Senate Bill No. 552
(By Senator Dalton)
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[Introduced March 22, 1993; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article one-a, chapter three of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
by adding thereto a new section, designated section eight,
relating to the authority of investigators of the secretary
of state's office.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article one-a, chapter three of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
eight, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1A. STATE ELECTION COMMISSION AND SECRETARY OF STATE.
§3-1A-8. Investigators for the secretary of state.
An employee of the secretary of state, who has attended a
course of instruction at the state police academy, or its
equivalent, has all the lawful powers delegated to members of the
department of public safety to enforce the provisions of this
chapter and the criminal laws of the state in any county ormunicipality of this state. An employee shall, before entering
upon the discharge of his or her duties, execute a bond with
security in the sum of three thousand five hundred dollars,
payable to the state of West Virginia, conditioned for the
faithful performance of his or her duties, and the bond shall be
approved as to form by the attorney general, and the bond shall
be filed with the secretary of state and preserved in his or her
office. The department of public safety, any county sheriff or
his deputy or any municipal police officer, upon request by the
secretary of state or his or her appointee, is authorized to
assist the secretary of state or his or her appointee in
enforcing the provisions of this chapter or the criminal laws of
the state.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide law
enforcement powers to qualified employees of the secretary of
state in election investigations.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.