Senate Bill No. 282

(By Senators Anderson, Bowman, Sharpe, Miller, Ross, Love, Buckalew, Yoder, Helmick, Blatnik, Bailey, Manchin, Kimble, Schoonover, Dugan, Craigo, Plymale, Scott, Oliverio, Walker, Dittmar, Deem, Wiedebusch, Wagner, Whitlow, White and Chafin)

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[Introduced February 8, 1995; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section six, article seven, chapter twenty-four-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to qualification of employees of the public service commission as special law-enforcement officers; and the carrying of firearms in the course of their duties.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section six, article seven, chapter twenty-four-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. COMPLAINTS, DAMAGES AND VIOLATIONS.
§24A-7-6. Duty of prosecuting attorneys and law-enforcement
officers to enforce chapter; qualifications of commission employees designated as law-enforcement officers.

It shall be the duty of the department division of public safety and the sheriffs of the counties in West Virginia to make arrests and the duty of the prosecuting attorneys of the several counties to prosecute all violations of this chapter and other chapters pertaining to the regulatory authority of the commission, and the commission employees designated by it as inspectors motor carrier inspectors shall have all the lawful powers of peace law-enforcement officers to enforce this chapter and other chapters pertaining to the regulatory authority of the commission in any county or city of this state. If, in the course of enforcing the provisions of this chapter, a commission employee designated by it as an inspector shall have reasonable cause to believe that a driver has been operating a vehicle regulated by this chapter in violation of section two, article five, chapter seventeen-c of this code or section fourteen, article one, chapter seventeen-e of this code, the inspector may detain the driver until a member of the division of public safety, a sheriff or deputy sheriff, or a member of a municipal law-enforcement agency is summoned to investigate the suspected violation and determine whether the person should be arrested and a secondary test of blood, breath or urine should be administered. Notwithstanding the provisions of section one, et seq., article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of this code, such law-enforcement officers are qualified to carry firearms in the course of their duties after meeting specialized qualifications to be established by the governor's committee on crime, delinquency and correction.




NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify and establish the enforcement powers and qualifications of public service commission employees. The bill would authorize the governor's committee on crime, delinquency and corrections to establish specialized qualifications for carrying firearms by motor carrier inspectors who enforce the commission's authority.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.