ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 200
(By Senators Bowman, Unger, Jenkins, McCabe, Kessler, Plymale, White,
Caldwell, Rowe, Minard, Hunter and Fanning)
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[Passed March 12, 2004; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact §15-2-7 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to requiring the superintendent of
the state police to report annually to the Legislature about
the effectiveness of its efforts in recruiting minorities.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §15-2-7 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE.
§15-2-7. Cadet selection board; qualifications for and
appointment to membership in division; civilian
employees.
(a) The superintendent shall establish within the West
Virginia state police a cadet selection board which shall be
representative of commissioned and noncommissioned officers within
the division.
(b) The superintendent shall appoint a member to the position of trooper from among the top three names on the current list of
eligible applicants established by the cadet selection board.
(c) Preference in making appointments shall be given whenever
possible to honorably discharged members of the armed forces of the
United States and to residents of West Virginia. Each applicant
for appointment shall be a person not less than twenty-one years of
age of sound constitution and good moral character; shall be
required to pass any mental and physical examination; and meet
other requirements as may be provided for in rules promulgated by
the cadet selection board:
Provided, That a former member may, at
the discretion of the superintendent, be reenlisted.
(d) No person may be barred from becoming a member of the
division because of his or her religious or political convictions.
(e) The superintendent shall adhere to the principles of equal
employment opportunity set forth in article eleven, chapter five of
this code and shall take positive steps to encourage applications
for division membership from females and minority groups within the
state. An annual report shall be filed with the Legislature on or
before the first day of January of each year by the superintendent
which includes a summary of the efforts and the effectiveness of
those efforts intended to recruit females, African-Americans and
other minorities into the ranks of the state police.
(f) Except for the superintendent, no person may be appointed
or enlisted to membership in the division at a grade or rank above the grade of trooper.
(g) The superintendent shall appoint such civilian employees
as may be necessary and all employees may be included in the
classified service of the civil service system except those in
positions exempt under the provisions of article six, chapter
twenty-nine of this code.
(h) Effective the first day of July, two thousand one,
civilian employees with a minimum of five years' service shall
receive a salary increase equal to one hundred dollars a year for
each year of service as a civilian employee. Every three years
thereafter, civilian employees who have five or more years of
service shall receive an annual salary increase of three hundred
dollars. The increases in salary provided by this subsection are
in addition to any other increases to which the civilian employees
might otherwise be entitled.