COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 471
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Caruth,
By Request of the Executive)
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[Originating in the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure; reported February 19, 2007.]
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A BILL to repeal §17C-17B-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended; to amend and reenact §5B-2-12 of said code; to amend
and reenact §15-2-12 of said code; and to amend and reenact
§17C-17B-4 of said code, all relating to funding of entities
ensuring transportation public safety on state highways;
providing for funding of the Public Service Commission Weight
Enforcement Division; providing for funding of the State
Police enforcement of traffic regulations and rules of the
road; and providing for funding of a courtesy patrol.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17C-17B-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be repealed; that §5B-2-12 of said code be amended and
reenacted; that §15-2-12 of said code be amended and reenacted; and
that §17C-17B-4 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read
as follows:
CHAPTER 5B. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1985.
ARTICLE 2. WEST VIRGINIA DEVELOPMENT OFFICE.
§5B-2-12. Tourism promotion fund continued; use of funds.
There is hereby continued in the State Treasury the special
revenue fund known as the "Tourism Promotion Fund" created under
prior enactment of section nine, article one of this chapter.
(a) A minimum of five percent of the moneys deposited in the
fund each year shall be used solely for direct advertising for West
Virginia travel and tourism:
Provided, That no less than twenty
percent of these funds be expended with the approval of the
Director of the Division of Natural Resources to effectively
promote and market the state's parks, state forests, state
recreation areas and wildlife recreational resources.
For the
purposes of this section, direct advertising means advertising
which is limited to television, radio, mailings, newspaper,
magazines, and outdoor billboards, or any combination thereof:
Provided, That effective on and after the first day of July, two
thousand seven, direct advertising shall also mean a courtesy
patrol program providing assistance to motorists on the state's
highways.
(b) The balance of the moneys deposited in the fund shall be
used for direct advertising within the state's travel regions as
defined by the commission. The funds shall be made available to
these districts beginning the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-five, according to legislative rules authorized for
promulgation by the Tourism Commission.
(c) All advertising expenditures over twenty-five thousand
dollars from the tourism promotion fund require prior approval by
recorded vote of the commission. No member of the commission or of
any committee created by the commission to evaluate applications
for advertising or other grants may participate in the discussion
of, or action upon, an application for or an award of any grant in
which the member has a direct financial interest.
CHAPTER 15. PUBLIC SAFETY.
ARTICLE 2. WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE.
§15-2-12. Mission of the State Police; powers of superintendent,
officers and members; patrol of turnpike.
(a) The West Virginia State Police shall have the mission of
statewide enforcement of criminal and traffic laws with emphasis on
providing basic enforcement and citizen protection from criminal
depredation throughout the state and maintaining the safety of the
state's public streets, roads and highways.
(b) The superintendent and each of the officers and members of
the division are hereby empowered:
(1) To make arrests anywhere within the state of any persons
charged with the violation of any law of this state, or of the
United States, and when a witness to the perpetration of any
offense or crime, or to the violation of any law of this state, or
of the United States, to make arrests without warrant; to arrest
and detain any persons suspected of the commission of any felony or
misdemeanor whenever a complaint is made and a warrant is issued thereon for the arrest, and the person arrested shall be
immediately brought before the proper tribunal for examination and
trial in the county where the offense for which the arrest has been
made was committed;
(2) To serve criminal process issued by any court or
magistrate anywhere within this state:
Provided, That they may not
serve civil process; and
(3) To cooperate with local authorities in detecting crime and
in apprehending any person or persons engaged in or suspected of
the commission of any crime, misdemeanor or offense against the law
of this state, or of the United States, or of any ordinance of any
municipality in this state; and to take affidavits in connection
with any application to the Division of Highways, Division of Motor
Vehicles and of West Virginia State Police for any license, permit
or certificate that may be lawfully issued by these divisions of
state government.
(c) Members of the West Virginia State Police are hereby
designated as forest patrolmen and game and fish wardens throughout
the state to do and perform any duties and exercise any powers of
forest patrolmen and game and fish wardens, and may apprehend and
bring before any court or magistrate having jurisdiction of these
matters, anyone violating any of the provisions of chapters twenty,
sixty and sixty-one of this code. The West Virginia State Police
is at any time subject to the call of the West Virginia Alcohol
Beverage Control Commissioner to aid in apprehending any person
violating any of the provisions of chapter sixty of this code. They shall serve and execute warrants for the arrest of any person
and warrants for the search of any premises issued by any properly
constituted authority, and shall exercise all of the powers
conferred by law upon a sheriff. They may not serve any civil
process or exercise any of the powers of such officer in civil
matters.
(d) Any member of the West Virginia State Police knowing or
having reason to believe that any person has violated the law may
make complaint in writing before any court or officer having
jurisdiction and procure a warrant for the offender, execute the
warrant and bring the person before the proper tribunal having
jurisdiction. The member shall make return on all warrants to the
tribunals and his or her official title shall be "member of the
West Virginia State Police". Members of the West Virginia State
Police may execute any summons or process issued by any tribunal
having jurisdiction requiring the attendance of any person as a
witness before the tribunal and make return thereon as provided by
law. Any return by a member of the West Virginia State Police
showing the manner of executing the warrant or process has the same
force and effect as if made by a sheriff.
(e) Each member of the West Virginia State Police, when called
by the sheriff of any county, or when directed by the Governor by
proclamation, has full power and authority within the county, or
within the territory defined by the Governor, to direct and command
absolutely the assistance of any sheriff, deputy sheriff, chief of
police, policeman, game and fish warden and peace officer of the state, or of any county or municipality therein, or of any
able-bodied citizen of the United States, to assist and aid in
accomplishing the purposes expressed in this article. When called,
any officer or person is, during the time his or her assistance is
required, for all purposes a member of the West Virginia State
Police and subject to all the provisions of this article.
(f) The superintendent may also assign members of the division
to perform police duties on any turnpike or toll road, or any
section of any turnpike or toll road, operated by the West Virginia
Parkways, Economic Development and Tourism Authority:
Provided,
That the authority shall reimburse the West Virginia State Police
for salaries paid to the members and shall either pay directly or
reimburse the division for all other expenses of the group of
members in accordance with actual or estimated costs determined by
the superintendent.
(g) The West Virginia State Police may develop proposals for
a comprehensive county or multicounty plan on the implementation of
an enhanced emergency service telephone system and may cause a
public meeting on the proposals, all as set forth in section six-a,
article six, chapter twenty-four of this code.
(h) The superintendent may also assign members of the division
to administer tests for the issuance of commercial drivers'
licenses, operator and junior operator licenses as provided for in
section seven, article two, chapter seventeen-b of this code:
Provided, That the Division of Motor Vehicles shall reimburse the
West Virginia State Police for salaries and employee benefits paid to the members, and shall either pay directly or reimburse the
division for all other expenses of the group of members in
accordance with actual costs determined by the superintendent.
(i) The superintendent shall be reimbursed by the Division of
Motor Vehicles for salaries and employee benefits paid to members
of the West Virginia State Police and shall either be paid directly
or reimbursed by the Division of Motor Vehicles for all other
expenses of the group of members in accordance with actual costs
determined by the superintendent, for services performed by the
members relating to the duties and obligations of the Division of
Motor Vehicles set forth in chapters seventeen, seventeen-a,
seventeen-b, seventeen-c and seventeen-d of this code.
(j)(h) By the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-three, the superintendent shall establish a network to
implement reports of the disappearance of children by local
law-enforcement agencies to local school division superintendents
and the State Registrar of Vital Statistics. The network shall be
designed to establish cooperative arrangements between local
law-enforcement agencies and local school divisions concerning
reports of missing children and notices to law-enforcement agencies
of requests for copies of the cumulative records and birth
certificates of missing children. The network shall also establish
a mechanism for reporting the identities of all missing children to
the State Registrar of Vital Statistics.
(k)(i) The superintendent may at his or her discretion and
upon the written request of the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Commissioner assist the commissioner in the coordination
and enforcement of article sixteen, chapter eleven of this code and
chapter sixty of this code.
(l)(j) Notwithstanding the provisions of article one-a,
chapter twenty of this code, the superintendent of the West
Virginia State Police may sell any surplus real property to which
the West Virginia State Police or its predecessors retain title,
and deposit the net proceeds into a special revenue account to be
utilized for the purchase of additional real property and for
repairs to or construction of detachment offices or other
facilities required by the West Virginia State Police. There is
hereby created a special revolving fund in the State Treasury which
shall be designated as the "surplus real property proceeds fund".
The fund shall consist of all money received from the sale of
surplus real property owned by the West Virginia State Police.
Moneys deposited in the fund shall only be available for
expenditure upon appropriation by the Legislature:
Provided, That
amounts collected which are found from time to time to exceed the
funds needed for the purposes set forth in this subsection may be
transferred to other accounts or funds and redesignated for other
purposes by appropriation of the Legislature.
(m)(k) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, the
agency for surplus property is hereby empowered to transfer funds
generated from the sale of vehicles, other equipment and
commodities belonging to the West Virginia State Police to a
special revenue account within the West Virginia State Police entitled the West Virginia State Police surplus transfer account.
Moneys deposited in the fund shall only be available for
expenditure upon appropriation by the Legislature:
Provided, That
amounts collected which are found from time to time to exceed the
funds needed for the purposes set forth in this subsection may be
transferred to other accounts or funds and redesignated for other
purposes by appropriation of the Legislature. Any funds
transferred to this account may be utilized by the superintendent
to defray the cost of normal operating needs of the division.
(n)(l) If the State Police or any other law-enforcement agency
in this state receives a report that a person who has Alzheimer's
disease and related dementia is missing, the State Police or any
other law-enforcement agency shall immediately open an
investigation for the purpose of determining the whereabouts of
that missing person. Any policy of the State Police or any other
law-enforcement agency relating to a waiting period prior to
initiation of an investigation of a missing person shall not apply
in the case of a person who has Alzheimer's disease or other
related dementia of the type referred to in this subsection.
(m)Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, effective on and after the first day of July, two
thousand seven, the expenses and salaries paid to members of the
West Virginia State Police for the monitoring and enforcement
duties defined in chapter seventeen C shall be paid from the state
fund, general revenue.
CHAPTER 17C. TRAFFIC REGULATIONS AND LAWS OF THE ROAD.
ARTICLE 17B. TRANSFER OF CERTAIN JURISDICTION AND EMPLOYEES TO
PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.
§17C-17B-4. Costs of enforcement to be funded from revenues in
General Revenue Fund or from fees collected by Public Service
Commission.
(a) On and after the first day of July, two thousand three,
the cost of enforcement of this code and rules promulgated under
this code, relating to vehicular weight, including inspections of
vehicles and loads, training of enforcement officers,
administrative proceedings, personal services, employees benefits
and all other costs associated with enforcement matters, shall be
funded by revenues in the state road fund, established pursuant to
the provisions of section one, article three, chapter seventeen of
this code:
Provided, That effective on and after the first day of
July, two thousand seven, all of the costs described in this
subsection shall be funded by the state fund, general revenue or
from fees collected by the Public Service Commission.
(b) The secretary of transportation and the treasurer shall
take all actions necessary to implement the transfer of funding to
effectuate the purposes of this article.
(c) For fiscal years beginning on and after the first day of
July, two thousand four, the commission shall include in its budget
to the Legislature the costs of implementation and continuing
enforcement of this article for payment and appropriation from the
state road fund, or other sources as deemed appropriated, into the Public Service Commission Fund.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to, effective July 1, 2007:
Discontinue the funding from the state road fund of the Public
Service Commission weight enforcement division and the State Police
enforcement of traffic regulations and rules of the road from the
General Revenue Fund; and authorize the funding of the courtesy
patrol program from the tourism promotion fund.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
current law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be
added.