ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 318
(Senator Kessler, original sponsor)
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[Passed April 11, 2009; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact §15-2D-3 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the duties and powers of the
director and officers of the West Virginia Division of
Protective Services; extending division jurisdiction over
state property throughout the state under certain
circumstances; and clarifying that division has no
responsibility for providing security for state facilities
outside the Capitol Complex.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §15-2D-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2D. PROTECTIVE SERVICES.
§15-2D-3. Duties and powers of the director and officers.
(a) The director is responsible for the control and
supervision of the division. The director and any officer of the
division specified by the director may carry designated weapons and have the same powers of arrest and law enforcement in Kanawha
County as members of the West Virginia State Police as set forth in
subsections (b) and (d), section twelve, article two of this
chapter:
Provided, That the director and designated members shall
have such powers throughout the State of West Virginia in
investigating and performing law-enforcement duties for offenses
committed on the Capitol Complex or related to the division's
security and protection duties at the Capitol Complex:
Provided,
however, That the director and designated members shall have said
powers throughout the state relating to offenses and activities
occurring on any property owned, leased or operated by the State of
West Virginia when undertaken at the request of the agency
occupying the property:
Provided further, That nothing in this
article shall be construed as to obligate the director or the
division to provide or be responsible for providing security at
state facilities outside the Capitol Complex.
(b) Any officer of the division shall be certified as a law-
enforcement officer by the Governor's Committee on Crime,
Delinquency and Correction or may be conditionally employed as a
law-enforcement officer until certified in accordance with the
provisions of section five, article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of
this code.
(c) The director may:
(1) Employ necessary personnel, all of whom shall be
classified exempt, assign them the duties necessary for the
efficient management and operation of the division and specify members who may carry, without license, weapons designated by the
director;
(2) Contract for security and other services;
(3) Purchase equipment as necessary to maintain security at
the Capitol Complex and other state facilities as may be determined
by the Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs and Public
Safety;
(4) Establish and provide standard uniforms, arms, weapons and
other enforcement equipment authorized for use by members of the
division and shall provide for the periodic inspection of the
uniforms and equipment. All uniforms, arms, weapons and other
property furnished to members of the division by the State of West
Virginia is and remains the property of the state;
(5) Appoint security officers to provide security on premises
owned or leased by the State of West Virginia;
(6) Upon request by the Superintendent of the West Virginia
State Police, provide security for the Speaker of the West Virginia
House of Delegates, the President of the West Virginia Senate, the
Governor or a justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of
Appeals;
(7) Gather information from a broad base of employees at and
visitors to the Capitol Complex to determine their security needs
and develop a comprehensive plan to maintain and improve security
at the Capitol Complex based upon those needs; and
(8) Assess safety and security needs and make recommendations
for safety and security at any proposed or existing state facility as determined by the Secretary of the Department of Military
Affairs and Public Safety, upon request of the secretary of the
department to which the facility is or will be assigned.
(d) The director shall:
(1) On or before July 1, 1999, propose legislative rules for
promulgation in accordance with the provisions of article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code. The rules shall, at a minimum,
establish ranks and the duties of officers within the membership of
the division.
(2) On or before July 1, 1999, enter into an interagency
agreement with the Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs
and Public Safety and the Secretary of the Department of
Administration, which delineates their respective rights and
authorities under any contracts or subcontracts for security
personnel. A copy of the interagency agreement shall be delivered
to the Governor, the President of the West Virginia Senate and the
Speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates and a copy shall be
filed in the office of the Secretary of State and shall be a public
record.
(3) Deliver a monthly status report to the Speaker of the West
Virginia House of Delegates and the President of the West Virginia
Senate.