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Introduced Version House Bill 3173 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 3173


(By Delegate Stalnaker)
[Introduced January 9, 2008; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]




A BILL to amend and reenact §8-14-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §8-14-17 of said code, all relating to allowing municipal chiefs of police to appoint a deputy chief or principal supervisor.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §8-14-6 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that §8-14-17 of said code be amended and reenacted, all 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.

PART V. CIVIL SERVICE FOR CERTAIN POLICE DEPARTMENTS.

§8-14-6. Qualifications for appointment or promotion to positions in certain paid police departments to be ascertained by examination; provisions exclusive as to appointments, etc.; definitions.

All appointments and promotions to all positions in all paid police departments of Class I and Class II cities shall be made only according to qualifications and fitness to be ascertained by examinations, which, so far as practicable, shall be competitive, as hereinafter provided. No individual except the chief of police, or a deputy chief or principal supervisor appointed by the chief, shall be appointed, promoted, reinstated, removed, discharged, suspended or reduced in rank or pay as a paid member of any paid police department, regardless of rank or position, of any Class I or Class II city in any manner or by any means other than those prescribed in the following sections of this article.
The term "member of a paid police department," whenever used in the following sections of this article, shall mean and include any individual employed in a paid police department who is clothed with the police power of the state in being authorized to carry deadly weapons, make arrests, enforce traffic and other municipal ordinances, issue summons for violations of traffic and other municipal ordinances, and perform other duties which are within the scope of active, general law enforcement. The term "appointing officer," as used in the following sections of this article, shall be construed to mean the Class I or Class II city officer in whom the power of appointment of members of a paid police department is vested by charter provision or ordinance of the city.
§8-14-17. Vacancies filled by promotions; eligibility for promotion; rights of chief.

Vacancies in positions in a paid police department of a Class I or Class II city shall be filled, so far as practicable, by promotions from among individuals holding positions in the next lower grade in the department. Promotions shall be based upon experience and by written competitive examinations to be provided by the policemen's civil service commission: Provided, That except for the chief of police or a deputy chief or principal supervisor appointed by the chief, no individual shall be eligible for promotion from the lower grade to the next higher grade until such individual shall have completed at least two years of continuous service in the next lower grade in the department immediately prior to said examination: Provided, however, That notwithstanding the provisions of section six of this article, any member of a paid police department of Class I or Class II city now occupying the office of chief or a deputy chief or principal supervisor appointed by the chief of such paid police department, or hereafter appointed to such office, shall, except as hereinafter provided in this section, be and shall continue to be entitled to all of the rights and benefits of the civil service provisions of this article, except that he may be removed from such office of chief of police without cause, and the time spent by such member in the office of such chief of police shall be added to the time served by such member during the entire time he was a member of said paid police department prior to his appointment as chief or deputy chief or principal supervisor, and shall in all cases of removal, except for removal for good cause, retain the regular rank within said paid police department which he held at the time of his appointment to the office of chief of police or which he has attained during his term of service as chief of police or deputy chief or principal supervisor. The provisions of this section shall be construed to apply and to inure to the benefit of all individuals who have ever been subject to the provisions of this article. The commission shall have the power to determine in each instance whether an increase in salary constitutes a promotion.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow municipal chiefs of police to appoint a deputy chief or principal supervisor.

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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