ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 271
(Senators Hunter, Rowe, Weeks, Caldwell, Jenkins and Unger, original
sponsors)
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[Passed March 13, 2004; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new chapter, designated §17F-1-1, §17F-1-2,
§17F-1-3, §17F-2-1, §17F-2-2 and §17F-2-3, all relating to
racial profiling data collection; defining terms; requiring
all state law-enforcement officers to collect certain data
during traffic stops; requiring the division of motor vehicles
to develop forms and compile the data collected; establishing
penalties for agencies which fail to comply; providing limited
civil liability protection for officers collecting data;
providing form content; providing consultation with law-
enforcement organizations relating to developing forms;
requiring director of the governor's committee on crime,
delinquency and correction
to conduct analysis and distribute
data; requiring promulgation of emergency and legislative rules; providing effective date for requiring collection of
data; providing for annual report to the Legislature; and
expiring data collection requirements.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new chapter, designated §17F-1-1, §17F-1-2,
§17F-1-3, §17F-2-1, §17F-2-2 and §17F-2-3, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 17F. RACIAL PROFILING DATA COLLECTION ACT.
ARTICLE 1. RACIAL PROFILING DATA COLLECTION.
§17F-1-1. Definitions.
The following words and phrases, when used in this chapter,
shall, for the purposes of this chapter, have the meanings
respectively ascribed to them in this article:
(a) "Gross data" means aggregate data regarding the
information obtained under section two of this article.
(b) "Law-enforcement agency" means every state, county or
municipal agency with officers who are authorized to direct or
regulate traffic or to make arrests or issue citations or warnings
for violations of traffic laws and ordinances.
(c) "Minority group" means individuals of any ethnic descent,
including, but not limited to, African-American, Hispanic, Native
American, Middle Eastern, Asian or Pacific Islander.
§17F-1-2.
Information obtained by law-enforcement officers during
a traffic stop.
Each time a law-enforcement officer stops a driver of a motor
vehicle for a violation of any motor vehicle statute or ordinance,
other than for a nonviolation stop, including, but not limited to,
a checkpoint for driving under the influence, license, registration
or seat belts, the officer shall obtain and prepare a brief report
based on the officer's visual observation and perception of basic
information about the nature, duration and outcome of the stop,
including, but not limited to, information relating to the
perceived racial characteristics of each operator stopped. The
report is to be provided to the West Virginia law-enforcement
agency which employs the law-enforcement officer:
Provided, That
the failure of the law-enforcement officer to obtain and report
racial profiling data shall not affect the validity of the
underlying traffic citation or warning.
The information to be collected shall include:
(a) The identifying characteristics of the operator stopped,
including perceived race, ethnicity or national origin, gender and
age;
(b) The location and duration of the stop;
(c) The traffic violation or violations alleged to have been
committed that led to the stop;
(d) Whether or not a warning or citation was issued as a
result of the stop and if so, the specific violation, if any,
charged or warning given;
(e) Whether a search was performed as a result of the stop;
(f) If a search was performed, whether the person consented to
the search, the probable cause or reasonable suspicion for the
search, whether the person was searched, whether the person's
property was searched and the duration of the search;
(g) If a search was of a passenger in the motor vehicle, the
perceived age, gender and race or minority group of the passenger;
(h) Whether any contraband was discovered or seized in the
course of the search and the type of any contraband discovered or
seized;
(i) Identify whether the search involved canine units or
advanced technology; and
(j) Any additional information which the law-enforcement
agency considers appropriate.
§17F-1-3. Law-enforcement officer exemption from civil liability.
Any law-enforcement officer who, in good faith, records
traffic stop information under the requirements of section two of
this article may not be held civilly liable for the act of
inaccurately recording the information unless the officer's conduct
was unconstitutional, unreasonable, intentional or reckless.
ARTICLE 2. ANALYSIS OF TRAFFIC STOPS STUDY AND ANNUAL REPORT BY
DIRECTOR OF THE GOVERNOR'S COMMITTEE ON CRIME,
DELINQUENCY AND CORRECTION.
§17F-2-1. Format of traffic stops data collection forms.
The division of motor vehicles shall provide a form as
required by section three of this article, in both printed and
electronic format, to be used by law-enforcement officers when
making a traffic stop to record the information listed in section
two, article one of this chapter.
§17F-2-2. Law-enforcement agency traffic stops data collection and
submission.
(a) Each law-enforcement agency shall report its data
described in section two, article one of this chapter to the
division of motor vehicles in a report format as prescribed by the
division.
(b) If a law-enforcement agency fails to comply with the
provisions of this section, the division of motor vehicles shall
notify the agency by certified mail of its failure to comply. If
the agency continues to fail to comply, the governor may withhold
state-controlled funds appropriated to the noncompliant
law-enforcement agency until reports are made as required by this
article.
§17F-2-3. Analysis of traffic stop statistics, annual report and
legislative rules.
(a) To facilitate the commencement of data collection on the
first day of January, two thousand five, the director of the
governor's committee on crime, delinquency and corrections, in
consultation with the division of motor vehicles, shall propose emergency and legislative rules in accordance with article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code. These rules shall include, but
are not limited to:
(1) The manner of reporting the information to the division of
motor vehicles;
(2) Promulgation of a form or forms for reporting purposes by
various law-enforcement agencies;
(3) A means of reporting the information required in section
two, article one of this chapter on warning citations to the
division of motor vehicles;
(4) In consultation with the fraternal order of police, the
sheriff's association, the deputy sheriff's association and
representatives of law-enforcement agencies, a means of providing
training to law-enforcement officers on completion and submission
of the data on the proposed form;
(5) A means of reporting back to individual law-enforcement
agencies, from time to time, at the request of a law-enforcement
agency on findings specific to that agency in an agreed-upon format
to allow the agency to evaluate independently the data provided;
(6) A limitation that the data is to be used solely for the
purposes of this chapter;
(7) Safeguards to protect the identity of individual law-
enforcement officers collecting data required by section two,
article one of this chapter when no citation or warning is issued;
(8) Methodology for collection of gross data by law-
enforcement agencies and the analysis of the data;
(9) The number of motor vehicle stops and searches of motor
vehicles occupied by members of a perceived minority group; the
number of motor vehicle stops and searches of motor vehicles
occupied by persons who are not members of a minority group; the
population of minorities in the areas where the stops occurred;
estimates of the number of all vehicles traveling on the public
highways where the stops occurred; factors to be included in any
evaluation that the data may indicate racial profiling, racial
stereotyping or other race-based discrimination or selective
enforcement; and other data deemed appropriate by the governor's
committee on crime, delinquency and correction for the analysis of
the protection of constitutional rights; and
(10) Protocols for reporting collected data by the division of
motor vehicles to the governor's committee on crime, delinquency
and correction and the analysis thereof.
(b) On or before the first day of February, two thousand six,
and each year thereafter, the director of the governor's committee
on crime, delinquency and correction shall publish a public report
of the data collected and provide a copy thereof to all law-
enforcement agencies subject to this chapter and provide a copy of
the report and analysis of the data collected to the governor and
to the joint committee on government and finance.
(c) The provisions of sections two and three, article one of
this chapter and section two of this article shall become effective
after the thirty-first day of December, two thousand four.
(d) The provisions of this chapter shall be of no force or
effect after the thirty-first day of December, two thousand seven.
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