Senate Bill No. 458
(By Senator Chafin)
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[Introduced March 4, 2005; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §15-2-20 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to transfer of members of the West
Virginia State Police; permitting a transfer of a member for
certain conduct; and increasing the relocation expense to one
thousand dollars.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §15-2-20 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE.
§15-2-20. Transfer authorized; transfer for disciplinary purposes
only prohibited; notice required under certain
circumstances; relocation expense; regulation of
member's residence.
The Superintendent may transfer members to meet the
operational needs of the Department and when a member has demonstrated a pattern of inappropriate personal or professional
conduct resulting in substantiated disciplinary action under the
provisions of the West Virginia State Police Professional Standards
Rule (81 CSR 10) and the pattern of inappropriate conduct has
adversely affected his or her operational effectiveness or
credibility and is attributable to the member's area of assignment.
A transfer may not be made as a disciplinary measure for
disciplinary purposes except as set out in this paragraph.
Whenever any member of the Department is to be transferred
from one station to another station, for a period of time in excess
of sixty days, the Superintendent shall give written notice of such
proposed transfer to such member at least fifteen days in advance
of such transfer. The Superintendent shall not, however, be
required to give such notice in the event the transfer is at the
request of the member who is to be transferred. In the event that
a member appeals a transfer in accordance with section six of this
article, the provisions of the West Virginia State Police Grievance
Procedure Rule (81 CSR 8
), the transfer shall not take effect
pending the appeal before the board. If the board upholds the
transfer, such transfer is upheld by the Level IV hearing examiner,
it shall be effective upon the issuance of the board's hearing
examiner's decision and shall remain in effect pending any appeal
of such decision by the member.
Whenever any member of the Department is transferred from one station to another station, for a period of time in excess of sixty
days, all reasonable and necessary transportation expenses actually
incurred in moving the household furniture and effects of such
member and of his or her immediate family from his former station
to his new station shall be paid by the department: Provided, That
if any such member owns and resides in a mobile home, the
Department shall pay all reasonable and necessary transportation
expenses actually incurred in moving such mobile home from such
member's former station to his or her new station, but the
Department may not pay transportation expenses for moving such
mobile home in excess of the amount which would have been paid for
moving an equivalent amount of household furniture and effects had
such member not owned such mobile home.
A member transferred shall also be given a relocation expense
of three hundred one thousand dollars if the transfer necessitated
relocation of the member's family.
The Superintendent shall not restrict a member from residing
in a county other than that in which the member is stationed,
except that the Superintendent may promulgate by appropriate
written regulation to be applied uniformly throughout the
department a restriction as to either: (1) The number of miles
distant from his or her station which a member may reside, or (2)
the time necessary under ordinary traffic conditions for a member
to travel between his or her residence and station.
The member may appeal the superintendent's order of transfer
to the board of appeals created for such purpose or to the circuit
court of Kanawha County in accordance with the provisions of
section six of this article and all of the original papers in such
cases shall be delivered to the appeals board or the circuit court,
as the case may be. The right of a member to appeal a transfer
shall not apply until the member has completed the eighteen-month
probationary period with the department.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
permit a transfer of a
State Police officer for certain inappropriate conduct. The bill
also increases the relocation expense to one thousand dollars.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.