Senate Bill No. 91
(By Senators Wooton, Burnette, Caldwell, Kessler, Minard,
Mitchell, Oliverio, Redd, Ross, Rowe, Snyder, Deem,
Facemyer and McKenzie)
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[Introduced January 9, 2002; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article eleven, chapter
fifteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring the
payment of funeral expenses of probation officers killed in
the line of duty.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article eleven, chapter fifteen of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 11. PAYMENT OF FUNERAL EXPENSES.
§15-11-2. Payment of funeral expenses of law-enforcement,
safety and emergency workers killed in the line of duty.
(a) The secretary of military affairs and public safety
shall, upon written request, direct payment from the fund in the
form of a draft as provided in this article up to and including an amount not exceeding eight thousand dollars for the
reasonable funeral expenses, including burial expenses, of a
law-enforcement, safety or emergency worker killed on or after
the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine,
while carrying out official duties: Provided, That no such
funds shall be expended for any funeral expense that is
otherwise payable pursuant to the provisions of article four,
chapter twenty-three of this code, as amended, or other benefit
programs established by a provision of this code which does not
involve employee participation: Provided, however, That where
other funds for funeral expenses are provided pursuant to the
laws of this state, from whatever source, which amount to less
than eight thousand dollars, funds provided by the provisions of
this section shall be expended so as to assure that at least
eight thousand dollars is available for reasonable funeral
expenses. The secretary shall direct payment of such funeral
expenses upon written request of an employer or head of a
volunteer organization, as is appropriate pursuant to this
article, certifying that the individual for whom funeral
expenses are requested was killed while performing official
duties.
(b) The secretary shall supply the draft in the name of the
person contracting for the funeral services and, if known, the service provider to the employer or agency head making the
request who shall tender the draft to the person who contracted
for the services.
(c) For the purposes of this section, "law-enforcement,
safety or emergency worker" means:
(1) Any duly authorized member of a law-enforcement agency
who is authorized to maintain public peace and order, prevent
and detect crime, make arrests and enforce the laws of the state
or any county or municipality thereof, other than parking
ordinances, and including those persons employed as security
officers at municipal, county, regional or state offices,
authorities or institutions, although their employers may not be
public law-enforcement agencies, employed by the Hatfield-McCoy
regional recreation authority and members of the West Virginia
national guard while engaged in active duty service: Provided,
That this section does not apply to those persons employed by
private security firms or agencies.
(2) Any state, regional, county or municipal correctional
officer.
(3) Any firefighter employed by the state or any political
subdivision of the state and any volunteer firefighter
performing as a member of a volunteer fire department.
(4) Any "emergency medical services personnel", as defined in section three, article four-c, chapter sixteen of this code,
employed by or volunteering for any state agency or institution
or political subdivision of the state.
(5) Any probation officer appointed under the provisions of
section five, article twelve, chapter sixty-two of this code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the
payment of funeral expenses for officers killed in the line of
duty.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.