H. B. 4804


(By Delegates Douglas, Kuhn, Varner, Marshall,

Mattaliano, Stalnaker and Willison)


(Originating in the House Committee on Government Organization)

[March 2, 2000]




A BILL to amend and reenact section seven, article eighteen, and section three, article twenty-nine, both of chapter thirty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty- one, as amended; and to further amend said article by adding thereto a new section, designated section ten, relating to requiring training for security guards; specifying minimum duration of training; requiring the governor's committee on crime, delinquency and correction to develop training standards for certain employees; requiring state agencies employing certain employees having law enforcement duties to submit plans for training.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seven, article eighteen, and section three, article twenty-nine, both of chapter thirty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section ten, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 18. PRIVATE INVESTIGATIVE AND SECURITY SERVICES.
§30-18-7. Requirements for employees conducting security guard business under a firm license.

(a) Any person who has a security guard firm license shall be responsible for supervising any employee or other individual who conducts security guard business under the authority of such person's firm license, regardless of whether such employee or other individual receives compensation for conducting such business. Such supervision shall include providing any education or training that is reasonably necessary to ensure compliance with the requirements of this article.
(b) Any employee or individual who conducts security guard business under the authority of a firm license shall:
(1) Satisfy the requirements of section five of this article, except that such person need not satisfy the prior employment requirements contained in subdivision (7) of section five; and
(2) Authorize the secretary of state to review the records held by the department of public safety West Virginia state police for any convictions that may be on record for such employee or individual.
(c) A holder of a security guard firm license is prohibited from authorizing any individual or employee to conduct security guard business if such individual does not comply with the requirements of this section.
(d) For every employee or individual who conducts security guard business under the authority of a security guard firm license, the holder of such license must maintain a recent full- face photograph and one complete set of fingerprints on file at such firm's central business location in this state. Upon request, the holder of the firm license must release the photographs and fingerprints to the secretary of state.
(e) Any person employed as an unarmed security guard and providing services to the state is required, at the expense of his or her employer, or, if self employed, at his or her own expense, to successfully complete a minimum of eight hours of initial training on those subjects specified by the governor's committee on crime, delinquency and corrections in accordance with the provisions of section three, article twenty-nine of this chapter.
(f) Any person employed as an armed security guard and providing services to the state is required, at the expense of his or her employer, or, if self employed, at his or her own expense, to successfully complete a minimum of twenty-four hours of initial training and annual recurrent training of eight hours on those subjects specified by the governor's committee on crime, delinquency and correction in accordance with the provisions of section three, article twenty-nine of this chapter: Provided, That any former or retired law enforcement officer formerly trained and certified as a law enforcement officer in accordance with the provisions of article twenty-nine of this chapter is exempt from the initial training requirement of this subsection and subsection (e) of this section.
 ARTICLE 29. LAW-ENFORCEMENT TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION.
§30-29-3. Duties of the governor's committee and the subcommittee.
Upon recommendation of the subcommittee, the governor's committee shall, by or pursuant to rule or regulation:
(a) Provide funding for the establishment and support of law-enforcement training academies in the state;
(b) Establish standards governing the establishment and operation of the law-enforcement training academies, including regional locations throughout the state in order to provide access to each law-enforcement agency in the state in accordance with available funds;
(c) Establish minimum law-enforcement instructor qualifications;
(d) Certify qualified law-enforcement instructors;
(e) Maintain a list of approved law-enforcement instructors;
(f) Promulgate standards governing the qualification of law-enforcement officers and the entry level law-enforcement training curricula. These standards shall require satisfactory completion of a minimum of four hundred classroom hours, shall provide for credit to be given for relevant classroom hours earned pursuant to training other than training at an established law-enforcement training academy if earned within five years immediately preceding the date of application for certification, and shall provide that the required classroom hours can be accumulated on the basis of a part-time curricula spanning no more than twelve months, or a full-time curricula;
(g) Establish standards governing in-service law-enforcement officer training curricula and in-service supervisory level training curricula;
(h) Certify law-enforcement officers, as provided in section five of this article;
(i) Develop the training curricula and standards for security guards providing services to the state required by section seven, article eighteen of this chapter, including standards for identification of other documentary evidence that the specified training has been successfully completed;
(j) Review, modify and approve plans submitted by public agencies for training curricula and standards for designated employees having law enforcement duties and required or permitted to carry firearms while on duty.
(i)(k) Seek supplemental funding for law-enforcement training academies from sources other than the fees collected pursuant to section four of this article; and
(j)(l) Submit, on or before the thirtieth day of September of each year, to the governor, and upon request to individual members of the Legislature, a report on its activities during the previous year and an accounting of funds paid into and disbursed from the special revenue account establish pursuant to section four of this article.
§30-29-10. Training plans for certain employees of public entities.

Every state agency, including but not limited to the parks and tourism and wildlife resources sections of the division of natural resources, the office of state fire marshall, the public service commission, and the enforcement division of the division of highways that employs employees whose responsibilities relate primarily to security and law enforcement, other than regulating parking, or who are authorized to carry a firearm while on duty, shall submit to the law enforcement training subcommittee plans for training curricula and standards for those employees. Upon approval of the plans by the governor's committee, each state agency or entity shall provide the training at no cost to the employee. The plans submitted need not require initial training for an employee who is a former or retired law enforcement officer trained and certified as required in this article, but may require annual recurrent training after the former law enforcement officer is employed and assumes law enforcement or security duties.


Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added. Section 10 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.