COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 386
(By Senators Snyder, Schoonover and Mitchell)
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[Originating in the Committee on Education;
reported February 19, 1999.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article four, chapter
eighteen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring any
security officer or campus police officer at a state higher
education institution who fulfills the certification
requirement for law-enforcement officers to carry a gun.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article four, chapter eighteen-b of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. GENERAL ADMINISTRATION.
§18B-4-5. Security officers; appointment; qualifications;
authority; compensation and removal.
The governing boards are hereby authorized to appoint bona
fide residents of this state to act as security officers or
campus police officers upon any premises owned or leased by the
state of West Virginia and under the jurisdiction of the
governing boards, subject to the conditions and restrictions
hereinafter imposed. Before performing duties as a security
officer or campus police officer in any county, each person so
appointed shall qualify therefor in the same manner as is
required of county officers by the taking and filing of an oath
of office as required by article one, chapter six of this code
and by posting an official bond as required by article two,
chapter six of this code. No A security officer or campus police
officer shall have authority to shall at the request of the
presidentor or may at their==his or her own descretiondiscretion carry a gun or and
may carry any other dangerous weapon until a license therefor has
been obtained in the manner prescribed by section two, article
seven, chapter sixty-one of this code, if the security officer or
campus police officer fulfills the certification requirement for
law-enforcement officers under section five, article twenty-nine,
chapter thirty of this code.
It shall be the duty of any person so appointed and
qualified to preserve law and order on any premises under the
jurisdiction of the governing boards and on any other street,
road or thoroughfare, except controlled access and open country
highways, adjacent to or passing through such premises, to which
the person may be assigned by the president or other
administrative head of the state institution of higher education.
For this purpose the security officer shall be deemed to be a
law-enforcement officer in accordance with the provisions of
section one, article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of this code
and, as to offenses committed within any area so assigned, have
and may exercise all the powers and authority and shall be
subject to all the requirements and responsibilities of a
law-enforcement officer: Provided, That the supervisor of any
security officer employed on the effective date of this section
may exempt such officer from any law-enforcement training
required in said article. The assignment of security officers to
the duties authorized by this section shall not be deemed to
supersede in any way the authority or duty of other peace
officers to preserve law and order on such premises. In
addition, the security officers appointed under provisions of this section shall have authority to assist local peace officers
on public highways in the control of traffic in and around
premises owned by the state of West Virginia whenever such
traffic is generated as a result of athletic or other activities
conducted or sponsored by a state institution of higher education
and when such assistance has been requested by the local peace
officers.
The salary of all such security officers shall be paid by
the appropriate governing board. Each state institution may
furnish each such security officer with an official uniform to be
worn while on duty and shall furnish and require each such
officer while on duty to wear a shield with an appropriate
inscription and to carry credentials certifying to the person's
identity and authority as a security officer.
The governing boards may at their pleasure revoke the
authority of any security officer. The president or other
administrative head of the state institution of higher education
shall report the termination of employment of a security officer
by filing a notice to that effect in the office of the clerk of
each county in which the security officer's oath of office was
filed, and in the case of a security officer licensed to carry a gun or other dangerous weapon, by notifying the clerk of the
circuit court of the county in which the license therefor was
granted.