HB 5319 West Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Camping ban on certain public property.

HB 5319 amends West Virginia law to prohibit camping or storing personal property (like tents, sleeping gear, or camp equipment) on specific public property without authorization. It directly affects individuals using state capitol grounds, courthouses, municipal offices, parks, streets, or trails without written permission from the relevant government body. Key provisions define "camp" and "personal property," ban unauthorized use in designated areas, and classify violations as misdemeanors punishable by fines ($25-$100), up to 30 days in jail, or both. Each day of violation counts as a separate offense, and unauthorized structures are deemed public nuisances subject to removal.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 9, 2026 Last action Mar 11, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Committee Substitute Engrossed Committee Substitute · 3 edits · Mar 3, 2026
MINOR
The bill was updated to reflect its new status as the 'Engrossed Committee Substitute' version, incorporating specific formatting and punctuation adjustments to the legal text. No substantive policy changes, such as new definitions, altered penalties, or modified exemptions, were made in this update.
TECHNICAL

The header and history section were updated to show the bill is now the 'Engrossed Committee Substitute' rather than the 'Committee Substitute', and the 'Engrossed Version' link was removed from the navigation list.

Minor formatting and punctuation changes were applied to the definitions of 'Park' and 'Personal property', specifically capitalizing the first letter of the first sentence in the 'Personal property' definition and adjusting punctuation in the 'Park' definition.

Punctuation was added to subsection (d) regarding violations, changing the list items to end with semicolons instead of periods to improve grammatical flow.

Floor votes · House of Delegates Mar 3, 2026

How they voted

6232
Passed · 5 other
Total votes 99
Mar 3, 2026
D Democratic9
9 Nay
100% Nay
R Republican90
62 Yea 23 Nay 5
68% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
22
Key actions
2
Committee
6
Amendments
2
Mar 11, 2026
Committee
On 2nd reading, rereferred to Judiciary
upper
Mar 11, 2026
Committee
Without recommendation, but first rereferred to Judiciary
upper
Mar 4, 2026
Committee
To Judiciary
upper
Mar 4, 2026
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
Mar 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House (Roll No. 266)
lower
Mar 2, 2026
Amended
Amendment rejected (Voice vote)
lower
Mar 2, 2026
Introduced
Amendment reported by the Clerk
lower
Feb 26, 2026
Lower · Passed
By substitute, do pass
lower
Feb 9, 2026
Committee
To House Judiciary
lower
Feb 9, 2026
Introduced
Introduced in House
lower
Feb 9, 2026
Committee
To Judiciary
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors