Senate Bill No. 399
(By Senator Buckalew)
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[Introduced February 16, 1995; referred to the Committee
on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section twelve, article two, chapter
fifteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to mission of the
division of public safety; powers of the superintendent,
officers and members; patrol of turnpike; sale of surplus
property and use of generated funds.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twelve, article two, chapter fifteen of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. DIVISION OF PUBLIC SAFETY.
§15-2-12. Mission of the division; powers of superintendent,
officers and members; patrol of turnpike.
(a) The West Virginia division of public safety shall have
the mission of statewide enforcement of criminal and traffic laws
with emphasis on providing basic enforcement and citizen protection from criminal depredation throughout the state and
maintaining the safety of the state's public streets, roads and
highways.
(b) The superintendent and each of the officers and members
of the division are hereby empowered:
(1) To make arrests anywhere within the state of any persons
charged with the violation of any law of this state, or of the
United States, and when a witness to the perpetration of any
offense or crime, or to the violation of any law of this state,
or of the United States, may arrest without warrant; to arrest
and detain any persons suspected of the commission of any felony
or misdemeanor whenever complaint is made and warrant is issued
thereon for such the arrest, and any person so arrested shall be
forthwith brought before the proper tribunal for examination and
trial in the county where the offense for which any such the
arrest has been made was committed;
(2) To serve criminal process issued by any court or
magistrate anywhere within this state: Provided, That they shall
may not serve civil process; and
(3) To cooperate with local authorities in detecting crime
and in apprehending any person or persons engaged in or suspected
of the commission of any crime, misdemeanor or offense against
the law of this state, or of the United States, or of any
ordinance of any municipality in this state; and to take
affidavits in connection with any application to the division of highways, division of motor vehicles and division of public
safety of West Virginia for any license, permit or certificate
that may be lawfully issued by these divisions of state
government.
(c) Members of the division of public safety are hereby
created forest patrolmen and game and fish wardens throughout the
state to do and perform any duties and exercise any powers of
such the officers, and may apprehend and bring before any court
or magistrate having jurisdiction of such the matters, anyone
violating any of the provisions of chapters twenty, sixty and
sixty-one of this code, and the division of public safety shall
at any time be subject to the call of the West Virginia alcohol
beverage control commissioner to aid in apprehending any person
violating any of the provisions of said chapter sixty of this
code. They shall serve and execute warrants for the arrest of
any person and warrants for the search of any premises issued by
any properly constituted authority, and shall exercise all of the
powers conferred by law upon a sheriff. They shall may not serve
any civil process or exercise any of the powers of such officer
in civil matters.
(d) Any member of the division of public safety knowing or
having reason to believe that anyone has violated the law may
make complaint in writing before any court or officer having
jurisdiction and procure a warrant for such the offender, execute
the same warrant and bring such the person before the proper tribunal having jurisdiction. He The member shall make return on
all such warrants to such tribunals and his official title shall
be "member of the division of public safety." Members of the
division of public safety may execute any summons or process
issued by any tribunal having jurisdiction requiring the
attendance of any person as a witness before such the tribunal
and make return thereon as provided by law, and any return by a
member of the division of public safety showing the manner of
executing such the warrant or process shall have the same force
and effect as if made by a sheriff.
(e) Each member of the division of public safety, when
called by the sheriff of any county, or when the governor by
proclamation so directs, shall have full power and authority
within such the county, or within the territory defined by the
governor, to direct and command absolutely the assistance of any
sheriff, deputy sheriff, chief of police, policeman, game and
fish warden, and peace officer of the state, or of any county or
municipality therein, or of any able-bodied citizen of the United
States, to assist and aid in accomplishing the purposes expressed
in this article. When so called, any officer or person shall,
during the time his assistance is required, be for all purposes
a member of the division of public safety and subject to all the
provisions of this article.
(f) The superintendent may also assign members of the
division to perform police duties on any turnpike or toll road, or any section thereof, operated by the West Virginia parkways,
economic development and tourism authority: Provided, That such
the authority shall reimburse the division of public safety for
salaries paid to such the members, and shall either pay directly
or reimburse the division for all other expenses of such the
group of members in accordance with actual or estimated costs
determined by the superintendent.
(g) The division of public safety may develop proposals for
a comprehensive county or multicounty plan on the implementation
of an enhanced emergency service telephone system and for causing
a public meeting on such the proposals, all as set forth in
section six-a, article six, chapter twenty-four of this code.
(h) The superintendent may also assign members of the
division to administer tests for the issuance of commercial
drivers' licenses, operator and junior operator licenses as
provided for in section seven, article two, chapter seventeen-b
of this code: Provided, That the division of motor vehicles
shall reimburse the division of public safety for salaries and
employee benefits paid to such the members, and shall either pay
directly or reimburse the division for all other expenses of such
the group of members in accordance with actual costs determined
by the superintendent.
(i) The superintendent shall be reimbursed by the division
of motor vehicles for salaries and employee benefits paid to
members of the division of public safety, and shall either be paid directly or reimbursed by the division of motor vehicles for
all other expenses of such the group of members in accordance
with actual costs determined by the superintendent, for services
performed by such the members relating to the duties and
obligations of the division of motor vehicles set forth in
chapters seventeen, seventeen-a, seventeen-b, seventeen-c and
seventeen-d of this code.
(j) By the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-three, the superintendent shall establish a network to
implement reports of the disappearance of children by local
law-enforcement agencies to local school division superintendents
and the state registrar of vital statistics. The network shall
be designed to establish cooperative arrangements between local
law-enforcement agencies and local school divisions concerning
reports of missing children and notices to law-enforcement
agencies of requests for copies of the cumulative records and
birth certificates of missing children. The network shall also
establish a mechanism for reporting the identities of all missing
children to the state registrar of vital statistics.
(k) The superintendent may at his discretion and upon the
written request of the West Virginia alcohol beverage control
commissioner assist the commissioner in the coordination and
enforcement of the alcohol beverage control act and the general
law concerning nonintoxicating beer and wine.
(l) Notwithstanding the provisions of article one-a, chapter twenty of this code, the superintendent of the division of public
safety may sell any surplus property to which the division of
public safety or its predecessors retain title, and deposit the
net proceeds into a special revenue account to be utilized for
the purchase of additional real property and for repairs to or
construction of detachment offices or other facilities required
by the division of public safety. There is hereby created a
special revolving fund in the state treasury which shall be
designated as the "surplus real property proceeds fund." The
fund shall consist of all money received from the sale of surplus
real property owned by the division of public safety. Moneys
deposited in the fund shall only be available for expenditure
upon appropriation by the Legislature: Provided, That amounts
collected which are found from time to time to exceed the funds
needed for the purposes set forth in this subsection may be
transferred to other accounts or funds and redesignated for other
purposes by appropriation of the Legislature.
(m) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, the
agency for surplus property is hereby empowered to transfer funds
generated from the sale of vehicles, other equipment and
commodities belonging to the division of public safety to a
nonexpiring, special revenue account within the division of
public safety. Any funds transferred to this account may be
utilized by the superintendent to defray the cost of normal
operating needs of the division.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow the state agency
for surplus property to transfer funds generated from the sale of
vehicles, other equipment and commodities to a special revenue
account controlled by the West Virginia division of public
safety.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.