ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4250
(By Delegates Osborne, Mahan, Sparks, Heck and
Johnson)
[Passed March 13, 1998; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact section twenty-two, article fifteen,
chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to vacancies
in paid fire departments; requiring completion of
apprenticeship before eligibility for promotion; and
exceptions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-two, article fifteen, chapter eight of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15. FIRE FIGHTING; FIRE COMPANIES AND DEPARTMENTS; CIVIL
SERVICE FOR PAID FIRE DEPARTMENTS.
§8-15-22. Vacancies filled by promotions; eligibility for
promotion.
Vacancies in positions in a paid fire department 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
competitive examinations to be provided by the firemen's civil
service commission: Provided, That 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 and has
completed the registered apprenticeship and certification program
under article twenty-nine-a, chapter thirty of this code:
Provided, however, That completion of the registered
apprenticeship and certification program as a requirement for
promotion shall apply only to those firefighters employed since
the twelfth day of June, one thousand nine hundred eighty-seven.
The commission shall have the power to determine in each instance
whether an increase in salary constitutes a promotion.