Odd laws that are still around in West Virginia

BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) – There are some things in West Virginia that are against the law that you may not know about.

Did you know that in West Virginia, if someone swears in public, they can be fined one dollar per swear?

There are a few laws in the Mountain State that may seem a bit weird.

59News traveled to Beckley to understand more about these laws.

Attorney Robert Dunlap said in his experience, there are many outdated laws that need to be changed or updated.

“I find that as I do municipal law in even smaller communities there are even more outrageous ones. For instance, the rule of thumb is often in some of our smaller cities and municipalities. Which that is you can beat your wife and children as long the stick isn’t wider than your thumb. It’s amazing how many different laws we haven’t cleaned up, went through, straightened, and updated,” said Dunlap.

It is also against the law to sleep on a train in West Virginia.

The laws listed are just a small sample and this raises an important question. How can laws like these eventually be fixed? Dunlap told 59News that laws like these will eventually become obsolete.

“When I was the attorney for the City of Rainelle, you hire an attorney, they come look at the ordinance book, and they update it to make sure the laws aren’t archaic as they reference. Mode of transportation, that is now out of date. So, it’s just incumbent upon all of us to know your local laws, how you’re governed, and find out how archaic and how out of date they can be,” said Dunlap to 59News.

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