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Drivers of ATVs in West Virginia don't need a driver's license.
Still, Roane County prosecutor Mark Sergent believes that anyone who loses a driver's license should lose the right to drive an ATV.
Last Wednesday, Sergent asked the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals to let him prosecute Robert Sarver for driving an ATV when his driving privileges had been revoked.
Sergent is seeking to reverse a decision of Circuit Judge David Nibert, who dismissed Sarver's case in 2005.
Sarver's attorney, public defender Teresa Monk of Spencer, told the Justices that state law allows ATVs on two-lane roads without center lines and to cross two-lane highways.
She said that's what Sarver did.
Roane County deputies stopped Sarver near Walton on Ambler Ridge Road at U.S. 119.
They discovered that his license had been revoked in 2002. He had two convictions and a third arrest on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol.
They filed a felony charge of driving while his license was revoked, driving under the influence, third offense, after which a grand jury indicted him.
Attorney Monk then filed a motion to clarify the law.
Judge Nibert, after reviewing the law, found that Sarver did not need a license.
Prosecutor Sergent said Sarver's license had been revoked almost 10 years.
Justice Joseph Albright confirmed that Sergent's theory is that an ATV is a motor vehicle.
Monk said state law does not require licenses for ATV operators.
Albright said the state made the distinction that the law was irrelevant because the privilege had been suspended.
Monk said if the driver operates in conformity with the law, it is not a motor vehicle.
Sergent said the ATV law did not change the revocation law.
"Even though you don't need a license to operate an ATV?" Justice Maynard asked, "Does that apply to riding lawn mowers?"
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