Senate Bill No. 777
(By Senators Wooton, Ball, Bowman, Dittmar, Kessler, Ross,
Schoonover, Snyder, White, Buckalew, Deem and Kimble)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported March 5, 1998.]
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A BILL to amend article one, chapter twenty-five of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
one-a, relating to authorizing commissioner of corrections to
permit employees to possess firearms.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article one, chapter twenty-five of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section one-a
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. ORGANIZATION AND INSTITUTIONS.
§25-1-1a. Authority of commissioner to permit employees to possess
firearms.
Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary,
the commissioner may authorize an employee of the division who is not a correctional officer to possess and use firearms in the
course of his or her employment if said employee has successfully
completed the firearms qualification training required of
correctional officers.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the
commissioner of corrections to permit certain employees who have
completed firearms training to possess and use firearms.
This section is new; therefore strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.)