Senate Bill No. 301
(By Senator Dittmar)
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[Introduced February 8, 1994; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article twenty-nine,
chapter thirty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring
special law-conservation officers to be law-enforcement
officers.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 29. LAW-ENFORCEMENT TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION.
§30-29-1. Definitions.
For the purposes of this article, unless a different meaning
clearly appears in the context:
"Approved law-enforcement training academy" means any
training facility which is approved and authorized to conduct
law-enforcement training as provided in this article;
"Chief executive" means the superintendent of the departmentof public safety; the chief conservation officer, department of
natural resources; the sheriff of any West Virginia county; or
the chief of any West Virginia municipal law-enforcement agency;
"County" means the fifty-five major political subdivisions
of the state;
"Exempt rank" means any noncommissioned or commissioned rank
of sergeant or above;
"Governor's committee on crime, delinquency and correction"
or "governor's committee" means the governor's committee on
crime, delinquency and correction established as a state planning
agency pursuant to section one, article nine, chapter fifteen of
this code;
"Law-enforcement officer" means any duly authorized member
of a law-enforcement agency who is authorized to maintain public
peace and order, prevent and detect crime, make arrests, and
enforce the laws of the state or any county or municipality
thereof, other than parking ordinances, and shall include those
persons employed as security officers at state institutions of
higher education in accordance with the provisions of section
five, article four, chapter eighteen-b of this code, although no
such institution shall be deemed a law-enforcement agency. As
used in this article, the term "law-enforcement officer" does not
apply to the chief executive of any West Virginia law-enforcement
agency or any watchman; or special conservation officer
"Law-enforcement official" means the duly appointed chief
administrator of a designated law-enforcement agency or a dulyauthorized designee;
"Municipality" means any incorporated town or city whose
boundaries lie within the geographic boundaries of the state;
"Subcommittee" or "law-enforcement training subcommittee"
means the subcommittee of the governor's committee on crime,
delinquency and correction created by section two of this
article; and
"West Virginia law-enforcement agency" means any duly
authorized state, county or municipal organization employing one
or more persons whose responsibility is the enforcement of laws
of the state or any county or municipality thereof: Provided,
That no state institution of higher education shall be deemed a
law-enforcement agency.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require special
conservation officers to be law-enforcement officers.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.