CHARLESTON — An Upshur County delegate introduced two bills that would place residency restrictions on those who made terroristic threats against schools and students just three weeks after a man was sentenced for making threats against an Upshur County school.

Introduced by Carl Martin, R-District 65, House Bill 4996 and House Bill 4997 would place living restrictions on those out on bail for, and who are convicted of, making terroristic threats to educational facilities and children in those facilities.

Upshur County’s second delegate, Adam Burkhammer, R-District 64, also sponsors both bills.

The bills were introduced on the House floor on Jan. 30. Currently, HB 4996 and HB 4667 are both pending in the House Judiciary Committee. Both bills are also sponsored by delegates Phillips, Hornby, Funkhouser, Mallow, Butler, Ridenour, Zatezalo, Anderson and McGeehan.

HB 4996, if passed, would amend the Code of West Virginia by adding a new section relating to bail in cases involving terroristic threats made towards schools or children. It would establish mandatory conditions of bail, prohibiting those accused of the threats from having residence within 1,000 feet of educational facilities.

According to HB 4996, when the offense of terroristic threats involves an educational facility, students or children at a school or similar location, a condition of the defendant’s bail or pretrial release will be that they cannot reside within 1,000 feet of the property line of any educational facility where children are present. This applies to any public or private school, preschool, daycare center or other educational facility where children are regularly present, whether they were the subject of the threat or not.

HB 4996 also states the court shall impose additional conditions of bail “as necessary” to help protect students, school personnel or the community. This can include no contact, direct or indirect, with any student, school employee or person associated with the threatened facility, exclusion zones via GPS monitoring prohibiting the defendant from approaching within 1,000 feet of the facility, home incarceration only at a compliant residence outside the restricted zone and other safeguards to mitigate risk posed by proximity.

The proximity between the defendant’s residence and the facility shall be measured using “reliable methods,” including geographic information systems (GIS), property records or surveying data available to the court, HB 4996 states.

Any violation of any condition imposed under HB 4996 shall be punishable by immediate arrest by any law-enforcement officer. A violation will lead to a forfeiture of bail, issuance of a bench warrant, remanding to custody or modification/revocation of bail terms.

HB 4996 also states that the clerk of the court issuing an order regarding the residency of the defendant shall provide certified copies of the conditions of bail to the victim(s), school officials, “if applicable,” or any requesting party without cost.

HB 4997, if passed, would amend the Code of West Virginia by adding a new section relating to residency restrictions for persons convicted of terroristic threats involving schools or children. The bill would prohibit those convicted of such crimes from taking residence within one 1,000 feet of educational facilities.

According to HB 4997, any person convicted of making terroristic threats, where the threat involved an educational facility, students or children at a school or similar location shall be prohibited from residing within 1,000 feet of the property line of any educational facility where children are present. This applies to any public or private school, preschool, daycare center or other educational facility where children are regularly present

The convicted person will be prohibited from living near these types of facilities during any period of probation, parole, supervised release or as a condition of sentencing if no supervision is otherwise imposed.

The prohibition in HB 4997 also applies as a mandatory condition of probation or parole imposed by the court or parole board. If the convicted person is not placed on probation or parole, the sentencing court may impose the residency restriction as part of the judgment order.

The proximity between the defendant’s residence and the facility shall be measured using “reliable methods,” including geographic information systems (GIS), property records or surveying data available to the court, HB 4997 states.

Any violation of the residency restriction imposed under HB 4997 is a felony and, “upon conviction thereof, the person shall be confined in a state correctional facility for not less than one nor more than five years, or fined not more than $10,000, or both.” The violation may also result in revocation of probation or parole.

Both bills were introduced around three weeks after Andrew Devon Hitt, 25, received the maximum sentence for making terroristic threats against Hodgesville Elementary School students. 

Hitt lived near the school and, according to the criminal complaint against Hitt, he sent a message to another person saying, “I have had thoughts of how easy it would be to snipe those kids off one by one from my yard.”

On Jan. 9, Upshur County Circuit Court Judge Jacob E. Reger sentenced Hitt to not less than one year nor more than three years for one count of making threats of terroristic acts, a felony. This is the maximum sentence for that charge and, according to reports, Hitt would be eligible for parole three months after his sentencing.

Hitt was initially indicted on two counts of threats of terroristic acts by the Upshur County Grand Jury.

According to circuit court records, on Nov. 4, Hitt entered into a deferred adjudication agreement in Upshur County Circuit Court. Reger accepted the deferred adjudication agreement. According to West Virginia State Code, this means the court deferred accepting Hitt’s guilty plea and deferred on entering a final judgement, releasing Hitt “upon such terms and conditions as the court deems just and necessary.”

Because the crime Hitt was accused of is a felony, West Virginia State Code states that the court may “defer adjudication for a period not to exceed three years.” This meant if Hitt complied with the conditions placed by the court for the three years, he could withdraw his plea of guilty and the charges against him could be dismissed. It was also possible that, after the three years, Hitt could be able to enter a plea of guilty or no contest to a lesser offense.

Hitt’s release to home confinement caused Upshur County residents to become extremely concerned as Hitt had returned to living at his residence near Hodgeville Elementary School. This led to county officials and the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office assigning a full-time deputy PRO officer to Hodgesville Elementary on Nov. 18. The officer was to stay at the school until January.

“We feel that there is an obligation to protect the children and staff in the school,” the Sheriff’s Office statement announcing the decision read. “This placement will allow the other elementary PRO Officer to be at the other elementary schools in the county. This increase in monitoring will also give the Upshur County Board of Education a chance to plan how they will move forward after the Christmas break.”

Residents continued to raise their concerns to county officials. During the Upshur County Commission’s Nov. 20 meeting, the Commission reviewed and discussed correspondence they had received from Hodgesville community members Stephanie Beer and Angel Loudin regarding Hitt and his proximity to the school.

“While I could argue all day over the failures of the healthcare and legal systems regarding mental health, and disparity of action plans for vulnerable societal members, this situation poses a series of significant concerns related to student and educator safety,” Beer wrote in her letter to the commission. “I genuinely believe that law enforcement, the office of the Upshur County Prosecutor and the Honorable Judge Reger have acted in the absolute best interest of the public. Unfortunately, that doesn’t protect students.”

Hitt was arrested again in December after allegedly violating his home confinement by deleting his browser history, accessing Discord and creating a TikTok account under the name of a police officer. Hitt was charged with one count of obstructing an officer, a misdemeanor. A pretrial hearing for Hitt in regard to the misdemeanor charge has been scheduled for March 12 in Upshur County Magistrate Court.