WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE

2024 REGULAR SESSION

Introduced

House Bill 5318

By Delegates Kelly, Hott, Ward, Kump, Fehrenbacher, Mallow, Hornby, Phillips, Jeffries, Pinson, and Kirby

[Introduced January 29, 2024; Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary]

A BILL to amend and reenact §30-29-13 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to municipal chief executive requirements; and clarifying that persons elected as municipal police chiefs shall be certified law-enforcement officers.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 29. LAW-ENFORCEMENT TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION.

§30-29-13. Chief executive requirements.

Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, on or after July 1, 2018, any person elected or appointed to serve as the chief executive of a municipal law-enforcement agency shall be a certified, or certifiable as, a law-enforcement officer as provided in §30-29-5 of this code: Provided, That chief executives of municipal law-enforcement agencies employed prior to July 1, 2018, who are not certified law-enforcement officers are exempt from this requirement for purposes of the position he or she holds as of that date.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify that elected municipal police chiefs shall be certified law-enforcement officers.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.