SENATE
HOUSE
JOINT
BILL STATUS
STATE LAW
REPORTS
EDUCATIONAL
CONTACT
home
home
Introduced Version Senate Bill 53 History

OTHER VERSIONS  -  Committee Substitute (1)  |     |  Email
Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted


Senate Bill No. 53

(By Senator Bailey)

____________

[Introduced January 9, 2002; referred to the Committee

on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]

____________




A BILL to amend article twenty-two, chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty-eight-a, relating to providing procedural due process for professional police officers and firefighters applying for pension and disability benefits; application for benefits; requiring notice; providing for hearing; requiring final order and notice; allowing appeal; and providing administrative procedures in contested cases.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article twenty-two, chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty-eight-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 22. RETIREMENT BENEFITS GENERALLY; POLICEMEN'S PENSION AND RELIEF FUND; FIREMEN'S PENSION AND RELIEF FUND; PENSION PLANS FOR EMPLOYEES OF WATERWORKS SYSTEM, SEWERAGE SYSTEM OR COMBINED WATERWORKS AND SEWERAGE SYSTEM.

§8-22-28a. Procedural due process; application for benefits; notice; hearing; final order; appeal; administrative procedures in contested cases.

(a) Upon receipt of an application for any benefit under the provisions of section twenty-three-a, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-six-a or twenty-seven of this article, the board of trustees of the fund shall provide the applicant with a written notice that the applicant has the following procedural due process rights:
(1) To retain counsel at the applicant's cost;
(2) To take the deposition of any physicians appointed by the board of trustees of the fund to examine the applicant;
(3) To appear before the board of trustees and present evidence and testimony; and
(4) If denied benefits, to have the board of trustees of the fund give a written statement outlining its reasons for denying benefits.
(b) Upon receipt of the report of the physicians to whom the applicant has been referred for examination, the board of trustees of a fund must give an applicant written notice of:
(1) A copy of the report of the physicians who have examined the applicant and any proposed grant or denial of benefits;
(2) Notice of the date, time and place of the meeting of the board of trustees of the fund at which the application, the reports of any physicians who have examined the applicant, and any additional evidence will be received and considered;
(3) The procedural due process rights of the applicant: (A) To retain counsel at the applicant's cost; (B) to take the deposition of any physicians appointed by the board of trustees of the fund to examine the applicant; (C) to appear before the board of trustees and present evidence and testimony; and (D) if denied benefits, to have the board of trustees of the fund give a written statement outlining its reasons for denying benefits.
(c) After hearing, the board of trustees of the fund shall send the applicant a final order of its findings, and in the event that an applicant is denied any benefits, the final order shall contain a written statement outlining its reasons for denying benefits.
(d) The provisions of article five of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, the state administrative procedures act, apply to all proceedings, judicial review and appeals in contested cases.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a right of appeal to professional police officers and firefighters whose requests for pension or disability benefits have been denied.

This section is new, therefore strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.
This Web site is maintained by the West Virginia Legislature's Office of Reference & Information.  |  Terms of Use  |   Email WebmasterWebmaster   |   © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **


X

Print On Demand

Name:
Email:
Phone:

Print