COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 458
(By Senator Chafin)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported March 25, 2005.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §15-2-20 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to transfer of members of the West
Virginia State Police; permitting a transfer of a member for
certain conduct; and increasing the relocation expense to one
thousand dollars.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §15-2-20 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE.
§15-2-20. Transfer authorized; transfer for disciplinary purposes
only prohibited; notice required under certain
circumstances; relocation expense; regulation of
member's residence.
The Superintendent may transfer members to meet the
operational needs of the Department
or when a member has
demonstrated a pattern of inappropriate personal or professional conduct resulting in substantiated disciplinary action under the
provisions of the West Virginia State Police Professional Standards
Rule, 81 CSR 10, and the pattern of inappropriate conduct has
adversely affected his or her operational effectiveness or
credibility and is attributable to the member's area of assignment.
A transfer may not be made
as a disciplinary measure for
disciplinary purposes except as set out in this paragraph or
political reasons.
Whenever any member of the Department is to be transferred
from one station to another station, for a period of time in
excess of sixty days, the Superintendent shall give written notice
of such proposed transfer to such member at least fifteen days in
advance of such transfer. The Superintendent shall not, however,
be required to give such notice in the event the transfer is at
the request of the member who is to be transferred. In the event
that a member appeals a transfer in accordance with section six of
this article, the transfer shall not take effect pending the
appeal before the board. If the board upholds the transfer, such
transfer shall be effective upon the issuance of the board's
decision and shall remain in effect pending any appeal of such
decision by the member.
Whenever any member of the Department is transferred from one
station to another station, for a period of time in excess of
sixty days, all reasonable and necessary transportation expenses
actually incurred in moving the household furniture and effects of
such member and of his
or her immediate family from his former station to his new station shall be paid by the department:
Provided, That if any such member owns and resides in a mobile
home, the Department shall pay all reasonable and necessary
transportation expenses actually incurred in moving such mobile
home from such member's former station to his
or her new station,
but the Department may not pay transportation expenses for moving
such mobile home in excess of the amount which would have been
paid for moving an equivalent amount of household furniture and
effects had such member not owned such mobile home.
A member transferred shall also be given a relocation expense
of
three hundred one thousand dollars if the transfer necessitated
relocation of the member's family.
The Superintendent shall not restrict a member from residing
in a county other than that in which the member is stationed,
except that the Superintendent may promulgate by appropriate
written regulation to be applied uniformly throughout the
department a restriction as to either: (1) The number of miles
distant from his
or her station which a member may reside; or (2)
the time necessary under ordinary traffic conditions for a member
to travel between his
or her residence and station.
The member may appeal the superintendent's order of transfer
to the board of appeals created for such purpose or to the circuit
court of Kanawha County in accordance with the provisions of
section six of this article and all of the original papers in such
cases shall be delivered to the appeals board or the circuit
court, as the case may be. The right of a member to appeal a transfer shall not apply until the member has completed the
eighteen-month probationary period with the department.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit a transfer of
a State Police officer for certain inappropriate conduct. The
bill also increases the relocation expense to one thousand
dollars.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.)