Senate Bill No. 526
(By Senators Jenkins, Sprouse, Bailey and Plymale)
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[Introduced February 9, 2007; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §7-14-15 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §8-14-19 of said
code, all relating to the political activities of deputy
sheriffs and municipal police officers; amending the list of
prohibited political activities by deputy sheriffs and
municipal police officers; providing certain exceptions;
prohibiting deputy sheriffs and municipal police officers from
being candidates for or holding public office in the county or
municipality where employed; prohibiting deputy sheriffs and
municipal police officers from soliciting political
contributions or donations from members or employees of the
county or municipality; setting forth certain permissible
activities; and providing penalties for appointed or elected
officials who violate the provisions of this bill.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §7-14-15 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that §8-14-19 of said code be amended
and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 7. COUNTY COMMISSIONS AND OFFICERS.
ARTICLE 14. CIVIL SERVICE FOR DEPUTY SHERIFFS.
§7-14-15. Political activities of members prohibited; exceptions.
(a) A deputy sheriff 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 county sheriff's department by which
they are employed;
(2) Use any official authority or influence, including, but
not limited to, the wearing by a deputy sheriff 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 deputy sheriff 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
county in which he or she is employed:
Provided, That any deputy
sheriff that is subject to the provisions of 15 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 deputy
sheriffs.
(c) No person may be appointed or promoted to or demoted or
dismissed from any position held by a deputy sheriff 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, chapter eight of this code.
CHAPTER 8. MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.
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 municipal police officer 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 15 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.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to amend the law relating
to the political activities of deputy sheriffs and municipal police
officers by changing the list of prohibited political activities by
deputy sheriffs and municipal police officers and providing certain
exceptions. Under the bill, deputy sheriffs and municipal police
officers are prohibited from being candidates for or holding public
office in the county or municipality where employed and prohibited
from soliciting political contributions or donations from members
or employees of the county or municipality. The bill also provides
penalties for appointed or elected officials who violate its
provisions.
Strike-throughs and underlining have been omitted as these
sections have been completely rewritten.)