H. B. 2804
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss)
[Introduced January 31, 2003; referred to the
Committee on Political Subdivisions then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article fourteen,
chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to powers, authority
and duties of municipal police officers; and providing that a
municipal police officer may issue citations for certain
misdemeanors committed in his or her presence.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article fourteen, chapter eight of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 14. LAW AND ORDER; POLICE FORCE OR DEPARTMENTS; POWERS,
AUTHORITY AND DUTIES OF LAW-ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS AND POLICEMEN; POLICE MATRONS; SPECIAL SCHOOL ZONE
AND PARKING LOT OR PARKING BUILDING POLICE
OFFICERS; CIVIL SERVICE FOR CERTAIN POLICE
DEPARTMENTS.
§8-14-3. Powers, authority and duties of law-enforcement officials
and police officers.
The chief and any member of the police force or department of
a municipality and any municipal sergeant shall have all of the
powers, authority, rights and privileges within the corporate
limits of the municipality with regard to the arrest of persons,
the collection of claims and the execution and return of any search
warrant, warrant of arrest or other process, which can legally be
exercised or discharged by a deputy sheriff of a county: Provided,
That a municipal police officer may issue a citation in lieu of
arrest in any county in which the municipality is situate where a
misdemeanor is actually committed in his or her presence. In order
to arrest for the violation of municipal ordinances and as to all
matters arising within the corporate limits and coming within the
scope of his or her official duties, the powers of any chief,
policeman police officer or sergeant shall extend anywhere within
the county or counties in which the municipality is located, and any such chief, policeman police officer or sergeant shall have the
same authority of pursuit and arrest beyond his or her normal
jurisdiction as has a sheriff. For an offense committed in his or
her presence, any such officer may arrest the offender without a
warrant and take him or her before the mayor or police court or
municipal court to be dealt with according to law. He or she and
his or her sureties shall be liable to all the fines, penalties and
forfeitures which a deputy sheriff is liable to, for any failure or
dereliction in such office, to be recovered in the same manner and
in the same courts in which such fines, penalties and forfeitures
are recovered against a deputy sheriff. In addition to the mayor
or police court judge or municipal court judge, if any, of a city,
the chief of police of any municipality and in the absence from the
station house of the chief of police the captains of police and
lieutenants of police shall each have authority to administer oaths
to complainants and to issue arrest warrants thereon for all
violations of the ordinances of such municipality.
It shall be the duty of the mayor and police officers of every
municipality and any municipal sergeant to aid in the enforcement
of the criminal laws of the state within the municipality,
independently of any charter provision or any ordinance or lack of an ordinance with respect thereto, and to cause the arrest of or
arrest any offender and take him or her before a magistrate to be
dealt with according to the law. Failure on the part of any such
official or officer to discharge any duty imposed by the provisions
of this section shall be deemed considered official misconduct for
which he or she may be removed from office. Any such official or
officer shall have the same authority to execute a warrant issued
by a magistrate, and the same authority to arrest without a warrant
for offenses committed in his or her presence, as a deputy sheriff.
No officer or member of the police force or department of a
municipality may aid or assist either party in any labor trouble or
dispute between employer and employee. They shall in such cases
see that the statutes and laws of this state and municipal
ordinances are enforced in a legal way and manner. Nor shall he or
she engage in off-duty police work for any party engaged in or
involved in such labor dispute or trouble between employer and
employee.
The chief of police shall be charged with the keeping and
security of the jail and at any time that one or more prisoners are
being held in the jail, he or she shall require that the jail be
attended by a police officer or other responsible person.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow a municipal police
officer to issue citations for misdemeanor offenses committed in
his or her presence in the county in which the municipality is
located. This will allow municipal police to stop and cite
reckless drivers outside the city limits when the officer is
driving to or from magistrate court or circuit court. Municipal
police are certified law-enforcement officers with the same
training as deputy sheriffs.
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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