Public Comments

Statement Opposing the Use of Speed Enforcement Cameras in Construction Zones

I oppose the use of speed enforcement cameras in construction zones.

Protecting road workers and motorists is essential, and work-zone safety should be taken seriously. However, automated speed cameras are not the best solution. These systems raise significant concerns about fairness, due process, and public trust. They often issue citations without accounting for context—such as sudden traffic flow changes, unclear signage, lane shifts, or whether workers were actually present in the zone at the time.

Speed camera enforcement can also become more about generating revenue than improving safety. When the public believes enforcement is primarily financial, confidence in traffic laws and highway safety efforts is weakened.

A better approach is to focus on visible law enforcement, clear signage, reasonable and consistently posted speed limits, improved lane markings, and public education. These measures promote safety while preserving accountability and discretion.

Work zones should be safe, but safety should be achieved through fair, transparent, and effective enforcement, not automated penalties that can overreach and erode public trust.

Public Comment Regarding SB704 – Veteran Perspective

To Whom It May Concern,

My name is Kristin T. Cicchetto, and I am a retired veteran who served 21 years in the United States Marine Corps. I am writing to respectfully express my opposition to SB704 and to ask that you carefully consider the unintended consequences this legislation would have on veterans like myself.

After dedicating over two decades of my life to military service, the transition to civilian life required rebuilding structure, purpose, and support systems outside of the military environment. Professional coaching services have been an important resource in helping veterans maintain accountability, set goals, manage stress, and continue progressing personally and professionally after service.

These services provide valuable support that complements medical care and mental health treatment. They help veterans stay engaged, focused, and productive members of their communities. Many veterans rely on coaching to assist with career transitions, personal development, and maintaining overall well-being. Removing or restricting access to these services would eliminate an important form of support that veterans voluntarily choose to improve their lives.

Veterans have earned the right to make informed decisions about the resources and services that best support their health, independence, and continued success. Limiting access to coaching services reduces those options and may negatively affect veterans who are working hard to build stable and meaningful lives after their military careers.

I respectfully ask that you consider the importance of preserving access to these services and oppose legislation that would restrict veterans’ ability to choose the support systems that work best for them.

Thank you for your time, your consideration, and your continued commitment to those who have served our nation.

Respectfully,

I strongly support CS for HB 5341.

This bill targets repeat domestic violence offenders and serious cases, not isolated disputes. That distinction is critical. It focuses on patterns of abuse that pose ongoing risks to intimate partners.

The registry is thoughtfully structured. It applies prospectively, limits public information, and includes clear removal timelines. Those safeguards matter.

Transparency protects victims. Giving individuals access to information about repeat offenders allows them to make informed decisions about their own safety.

Finally, directing funds to domestic violence legal services ensures accountability is paired with victim support.

Domestic violence is a public safety issue. This bill treats it as one. I urge its passage.

Mariah Richards

1. To The Standing Committe,

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When I hear about proposals that move our system toward more punishment and fewer chances for review, I don’t think about politics — I think about visiting rooms, countdown clocks, and the reality that my relationship exists within scheduled hours and monitored phone calls.

I think about the years Keith has spent trying to become someone different than the man who walked into prison. I’ve watched him take accountability in ways that are uncomfortable and painful. I’ve seen him educate himself, learn emotional regulation, and begin to understand the impact of his actions — not because he was forced to, but because he wanted to be better than who he once was. That growth didn’t just change him, it changed how he shows up for me, for our future, and for the life we still hope to build together.

Proposals like these threaten to make all of that meaningless.

Because when opportunities for release become more restricted and punishment becomes the priority over rehabilitation, it doesn’t just extend a sentence on paper — it extends the years we spend saying goodbye at the end of visits. It extends the birthdays missed, the holidays spent apart, the life moments we should be experiencing side by side but instead live through letters and phone calls.

For our family, it means living with the fear that no matter how much someone grows or changes, the system may never recognize it. And for so many other families across West Virginia, it means watching hope slip further out of reach — even when the person they love has done everything in their power to become someone worthy of a second chance.

This is incredibly personal for us, because what’s being considered right now isn’t just a change in policy — it has the power to shape whether Keith and I ever get the chance to live the life we’ve spent years holding onto in hope.

Every day, I watch the man he is now — not the man he was at the worst moment of his life, but the one who has spent years doing the hard, painful work of growth. He has taken accountability. He has educated himself. He has worked to understand the harm he caused and become someone capable of living differently, thinking differently, loving differently. That kind of change doesn’t happen overnight. It happens through time, effort, and a genuine commitment to becoming better.

But what’s being proposed tells families like mine that none of that matters. It tells us that no matter how much someone grows, heals, or takes responsibility, they may still be defined forever by who they once were. It tells us that redemption might not be something the system is willing to recognize — even when it’s real.

For me, that means lying awake at night wondering if the future Keith and I dream about — a home, a quiet life together, finally being able to exist in the same space without walls or visiting hours — could be taken from us by decisions that leave no room for second chances.

These choices don’t just impact the person incarcerated. They ripple through the lives of the people who love them, who support their transformation, and who wait — sometimes for decades — believing that change should mean something.

When anyone willingly gets behind a vehicle messed up on liquor or drug drugs. They are making a conscious decision to to say they are able to drive when they kill someone they need to pay for it. I don’t know this girl that was killed I don’t know this girl‘s family, but I feel like this bill needs to be passed and the person that allowed only six months  crime should step down and leave their post and let someone who can look at the logic of what happened and see the truth. Our laws need to be enforced