HB 5198 West Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Relating to crimes against the intellectually disabled

HB 5198 amends West Virginia's hate crime law to explicitly include "disability" as a protected class alongside race, sex, and other characteristics. It increases penalties for crimes motivated by disability bias - such as violence or intimidation - by classifying such acts as felonies punishable by fines up to $5,000 or 10 years in prison. The bill applies to all individuals with disabilities as defined under state law (§16B-17-3), directly affecting victims of disability-targeted crimes and holding perpetrators accountable under existing hate crime provisions.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 4, 2026 Last action Feb 24, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Engrossed Committee Substitute → hb5198 hfat akers 2-21 adopted.htm · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill text was updated to reflect a formal amendment adopted on February 21, 2026, by Delegate Akers. The primary change is the replacement of the original title with a new, more specific title that clarifies the bill's intent to protect persons with disabilities as a protected class and to establish criminal penalties for civil rights violations. The substantive legal text of the bill itself remains unchanged, with the update serving to formally record the amendment of the bill's title.

Scope change

The scope of the bill's applicability remains the same, but the title now explicitly clarifies that persons with disabilities are included in the protected class and details the creation of criminal penalties.

TITLE

The bill title was amended to explicitly state that persons with disabilities are included as a protected class and to clarify the creation of criminal penalties.

TECHNICAL

Header information indicating the bill version (HB5198 HFAT Akers 2-21) and adoption status (Adopted/Rejected) was added.

Navigation menus, footer links, and the original unamended title were removed as they were replaced by the amendment record.

Floor votes · House of Delegates Feb 23, 2026

How they voted

94–0

Passed · 6 other

Total votes 100

Feb 23, 2026

D Democratic9

8 Yea 1

88% Yea

R Republican91

86 Yea 5

94% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 24, 2026

Committee

To Judiciary

upper

Feb 24, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

Title amendment adopted (Voice vote)

lower

Feb 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed House (Roll No. 165)

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

By substitute, do pass

lower

Feb 13, 2026

Committee

To House Judiciary

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Committee

To House Courts

lower

Feb 4, 2026

Committee

To House Judiciary

lower

Feb 4, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

Feb 4, 2026

Committee

To Judiciary

lower

1 primary · 9 co-sponsors