Senate Bill No. 59
(By Senators Dittmar, Kessler, Love, Sharpe, Bowman, White,
Ball and Anderson)
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[Introduced January 14, 1998;
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources; and then to the
Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section one-c, article seven, chapter
twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to adding and
redesignating ranks; setting corporals salary; updating the
minimum base pay scale for conservation officers; requiring
across-the-board pay increases be included in minimum base
pay scale; and providing for retention of merit increases.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one-c, article seven, chapter twenty of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. LAW ENFORCEMENT, MOTORBOATING, LITTER.
§20-7-1c. Conservation officers, ranks, salary schedule, base pay, exceptions.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, the ranks within the law-enforcement section of the
division of natural resources shall be colonel, lieutenant
colonel, major, captain, lieutenant, sergeant,
corporal,
conservation officer first class, senior conservation officer,
conservation officer and conservation officer-in-training. Each
such officer while in uniform shall wear the insignia of rank as
provided by the chief conservation officer.
(b) Conservation officers shall be paid the minimum annual
salaries based on the following schedule:
ANNUAL SALARY SCHEDULE (BASE PAY)
SUPERVISORY AND NONSUPERVISORY RANKS
Conservation Officer-In-Training
(first year)
$21,725 $22,025
Conservation Officer (second year)
$23,914 $24,214
Conservation Officer (third year)
$24,186 $24,486
Senior Conservation Officer (fourth year)
$24,398 $24,698
Conservation Officer
First Class
(after fifth year)
$25,976 $26,276
Conservation Officer (after tenth year)
$27,554 $27,854
Conservation Officer (after fifteenth year)
$28,954 $29,254
Corporal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$31,065
Sergeant
$32,577 $32,877
Lieutenant
$35,397 $35,697
Captain
$37,683 $37,983
Major
$39,966 $40,266
Lieutenant Colonel
$42,008 $42,308
Colonel
Conservation officers in service at the time the amendment
to this section becomes effective shall be given credit for prior
service and shall be paid
such salaries as the same length of
service will entitle them to receive under the provisions hereof.
(c) This section does not apply to special or emergency
conservation officers appointed under the authority of section
one of this article.
(d) Nothing in this section shall prohibit other pay
increases as provided for under section two, article five,
chapter five of this code:
Provided, That an across-the-board
pay increase granted by the Legislature or the governor is added
to, and reflected in, the minimum salaries set forth in this
section; and that merit increases are retained by an officer when
he or she advances from one rank to another.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to reflect in the
minimum base salaries of conservation officers the $300 across- the-board pay increase granted by the Legislature in 1996. The bill also creates the rank of "corporal" and renames other
current classifications.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.)
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FINANCE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
On page __, section one-c, line __, by striking out the
words "shall be" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "are" ;
On page __, section one-c, line __, by striking out the word
"such";
On page __, section one-c, line __, by striking out the word
"hereof" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "of this
section";
And,
On page __, section one-c, line __, by striking out the
words "shall prohibit" and inserting in lieu thereof the word
"prohibits".
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NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
On page __, section one-c, lines __ through __, after the
word "code:" by striking out the proviso and inserting in lieu
thereof the following:
Provided, That any across-the-board pay
increase granted by the Legislature or the governor shall be
deemed to increase the minimum annual salaries of the officers
currently employed at the time the increase occurs and any
across-the-board increase or merit increase that may be granted
by the appointing authority shall be retained by the officer when
he or she advances from one rank to another.