ENROLLED
H. B. 2451
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegates
Hutchins, Mahan, Seacrist and Yeager)
[Passed April 12, 1997; in effect ninety days from passage.]
An Act to amend and reenact sections sixteen and seventeen,
article fifteen, chapter eight of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all
relating to probationary period for firefighters; and
lengthening the probationary period from six months to one
year.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections sixteen and seventeen, article fifteen,
chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 15. FIRE FIGHTING; FIRE COMPANIES AND DEPARTMENTS;
CIVIL SERVICE FOR PAID FIRE DEPARTMENTS.
§8-15-16. Rules for all examinations; probationary appointments.
The firemen's civil service commission in each municipality
shall make rules providing for both competitive and medical
examinations for appointments and promotions to all positions in
the paid fire department in the municipality, and for other
matters as are necessary to carry out the purposes of the civil service provisions of this article. Any such commission shall have
the power and authority to require by rules and regulations a physical fitness
examination as a part of its competitive examination or as a part
of its medical examination: Provided, That after the thirtieth
day of June, one thousand nine hundred eighty-one, the medical
requirements for appointment to all positions in the paid fire
department in such the municipality shall include, but not be limited
to, the medical requirements stated in section sixteen, article
twenty-two of this chapter. Due notice of the contents of such the
rules and regulations and of any modifications thereof shall be given, by mail,
in due season, to the appointing officer; and said the rules and
regulations and any
modifications thereof shall also be printed for public
distribution. All original appointments to any positions in a
paid fire department subject to the civil service provisions of
this article shall be for a probationary period of six months one year:
Provided, That at any time during the probationary period the
probationer may be discharged for just cause, in the manner
provided in section twenty-five of this article. If, at the
close of this probationary term, the conduct or capacity of the
probationer has not been satisfactory to the appointing officer,
the probationer shall be notified, in writing, that he or she
will not receive absolute appointment, whereupon his or her
employment shall cease; otherwise, his or her retention in the
service shall be equivalent to his or her final appointment.
§8-15-17. Form of application; age and residency requirements;
exceptions.
The firemen's civil service commission in each municipality shall require individuals applying for admission to any
competitive examination provided for under the civil service
provisions of this article or under the rules and regulations of the commission
to file in its office, within a reasonable time prior to the
proposed examination, a formal application in which the applicant
shall state under oath or affirmation:
(1) His or her full name, residence and post-office address;
(2) His or her United States citizenship, age and the place
and date of his or her birth;
(3) His or her state of health, and his or her physical
capacity for the public service;
(4) His or her business and employments and residences for
at least three previous years; and
(5) Such Any other information as may reasonably be required,
touching upon the applicant's qualifications and fitness for the
public service.
Blank forms for such the applications shall be furnished by the
commission, without charge, to all individuals requesting the
same. The commission may require, in connection with such the
application, such certificates of citizens, physicians and others,
having pertinent knowledge concerning the applicant, as the good
of the service may require.
No application for original appointment shall be received if
the individual applying is less than eighteen years of age or
more than thirty-five years of age at the date of his or her
application: Provided, That in the event any applicant formerly
served upon the paid fire department of the municipality to which he or she makes application, for a period of more than six months one year,
and resigned from the department at a time when there were no
charges of misconduct or other misfeasance pending against such the
applicant, within a period of two years next preceding the date
of his or her application, and at the time of his or her
application resides within the corporate limits of the
municipality in which the paid fire department to which he or she
seeks appointment by reinstatement is located, then such the
individual shall be eligible for appointment by reinstatement in
the discretion of the firemen's civil service commission, even
though such the applicant shall be over the age of thirty-five years,
and such the applicant, providing his or her former term of service so
justifies, may be appointed by reinstatement to the paid fire
department without a competitive examination, but such the applicant
shall undergo a medical examination; and if such the individual shall
be so appointed by reinstatement to the paid fire department, he
or she shall be the lowest in rank in the department next above
the probationers of the department.
Any applicant for original appointment must have been a
resident for one year, during some period of time prior to the
date of his or her application, of the municipality in which he
or she seeks to become a member of the paid fire department:
Provided, That if the commission deems determines it necessary it may
consider for original appointment applicants who are not
residents of the municipality but who have been residents of the
county in which the municipality or any portion of the territory
thereof is located for a period of at least one year.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change the
probationary period from six months to one year for paid fire
departments.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.