Senate Bill No. 11

(By Senator Deem)

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[Introduced February 14, 2001; referred to the Committee on Government Organization.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section seventeen, article fourteen, chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to criteria for promotions for civil service police departments.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seventeen, article fourteen, 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 14. LAW AND ORDER; POLICE FORCE OR DEPARTMENTS; POWERS, AUTHORITY AND DUTIES OF LAW-ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS AND POLICEMEN; POLICE MATRONS; SPECIAL SCHOOL ZONE AND PARKING LOT OR PARKING BUILDING; POLICE OFFICERS; CIVIL SERVICE FOR CERTAIN POLICE DEPARTMENTS.

§8-14-17. Vacancies filled by promotions; eligibility for promotion; rights of chief.

Vacancies in positions in a paid police department of a Class I or Class II city 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, oral interviews, review of personnel files and by written competitive examinations to be provided by the policemen's civil service commission: Provided, That except for the chief of police, no individual shall be eligible for promotion from the lower grade to the next higher grade until such the individual shall have has completed at least two years of continuous service in the next lower grade in the department immediately prior to said the examination, oral interview and the review of his or her personnel file: Provided, however, That notwithstanding the provisions of section six of this article, any member of a paid police department of Class I or Class II city now occupying the office of chief of such the paid police department, or hereafter appointed to such office, shall except as hereinafter provided in this section, be and shall continue to be entitled to all of the rights and benefits of the civil service provisions of this article, except that he or she may be removed from such the office of chief of police without cause, and the time spent by such the member in the office of such the chief of police shall be added to the time served by such the member during the entire time he or she was a member of said the paid police department prior to his or her appointment as chief, and shall in all cases of removal, except for removal for good cause, retain the regular rank within said the paid police department which he or she held at the time of his or her appointment to the office of chief of police or which he or she has attained during his or her term of service as chief of police. The provisions of this section shall be construed to apply and to inure to the benefit of all individuals who have ever been subject to the provisions of this article. The commission shall have the power to determine in each instance whether an increase in salary constitutes a promotion.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to set criteria for promotions within the police department to include oral interviews and the review of candidates personnel file.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.