ENGROSSED

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR


Senate Bill No. 391

(By Senators Bowman, Bailey, Facemyer, Smith and Plymale)

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[Originating in the Committee on Government Organization;

reported February 17, 2003.]


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A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article two, chapter fifteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to training requirements for certain members of the state police.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article two, 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 2. WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE.
§15-2-3. State police structure; training.
(a) The superintendent shall create, appoint and equip the state police which shall consist of the number of troops, districts and detachments required for the proper administration of the state police. Each troop, district or detachment shall be composed of the number of officers and members the superintendent determines are necessary to meet operational needs and are required for the efficient operation of the state police. The superintendent shall establish the general organizational structure of the state police by interpretive rule in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
(b) (1) The superintendent shall provide adequate facilities for the training of all members of the state police and shall prescribe basic training requirements for newly enlisted members.
(2) In prescribing training requirements for newly enlisted members, the superintendent shall provide a shorter training period and reduced requirements for individuals who have been employed for at least three years as law-enforcement officers and certified under the provisions of article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of this code: Provided, That the superintendent may provide a shorter training period and reduced requirements for certified law- enforcement officers who have been employed for fewer than three years if the entity employing the officers terminated their employment for economic reasons.
(3) He or she The superintendent shall also provide advanced or in-service training, from time to time, for all members of the state police.
(c) The superintendent shall hold training classes for other peace officers in the state without cost to those officers except actual expenses for food, lodging and school supplies.