ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 285
(By Senators Anderson, Wooton, Bowman, Buckalew,
Deem, Dittmar, Grubb, Miller, Oliverio, Ross, Schoonover and Scott)
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[Passed February 23, 1996; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact section six, article seven, chapter
twenty-four-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the enforcement of
laws governing the public service commission; clarifying the
duties of law-enforcement officers, prosecuting attorneys and
motor carrier inspectors; authorizing motor carrier inspectors
to carry handguns in the course of their official duties;
establishing qualifications to carry such handguns; providing
for the payment of handguns training; clarifying scope of
authority of motor carrier inspectors; and making certain
technical revisions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section six, article seven, chapter twenty-four-a of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. COMPLAINTS, DAMAGES AND VIOLATIONS.
§24A-7-6. Duty of prosecuting attorneys and law-enforcement
officers to enforce chapter; regulatory authority of
commission; qualifications of commission employees designated
as motor carrier inspectors.
It shall be the duty of the West Virginia state police and the
sheriffs of the counties in West Virginia to make arrests and the
duty of the prosecuting attorneys of the several counties to
prosecute all violations of this chapter and of other chapters
governing the regulatory authority of the commission. The
commission employees designated as motor carrier inspectors shall
have the same authority as law-enforcement officers to enforce the
provisions of this chapter and the provisions of other chapters of
this code governing the regulatory authority of the commission as
such provisions apply to entities and persons regulated by the
commission in any county or city of this state. Notwithstanding
any provision of this code to the contrary, such motor carrier
inspectors may carry handguns in the course of their official
duties after meeting specialized qualifications established by the
governor's committee on crime, delinquency and correction, which
qualifications shall include the successful completion of handgun training, including a minimum of four hours training in handgun
safety, paid for by the commission and comparable to the handgun
training provided to law-enforcement officers by the West Virginia
state police: Provided, That nothing in this section shall be
construed to include motor carrier inspectors within the meaning of
law-enforcement officers as defined in section one, article twenty-
nine, chapter thirty of this code.