Introduced Version
House Bill 2214 History
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H. B. 2214
(By Delegates Reed, Douglas, Manuel and L. White)
(Originating in the House Committee on the Judiciary)
[February 19, 1993]
A BILL to amend chapter fifteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article ten, relating to
cooperation between municipal and county law-enforcement
agencies and with state law enforcement.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter fifteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a
new article, designated article ten, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. COOPERATION BETWEEN LAW-ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.
§15-10-1. Short title.
This article shall be known as the "West Virginia
Law-Enforcement Mutual Assistance Act."
§15-10-2. Legislative findings.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the
commission of various crimes against the peace and dignity of the
state of West Virginia often crosses municipal and county
boundaries, affecting the citizenry of this state and making
difficult the tasks of detecting, preventing and prosecutingcrime by law-enforcement agencies due to restrictions imposed by
such municipal and county boundaries; that many county and
municipal law-enforcement agencies do not, by themselves, have
sufficient resources in personnel, equipment and particular areas
of expertise to adequately detect, prevent and prosecute those
crimes or criminal activity which cross such municipal and county
boundaries; that the sharing of resources and the providing of
mutual assistance by and between various law-enforcement agencies
is in the best interests of the citizens of this state; and that,
therefore, the Legislature finds and declares that the various
law-enforcement agencies within the state should be permitted and
empowered to share resources and provide mutual assistance for
the prevention, detection and prosecution of crime among
themselves.
§15-10-3. Definitions.
In this article, unless a different meaning plainly is
required:
(1) "Criminal justice enforcement personnel" means those
persons within the state criminal justice system who are actually
employed as members of the division of public safety, chiefs of
police and police of an incorporated municipality, or sheriffs
and their deputies, and whose primary duties are the
investigation of crime and the apprehension of criminals.
(2) "Head of a law-enforcement agency" means the
superintendent of the division of public safety, a chief of
police of an incorporated municipality, or a sheriff.
(3) "State criminal justice system" means and includes all
governmental activity within this state pertaining to theprevention, control, or reduction of crime, or the enforcement of
the criminal law, including, but not limited to, police efforts
to prevent, control, or reduce crime or to apprehend criminals,
including juveniles, activities of courts having criminal
jurisdiction, and related agencies (including, but not limited
to, prosecutorial and defender services, juvenile delinquency
agencies and pretrial service and release agencies), activities
of corrections, probation or parole authorities and related
agencies assisting in the rehabilitation, supervision, and care
of criminal offenders, and programs relating to the prevention,
control, or reduction of drug abuse and juvenile delinquency.
§15-10-4. Cooperation between law-enforcement agencies.
(a) The head of any law-enforcement agency may temporarily
provide assistance to another agency of the state criminal
justice system or to a federal agency in investigating crime and
apprehending criminals, including, but not limited to, entering
into a multijurisdictional task force agreement to integrate
federal, state, and local law-enforcement agencies and
prosecutors, for the purpose of enhancing interagency
coordination, intelligence, and facilitating multijurisdictional
investigations. The assistance may also include, but not be
limited to, providing criminal justice enforcement personnel of
the law-enforcement agency to work temporarily with personnel of
another agency (including in an undercover capacity) and making
available equipment, training, technical assistance, and
information systems for the more widespread apprehension,
prosecution, adjudication, and detention and rehabilitation of
persons who violate the criminal laws, and to assist the victimsof such crimes. When providing the assistance provided for in
this subsection, a head of a law-enforcement agency shall comply
with all applicable statutes, ordinances, rules, policies or
guidelines officially adopted by the state or the governing body
of the city or county by which he is employed, and any conditions
or restrictions included therein.
(b) While temporarily assigned to work with other agencies
of the criminal justice system, criminal justice enforcement
personnel shall have the same jurisdiction, powers, privileges
and immunities (including those relating to the defense of civil
actions) as such criminal justice enforcement personnel would
enjoy if actually employed by the agency to which they are
assigned, in addition to any corresponding or varying
jurisdiction, powers, privileges and immunities conferred by
virtue of their continued employment with the assisting agency.
(c) While assigned to another agency, criminal justice
enforcement personnel shall be subject to the lawful operational
commands of the superior officers of the agency to which they are
assigned, but for personnel and administrative purposes,
including compensation, they shall remain under the control of
the assisting agency. Such assigned personnel shall continue to
be covered by all employee rights and benefits provided by the
assisting agency, including workers' compensation, to the same
extent as though such personnel were functioning within the
normal scope of their duties.
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