H. B. 3096
(By Delegates Craig, Howard, Leach, Morgan,
Smirl, Webb and Kominar)
[Introduced February 21, 2003; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article ten, chapter
fifteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to authorizing
cooperation of campus police with other law-enforcement
agencies.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article ten, 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 10. COOPERATION BETWEEN LAW-ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.
§15-10-4. Cooperation between law-enforcement agencies.
(a) The head of any law-enforcement agency as defined in
section three of this article may temporarily provide assistance
and cooperation to another agency of the state criminal justice
system or to a federal law-enforcement agency in investigating crimes or possible criminal activity if requested to do so in
writing by the head of another law-enforcement agency or federal
law-enforcement agency. Such assistance may also be provided upon
the request of the head of the law-enforcement agency or federal
law-enforcement agency without first being reduced to writing in
emergency situations involving the imminent risk of loss of life or
serious bodily injury. The assistance may include, but is not
limited to, entering into a multijurisdictional task force
agreement to integrate federal, state, county and municipal
law-enforcement agencies or any combination thereof, for the
purpose of enhancing interagency coordination, intelligence
gathering, facilitating multijurisdictional investigations,
providing criminal justice enforcement personnel of the
law-enforcement agency to work temporarily with personnel of
another agency, including in an undercover capacity, and making
available equipment, training, technical assistance and information
systems for the more efficient investigation, apprehension and
adjudication of persons who violate the criminal laws of this state
or the United States, and to assist the victims of such crimes.
When providing the assistance under the provisions of this article,
a head of a law-enforcement agency shall comply with all applicable
statutes, ordinances, rules, policies or guidelines officially
adopted by the state or the governing body of the city or county by
which he or she is employed, and any conditions or restrictions included therein.
(b) While temporarily assigned to work with another
law-enforcement agency or agencies, criminal justice enforcement
personnel shall have the same jurisdiction, powers, privileges and
immunities, including those relating to the defense of civil
actions, as such criminal justice enforcement personnel would enjoy
if actually employed by the agency to which they are assigned, in
addition to any corresponding or varying jurisdiction, powers,
privileges and immunities conferred by virtue of their continued
employment with the assisting agency.
(c) While assigned to another agency or to a
multijurisdictional task force, criminal justice enforcement
personnel shall be subject to the lawful operational commands of
the superior officers of the agency or task force to which they are
assigned, but for personnel and administrative purposes, including
compensation, they shall remain under the control of the assisting
agency. These assigned personnel shall continue to be covered by
all employee rights and benefits provided by the assisting agency,
including workers' compensation, to the same extent as though such
personnel were functioning within the normal scope of their duties.
(d) No request or agreement between the heads of
law-enforcement agencies made or entered into pursuant to the
provisions of this article shall remain in force and effect for a
period of more than twelve months unless renewed in writing by the parties thereto nor shall any request or agreement made or entered
into pursuant to the provisions of this article have force or
effect until a copy of said request or agreement is filed with the
office of the circuit clerk of the county or counties in which the
law-enforcement agencies involved operate. Upon filing, the
requests or agreements may be sealed, subject to disclosure
pursuant to an order of a circuit court directing disclosure for
good cause. Nothing in this article shall be construed to limit
the authority of the head of a law-enforcement agency to withdraw
from any agreement at any time.
(e) Nothing contained in this article shall be construed so as
to grant, increase, decrease or in any manner affect the civil
service protection or the applicability of civil service laws as to
any criminal justice enforcement personnel or agency operating
under the authority of this article, nor shall this article in any
way reduce or increase the jurisdiction or authority of any
criminal justice enforcement personnel or agency, except as
specifically provided herein.
(f) Nothing contained in this article shall be construed so as
to authorize the permanent consolidation or merger or the
elimination of operations of participating federal, state, county
or municipal law-enforcement agencies.
(g) For purposes of this section, a state or local
law-enforcement officer means 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 includes those persons employed as campus
police officers at state institutions of higher education in
accordance with the provisions of section five, article four,
chapter eighteen-b of this code, although those institutions may
not be considered law-enforcement agencies. The term also includes
those persons employed as rangers by the Hatfield-McCoy regional
recreation authority in accordance with the provisions of section
six, article fourteen, chapter twenty of this code, although the
authority may not be considered a law-enforcement agency.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize cooperation of
campus police with other law-enforcement agencies. The amendments
to this section make it consistent with language in section five of
this article insofar as state or local law-enforcement officer is
defined.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.