SB554 SUB1
Senate Bill 554 History
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SB554 SUB1
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 554
(By Senators Laird and Kessler)
____________
[Originating in the Committee on Government Organization;
reported February 25, 2010.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §30-29-1, §30-29-2, §30-29-3 and §30-
29-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to
amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated
§30-29-11
, all relating to law-enforcement certification
generally; expanding the responsibilities of the law-
enforcement training subcommittee and renaming it the law-
enforcement professional standards subcommittee; clarifying
the authority to decertify law-enforcement officers;
establishing a database of law-enforcement officers
disciplined for certain types of misconduct; requesting the
proposal of legislative rules to set standards for law-
enforcement agencies to report certain types of misconduct
by officers to the database; and requiring that law-enforcement agencies check the database prior to hiring an
officer.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §30-29-1, §30-29-2, §30-29-3 and §30-29-5 of the Code
of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and
that said code be amended by adding thereto a new section,
designated §30-29-11, all to read as follows
:
ARTICLE 29. LAW-ENFORCEMENT TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION.
§30-29-1. Definitions.
For the purposes of this article, unless a different meaning
clearly appears in the context:
(1) "Approved law-enforcement training academy" means any
training facility which is approved and authorized to conduct
law-enforcement training as provided in this article;
(2) "Chief executive" means the Superintendent of the State
Police; the chief conservation officer of the Division of Natural
Resources; the sheriff of any West Virginia county; any
administrative deputy appointed by the chief conservation officer
of natural resources; or the chief of any West Virginia municipal
law-enforcement agency;
(3) "County" means the fifty-five major political
subdivisions of the state;
(4) "Exempt rank" means any noncommissioned or commissioned
rank of sergeant or above;
(5) "Governor's committee on crime, delinquency and
correction" or "Governor's committee" means the Governor's
committee on crime, delinquency and correction established as a
state planning agency pursuant to section one, article nine,
chapter fifteen of this code;
(6) "Law-enforcement officer" means any duly authorized
member of a law-enforcement agency who is authorized to maintain
public peace and order, prevent and detect crime, make arrests
and enforce the laws of the state or any county or municipality
thereof, other than parking ordinances, and includes those
persons employed as campus police officers at state institutions
of higher education in accordance with the provisions of section
five, article four, chapter eighteen-b of this code, and persons
employed by the Public Service Commission as motor carrier
inspectors and weight enforcement officers charged with enforcing
commercial motor vehicle safety and weight restriction laws
although those institutions and agencies may not be considered
law-enforcement agencies. The term also includes those persons
employed as rangers by the Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation
Authority in accordance with the provisions of section six,
article fourteen, chapter twenty of this code, although the
authority may not be considered a law-enforcement agency:
Provided, That the subject rangers shall pay the tuition and
costs of training. As used in this article, the term "law-enforcement officer" does not apply to the chief executive of any
West Virginia law-enforcement agency or any watchman or special
conservation officer;
(7) "Law-enforcement official" means the duly appointed
chief administrator of a designated law-enforcement agency or a
duly authorized designee;
(8) "Municipality" means any incorporated town or city whose
boundaries lie within the geographic boundaries of the state;
(9) "Subcommittee" or "law-enforcement training professional
standards subcommittee" means the subcommittee of the Governor's
committee on crime, delinquency and correction created by section
two of this article; and
(10) "West Virginia law-enforcement agency" means any duly
authorized state, county or municipal organization employing one
or more persons whose responsibility is the enforcement of laws
of the state or any county or municipality thereof: Provided,
That neither the Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation Authority,
the Public Service Commission nor any state institution of higher
education may be deemed a law-enforcement agency.
§30-29-2. Law-enforcement professional standards subcommittee.
(a) A The law-enforcement training subcommittee of the
Governor's committee on crime, delinquency and corrections is
hereby created continued and renamed the Law-Enforcement
Professional Standards Subcommittee. The subcommittee has the following responsibilities:
(1) Review and administration of administer programs for
qualification, training and certification of law-enforcement
officers in the state; and
(2) Receive and review misconduct reports filed as required
by section eleven of this article from law-enforcement entities
of this state by the process created pursuant to subsection (g)
of section three of this article. The subcommittee may recommend
to the Governor's committee de-certification of any law-
enforcement officer whose misconduct reports would make them
ineligible to become a new officer under section five of this
article.
(b)
The subcommittee has subpoena power to compel the
attendance of witnesses and the production of books, records or
documents anywhere in the state
from law-enforcement agencies of
this state as needed to carry out the duties of the subcommittee.
(c) The subcommittee shall be comprised of ten members of
the Governor's committee including one representative of each of
the following:
(1) The department of public safety, West Virginia State
Police;
(2) the law-enforcement Division of the Department of
Natural Resources;
(3) the West Virginia Sheriffs Association;
(4) the West Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police;
(5) the West Virginia Deputy Sheriffs Association;
(6) the West Virginia fraternal order of police lodge;
(7) the West Virginia Municipal League;
(8) the West Virginia Association of county officials;
(9) the Human Rights Commission; and
(10) the public at large.
(b)(d) The subcommittee shall elect a chairperson and a vice
chairperson. Special meetings may be held upon the call of the
chairperson, vice chairperson or a majority of the members of the
subcommittee. A majority of the members of the subcommittee
constitutes a quorum.
§30-29-3. Duties of the Governor's committee and the
subcommittee.
Upon recommendation of the subcommittee, the Governor's
committee shall by or pursuant to rule or regulation propose
rules for legislative approval, in accordance with the provisions
of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, to:
(a) Provide funding for the establishment and support of
law-enforcement training academies in the state;
(b) Establish standards governing the establishment and
operation of the law-enforcement training academies, including
regional locations throughout the state, in order to provide
access to each law-enforcement agency in the state in accordance with available funds;
(c) Establish minimum law-enforcement instructor
qualifications;
(d) Certify qualified law-enforcement instructors;
(e) Maintain a list of approved law-enforcement instructors;
(f) Promulgate standards governing the qualification of
law-enforcement officers and the entry-level law-enforcement
training curricula. These standards shall require satisfactory
completion of a minimum of four hundred classroom hours, shall
provide for credit to be given for relevant classroom hours
earned pursuant to training other than training at an
established law-enforcement training academy if earned within
five years immediately preceding the date of application for
certification, and shall provide that the required classroom
hours can be accumulated on the basis of a part-time curricula
spanning no more than twelve months, or a full-time curricula;
(g) Establish standards and procedures for the reporting of
complaints and certain disciplinary matters concerning law-
enforcement officers, and for reviewing the certification of law-
enforcement officers who receive complaints or disciplinary
matters. These standards and procedures shall provide for
preservation of records and access to records by law-enforcement
agencies and conditions as to how the information in those
records is to be used regarding an officer's law-enforcement employment by another law enforcement agency;
(1) The subcommittee shall establish and manage a database
that is available to all law-enforcement agencies in the state
concerning internal and external complaints, disciplinary
matters, investigations or actions taken by the agency and
actions taken by an officer or agency in lieu of disciplinary
action pursuant to the reporting requirements set by rule.
(2) The information in the database which contains personnel
or personal information not resulting in a criminal charge or
conviction are not subject to the provisions of chapter twenty-
nine-b of this code.
(g)(h) Establish standards governing in-service law-
enforcement officer training curricula and in-service supervisory
level training curricula;
(h)(i) Certify or de-certify law-enforcement officers, as
provided in section five of this article;
(i)(j) Seek supplemental funding for law-enforcement
training academies from sources other than the fees collected
pursuant to section four of this article;
(j)(k) Any responsibilities and duties as the Legislature
may, from time to time, see fit to direct to the committee; and
(k)(l) Submit, on or before September 30 of each year, to
the Governor, and upon request to individual members of the
Legislature, a report on its activities during the previous year and an accounting of funds paid into and disbursed from the
special revenue account establish established pursuant to section
four of this article.
§30-29-5. Certification requirements and power to de-certify.
(a) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (g) below, no
a person may not be employed as a law-enforcement officer by any
West Virginia law-enforcement agency or by any state institution
of higher education or by the Public Service Commission of West
Virginia on or after the effective date of this article unless
the person is certified, or is certifiable in one of the manners
specified in subsections (c) through (e) below, by the Governor's
committee as having met the minimum entry level law-enforcement
qualification and training program requirements promulgated
pursuant to this article: Provided, That the provisions of this
section shall do not apply to persons hired by the Public Service
Commission as motor carrier inspectors and weight enforcement
officers prior to the before July 1, 2007.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (g) below, a person who
is not certified, or certifiable in one of the manners specified
in subsections (c) through (e) below, may be conditionally
employed as a law-enforcement officer until certified: Provided,
That within ninety calendar days of the commencement of
employment or the effective date of this article if the person is
already employed on the effective date, he or she makes a written application to attend an approved law-enforcement training
academy. The person's employer shall provide notice, in writing,
of the ninety-day deadline to file a written application to the
academy within thirty calendar days of that person's commencement
of employment. The employer shall provide full disclosure as to
the consequences of failing to file a timely written application.
The academy shall notify the applicant in writing of the receipt
of the application and of the tentative date of the applicant's
enrollment. Any applicant who, as the result of extenuating
circumstances acceptable to his or her law-enforcement official,
is unable to attend the scheduled training program to which he or
she was admitted may reapply and shall be admitted to the next
regularly scheduled training program. An applicant who
satisfactorily completes the program shall, within thirty days of
completion, make written application to the Governor's committee
requesting certification as having met the minimum entry level
law-enforcement qualification and training program requirements.
Upon determining that an applicant has met the requirements for
certification, the Governor's committee shall forward to the
applicant documentation of certification. An applicant who fails
to complete the training program to which he or she is first
admitted, or was admitted upon reapplication, may not be
certified by the Governor's committee: Provided, however, That
an applicant who has completed the minimum training required by the Governor's committee may be certified as a law-enforcement
officer, notwithstanding the applicant's failure to complete
additional training hours required in the training program to
which he or she originally applied.
(c) Any person who is employed as a law-enforcement officer
on the effective date of this article and is a graduate of the
West Virginia basic police training course, the West Virginia
State Police cadet training program, or other approved law-
enforcement training academy, is certifiable as having met the
minimum entry level law-enforcement training program requirements
and is exempt from the requirement of attending a law-enforcement
training academy. To receive certification, the person shall
make written application within ninety calendar days of the
effective date of this article to the Governor's committee
requesting certification. The Governor's committee shall review
the applicant's relevant scholastic records and, upon determining
that the applicant has met the requirements for certification,
shall forward to the applicant documentation of certification.
(d) Any person who is employed as a law-enforcement officer
on the effective date of this article and is not a graduate of
the West Virginia basic police training course, the West Virginia
State Police Cadet Training Program, or other approved law-
enforcement training academy, is certifiable as having met the
minimum entry level law-enforcement training program requirements and is exempt from the requirement of attending a law-enforcement
training academy if the person has been employed as a law-
enforcement officer for a period of not less than five
consecutive years immediately preceding the date of application
for certification. To receive certification, the person shall
make written application within ninety calendar days following
the effective date of this article to the Governor's committee
requesting certification. The application shall include
notarized statements as to the applicant's years of employment as
a law-enforcement officer. The Governor's committee shall review
the application and, upon determining that the applicant has met
the requirements for certification, shall forward to the
applicant documentation of certification.
(e) Any person who begins employment on or after the
effective date of this article as a law-enforcement officer is
certifiable as having met the minimum entry level law-enforcement
training program requirements and is exempt from attending a law-
enforcement training academy if the person has satisfactorily
completed a course of instruction in law enforcement equivalent
to or exceeding the minimum applicable law-enforcement training
curricula promulgated by the Governor's committee. To receive
certification, the person shall make written application within
ninety calendar days following the commencement of employment to
the Governor's committee requesting certification. The application shall include a notarized statement of the
applicant's satisfactory completion of the course of instruction
in law enforcement, a notarized transcript of the applicant's
relevant scholastic records, and a notarized copy of the
curriculum of the completed course of instruction. The
Governor's committee shall review the application and, if it
finds the applicant has met the requirements for certification
shall forward to the applicant documentation of certification.
(f) Any person who is employed as a law-enforcement officer
on or after the effective date of this article and fails to be
certified shall be automatically terminated and no further
emoluments shall be paid to such officer by his or her employer.
Any person terminated shall be entitled to reapply, as a private
citizen, to the subcommittee for training and certification, and
upon being certified may again be employed as a law-enforcement
officer in this state: Provided, That if a person is terminated
under this subsection because an application was not timely filed
to the academy, and the person's employer failed to provide
notice or disclosure to that person as set forth in subsection
(b) of this section, the employer shall pay the full cost of
attending the academy if the person's application to the
subcommittee as a private citizen is subsequently approved.
(g) Nothing in this article may be construed as prohibiting
any governing body, Civil Service Commission or chief executive of any West Virginia law-enforcement agency from requiring their
law-enforcement officers to meet qualifications and
satisfactorily complete a course of law-enforcement instruction
which exceeds the minimum entry level law-enforcement
qualification and training curricula promulgated by the
Governor's committee.
(h) The Governor's committee may de-certify law-enforcement
officers upon recommendation of the subcommittee pursuant to the
process detailed in this article and legislative rules.
(h) (i) The requirement of this section for qualification,
training and certification of law-enforcement officers shall not
be mandatory during the two years next succeeding the effective
date of this article July 9, 1981 for the law-enforcement
officers of a law-enforcement agency which employs a civil
service system for its law-enforcement personnel, nor shall such
provisions be mandatory during the five years next succeeding the
effective date of this article July 9, 1981 for law-enforcement
officers of a law-enforcement agency which does not employ a
civil service system for its law-enforcement personnel:
Provided, That such these requirements shall be are mandatory for
all such law-enforcement officers until their law-enforcement
officials apply for their exemption by submitting a written plan
to the Governor's committee which will reasonably assure
compliance of all law-enforcement officers of their agencies within the applicable two or five-year period of exemption.
(i) (j) Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Governor's
committee made pursuant to this article may contest such the
decision in accordance with the provisions of article five,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
(j) (k) Any person terminated from employment for not filing
an application to the law-enforcement training academy within
ninety days after commencing employment as a law-enforcement
officer may appeal the termination to the Governor's committee
for reconsideration on an individual basis.
(k) (l) Beginning July 1, 2002 until June 13, 2003, any
applicant who has been conditionally employed as a law-
enforcement officer who failed to submit a timely application
pursuant to the provisions of this section, may be conditionally
employed as a law-enforcement officer and may resubmit an
application pursuant to subsection (b) of this section to an
approved law-enforcement training academy. If the applicant is
accepted, the employer shall pay compensation to the employee for
attendance at the law-enforcement training academy at the rate
provided in section eight of this article.
§30-29-11. Required reporting by law-enforcement agencies of
certain disciplinary information; Legislative
rules; Requirement that database be consulted
prior to the hiring of law-enforcement officers.
(a) All law-enforcement agencies in this state shall provide
to the subcommittee the name of, and pertinent facts regarding,
any law-enforcement officer charged or for which there has been a
judicial or administrative finding of probable cause to believe
that:
(1) He or she has committed a felony or a misdemeanor crime
of violence, moral turpitude or controlled substance offence; or
(2) He or she has been administratively charged with a
violation of any agency, rule, or policy which, if proven, would
result in discharge, demotion or suspension and he or she has
resigned prior to a final determination.
(b) Commencing on July 1, 2010, the subcommittee shall
recommend legislative rules to the Governor's committee relating
to the reporting of certain criminal and administrative
violations by law-enforcement officers, the process by which all
reports are investigated and recorded and the process by which
all law-enforcement agencies can access the records of the
subcommittee. These rules shall include:
(1) The violations of agency rules, regulations or policies
that will result in a mandatory report to the subcommittee in
addition to the statutorily mandated reports pursuant to
subsection (a) of this section;
(2) A process by which the subcommittee can receive, review
and investigate all reported actions; and
(3) Guidelines for the establishment and use of a database
of all reported actions that is accessible by law-enforcement
agencies of this state.
(e) Prior to hiring any law-enforcement officer, the head of
any law-enforcement agency of this state or any entity or agency
of this state or any political subdivision thereof authorized to
employ or hire a law-enforcement officer shall submit the name of
any prospective law-enforcement hire to the database authorized
by the provisions of section three of this article to determine
if said database contains information regarding said prospective
employee.