ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4166
(By Delegates Hamilton, Klempa, Miley, Duke,
Ellem, Wells and Manchin)
[Passed March 13, 2010; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to
amend and reenact §8-15-17 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to paid firefighters who seek
subsequent employment with other paid fire departments;
authorizing applicants over the age of thirty-five who seek
subsequent employment with a paid fire department to apply
under certain circumstances; and limiting subsequent hiring or
reinstatement effects on seniority considerations
.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §8-15-17 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15. FIRE FIGHTING; FIRE COMPANIES AND DEPARTMENTS; CIVIL
SERVICE FOR PAID FIRE DEPARTMENTS.
§8-15-17. Form of application; age and residency requirements;
exceptions.
(a) The Firemen's Civil Service Commission in each
municipality shall require individuals applying for admission to any competitive examination provided for under the civil service
provisions of this article or under the rules of the commission to
file in its office, within a reasonable time prior to the proposed
examination, a formal application in which the applicant shall
state under oath or affirmation:
(1) His or her full name, residence and post-office address;
(2) His or her United States citizenship, age and the place
and date of his or her birth;
(3) His or her state of health, and his or her physical
capacity for the public service;
(4) His or her business and employments and residences for at
least three previous years; and
(5) Any other information as may reasonably be required,
touching upon the applicant's qualifications and fitness for the
public service.
(b) Blank forms for the applications shall be furnished by the
commission, without charge, to all individuals requesting the same.
(c) The commission may require, in connection with the
application, certificates of citizens, physicians and others,
having pertinent knowledge concerning the applicant, as the good of
the service may require.
(d) Except as provided in subsections (e) and (f) of this
section, no application for original appointment shall be received
if the individual applying is less than eighteen years of age or
more than thirty-five years of age at the date of his or her application.
(e) In the event any applicant formerly served upon the paid
fire department of the municipality to which he or she makes
application, for a period of more than one year, and resigned from
the department at a time when there were no charges of misconduct
or other misfeasance pending against the applicant, within a period
of two years next preceding the date of his or her application, and
at the time of his or her application resides within the corporate
limits of the municipality in which the paid fire department to
which he or she seeks appointment by reinstatement is located, then
the individual shall be eligible for appointment by reinstatement
in the discretion of the Firemen's Civil Service Commission, even
though the applicant shall be over the age of thirty-five years,
and the applicant, providing his or her former term of service so
justifies, may be appointed by reinstatement to the paid fire
department without a competitive examination, but the applicant
shall undergo a medical examination; and if the individual shall be
so appointed by reinstatement to the paid fire department, he or
she shall be the lowest in rank in the department next above the
probationers of the department and may not be entitled to seniority
considerations.
(f) If an individual is presently employed by one paid fire
department and is over the age of thirty-five, he or she may make
an application to another paid fire department if:
(1) The paid fire department to which he or she is applying is serving a municipality that has elected to participate in the West
Virginia Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement
System created in article twenty-two-a, chapter eight of this code:
Provided, That any individual applying pursuant to this subdivision
is to be classified as a new employee for retirement purposes and
no prior employment service can be transferred to the West Virginia
Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System; or
(2)The paid fire department to which he or she is applying is
serving a municipality that has elected to participate in the West
Virginia Public Employees Retirement System created in article ten,
chapter five of this code:
Provided, That any individual applying
pursuant to this subdivision is to be classified as a new employee
for retirement purposes and no prior employment service can be
transferred to the West Virginia Public Employees Retirement
System, except for individuals and their prior employment service
already credited to them in the West Virginia Public Employees
Retirement System pursuant to article ten, chapter five of this
code.
(g) Individuals who are authorized to apply to a paid fire
department pursuant to subsection (f) of this section shall be in
the lowest rank of the department and may not be entitled to
seniority considerations.
(h) Any applicant for original appointment must have been a
resident for one year, during some period of time prior to the date
of his or her application, of the municipality in which he or she seeks to become a member of the paid fire department:
Provided,
That if the commission determines it necessary it may consider for
original appointment applicants who are not residents of the
municipality but who have been residents of the county in which the
municipality or any portion of the territory thereof is located for
a period of at least one year.