WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE

2026 REGULAR SESSION

Introduced

Senate Bill 918

By Senators Fuller, Azinger, Deeds, Phillips, Roberts, and Woelfel

[Introduced February 11, 2026; referred
to the Committee on Government Organization]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding a new section, designated §8-14-17a, relating to civil service promotion criteria for municipal law-enforcement officers.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

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.

§8-14-17a. Civil service promotion criteria for municipal law enforcement officers.

(a) This section applies to all municipal law enforcement agencies subject to civil service provisions under this article.

(b) No municipal law enforcement officer may be eligible to sit for a promotional written examination unless the officer has successfully completed the leadership training requirements of subsection (c) of this section.

(c) As a prerequisite to promotional testing, each candidate shall complete a minimum of 40 hours of leadership training provided or approved under LEPS, Law Enforcement Professional Standards. Successful completion of the training is required prior to eligibility for the written examination.

(d) Each eligible candidate shall complete a written promotional examination designed to assess job-related knowledge and competencies relevant to the rank sought. The written examination shall account for 40 percent of the candidate’s total promotional score.

(e) Each promotional candidate shall be evaluated by a Law Enforcement Board composed of a minimum of four sworn law enforcement officers from an outside law enforcement agency located no less than 90 minutes’ travel distance from the employing municipality.

The Law Enforcement Board shall ask each candidate a minimum of three questions pertaining to police tactics, leadership, deductive reasoning, and departmental policies.

Each question shall be scored on a numerical scale of one to 10, with one representing poor performance and 10 representing outstanding performance.

The combined score from the Law Enforcement Board evaluation shall account for 40 percent of the candidate’s total promotional score.

(f) Seniority shall account for 20 percent of the candidate’s total promotional score and shall be based on years of service and the officer’s employment record.

(g) Final promotional rankings shall be determined by combining the weighted scores from the written examination, Law Enforcement Board evaluation, and seniority, in accordance with this section.

(h) All promotional criteria established under this section shall be applied uniformly and consistently to all eligible candidates.

(i) Municipal civil service commissions may adopt rules consistent with this section to administer promotional procedures.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish civil service promotion criteria for municipal law enforcement officers.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.