-02-16 Passed House (Roll No. 95) Yea: 96 Nay: 0 2026-03-13 Passed Senate with amended title (Roll No. 553) Yea: 34 Nay: 0 2026-03-14 House concurred in Senate amendment and passed bill (Roll No. 681) Yea: 97 Nay: 0
Committee Referrals
2026-01-30 H Judiciary 2026-02-05 H Homeland Security 2026-02-06 H Judiciary 2026-02-17 S Judiciary
Amendments
2026-02-13 hb4996 hfat akers 2-13 2026-02-13 hb4996 hfat akers 2-13 adopted Adopted 2026-03-10 hb4996 s jud amt 2026-03-10 hb4996 s jud am _1 2026-03-11 hb4996 s jud amt adopted Adopted 2026-03-10 hb4996 s jud am _1 adopted Adopted
Bill Text Versions
0000-00-00 Introduced 0000-00-00 Comm Sub 0000-00-00 Engrossed 0000-00-00 Enrolled Legislative data powered by LegiScan (CC BY 4.0)
Named provisions
Related changes
Get daily alerts for West Virginia Legislative Events
Daily digest delivered to your inbox.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
Source
Classification
Who this affects
Taxonomy
Browse Categories
Get alerts for this source
We'll email you when West Virginia Legislative Events publishes new changes.