Senate Bill No. 668
(By Senators Oliverio, Helmick, Jenkins and Unger)
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[Introduced March 23, 2009; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §8-14-19 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to allowing police officers to run
for office except in the municipality where they work.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §8-14-19 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 14. LAW AND ORDER; POLICE FORCE OR DEPARTMENTS; POWERS,
AUTHORITY AND DUTIES OF LAW-ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS
AND POLICEMEN; POLICE MATRONS; SPECIAL SCHOOL ZONE
AND PARKING LOT OR PARKING BUILDING; POLICE
OFFICERS; CIVIL SERVICE FOR CERTAIN POLICE
DEPARTMENTS.
§8-14-19. Political activities of members prohibited; exceptions.
(a) A member of a paid police department may not:
(1) Solicit any assessment, subscription or contribution for any political party, committee or candidate from any person who is
a member or employee of the municipality by which they are
employed;
(2) Use any official authority or influence, including, but
not limited to, the wearing by a municipal police officer of his or
her uniform for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the
nomination, election or defeat of any candidate or the passage or
defeat of any ballot issue: Provided, That this subdivision shall
not be construed to prohibit any municipal police officer from
casting his or her vote at any election while wearing his or her
uniform;
(3) Coerce or command anyone to pay, lend or contribute
anything of value to a party, committee, organization, agency or
person for the nomination, election or defeat of a ballot issue; or
(4) Be a candidate for or hold any other public office in the
municipality in which he or she is employed: Provided, That any
municipal police officer that is subject to the provisions of 5
U.S.C. §1501, et seq., may not be a candidate for elective office.
(b) Other types of partisan or nonpartisan political
activities not inconsistent with the provisions of subsection (a)
of this section are permissible political activities for municipal
police officers.
(c) No person may be appointed or promoted to or demoted or
dismissed from any position held by a municipal police officer or in any way favored or discriminated against because of his or her
engagement in any political activities authorized by the provisions
of this section. Any elected or appointed official who violates
the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by the penalties
contained in section twenty-six, article fifteen of this chapter.
(d) Any member of any such paid police department violating
the provisions of this section shall have his appointment vacated
and he shall be removed, in accordance with the pertinent
provisions of this section.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision in this article, no
member of any paid police department may:
(1) Solicit or receive any assessment, subscription or
contribution, except for his or her own candidacy, or perform any
service for any political party, committee or candidate for
compensation, other than for expenses actually incurred;
(2) Use any official authority or influence including, but not
limited to, the wearing by a member of a paid police department of
his or her uniform, for the purpose of interfering with or
affecting the nomination, election or defeat of any candidate or
the passage or defeat of any ballot issue. This subdivision shall
not be construed to prohibit any member of a paid police department
from casting his or her vote at any election while wearing his or
her uniform;
(3) Coerce or command anyone to pay, lend or contribute
anything of value to a party, committee, organization, agency or
person for the nomination, election or defeat of a ballot issue; or
(4) Be a candidate for or hold any other public office in the
municipality in which he or she works.
(b) A member of a paid police department may be a candidate or
delegate to any state or national political party convention or a
member of any national, state or local committee of a political
party, or serve as a financial agent or treasurer within the
meaning of sections three, four or five-e, article eight, chapter
three of this code.
(c) Other types of partisan or nonpartisan political
activities not inconsistent with subsection (a) of this section are
permissible political activities for members of paid police
departments.
(d) Any member of a paid police department who violates this
section shall have his or her appointment vacated and shall be
removed, in accordance with the pertinent provisions of this
section.
(e) No person shall be appointed or promoted to or demoted or
dismissed from any position in a paid police department or in any
way favored or discriminated against because of his or her
engagement in any political activity authorized by this section.
(e) (f) Any three residents of any such city may file their written petition with the policemen's civil service commission
thereof setting out the ground upon which a member of the paid
police department of such city should be removed for a violation of
subsection (a) of this section. Notice of the filing of such
petition shall be given by said commission to the accused member,
which notice shall require the said member to file a written answer
to the charges set out in the petition within thirty days of the
date of said notice. The said petition and answer thereto, if any,
shall be entered upon the records of the commission. If such
answer is not filed within the time stated, or any extension
thereof for cause which in the discretion of the commission may be
granted, an order shall be entered by the commission declaring the
appointment of said member vacated; if such answer is filed within
the time stated, or any extension thereof for cause which in the
discretion of the commission may be granted, the accused member may
demand within such period a public hearing on the charges, or the
commission may, in its discretion and without demand therefor, set
a time for a public hearing on said charges, which hearing shall be
within thirty days of the filing of said answer, subject, however,
to any continuances which may in the discretion of the commission
be granted. A written record of all testimony taken at such
hearing shall be kept and preserved by the commission, which record
shall be sealed and not be open to public inspection, if no appeal
be taken from the action of the commission. The commission at the conclusion of the hearing, or as soon thereafter as possible, shall
enter an order sustaining, in whole or in part, the charges made or
shall dismiss the charges as unfounded. In the event the charges
are sustained in whole or in part, the order shall also declare the
appointment of said member to be vacated and thereupon the proper
municipal authorities shall immediately remove said member from the
police force and from the payroll of said city. Notice of the
action of the commission shall be given by registered letter to the
mayor and chief of police of the city; and for failure to
immediately comply with the order of the commission such officer or
officers shall be punished for contempt, upon application of the
commission to the circuit court of the county in which the city or
the major portion of the territory thereof is located.
(f) (g) An appeal from the ruling of the commission may be had
in the same manner and within the same time as specified in section
twenty of this article for an appeal from a ruling of a commission
after hearing held in accordance with the provisions of said
section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow professional
police officers to run for office except in the municipality where
they work.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.