HB 2774 West Virginia House of Delegates · 2025 Regular Session

Coach Protection Act

HB 2774, the "Coach Protection Act," amends West Virginia law to increase penalties for assault and battery against athletic officials and participants during sports events. It establishes minimum jail terms (5 days for assault, 10 days for battery) and fines ($250-$500 for assault, $500-$1,000 for battery), explicitly defining "athletic official or participant" to include coaches, referees, players, and team supervisors. The bill also authorizes school boards to ban convicted offenders from all state school sports events for at least one year, with violations treated as trespassing. This directly affects individuals who commit violence at sports events, schools enforcing bans, and participants in organized sports.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

House of Delegates Passage

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 21, 2025 Last action Mar 13, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Engrossed Version → hb2774 hfa linville 3-11 _1 adopted.htm · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to add the phrase 'less than $250, nor' after the first 'not' in two penalty clauses, effectively changing the minimum fine amounts from $250 to $0 for assault on athletic officials and from $500 to $0 for battery on athletic officials. This modification would allow judges to impose fines below the originally stated minimum amounts, potentially weakening the financial deterrent for these offenses.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding criminal penalties was modified to allow lower minimum fines than originally specified.

ENFORCEMENT

Minimum fine amounts for assault on athletic officials were changed from $250 to $0 by inserting 'less than $250, nor' after the word 'not' in the penalty clause.

Minimum fine amounts for battery on athletic officials were changed from $500 to $0 by inserting 'less than $500, nor' after the word 'not' in the penalty clause.

Floor votes · House of Delegates Mar 12, 2025

How they voted

87–0

Passed · 13 other

Total votes 100

Mar 12, 2025

D Democratic9

8 Yea 1

88% Yea

R Republican91

79 Yea 12

86% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Mar 13, 2025

Committee

To Education

upper

Mar 13, 2025

Committee

To Education then Judiciary

upper

Mar 13, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

Mar 12, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed House (Roll No. 70)

lower

Mar 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

Amendment adopted (Voice vote)

lower

Mar 11, 2025

Introduced

Amendment reported by the Clerk

lower

Mar 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Do pass

lower

Mar 4, 2025

Committee

To House Courts

lower

Feb 21, 2025

Committee

To House Judiciary

lower

Feb 21, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

Feb 21, 2025

Committee

To Judiciary

lower

1 primary · 10 co-sponsors