COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 274
(By Senators Prezioso, Bailey, Barnes, Guills, Hunter, Dempsey,
Minear, Minard, White, Jenkins, Unger, Plymale, Caruth and
Foster)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 8, 2006.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §15-2-9, relating to
the creation of a special unit within the State Police
specializing in assisting law enforcement, the Division of
Child Protective Services and prosecuting attorneys in
criminal child abuse and criminal child neglect
investigations; authorizing promulgation of procedural rules;
requiring data collection; and mandating reporting of criminal
child abuse and criminal child neglect investigations and
referrals.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended,
by adding thereto a new section, designated §15-2-9, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2. WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE.
§15-2-9. State Police Child Abuse and Neglect Special Operations
Unit.
(a) The Superintendent shall establish a special unit of the
State Police, called the Child Abuse and Neglect Special Operations
Unit, the sole purpose of which is to assist law-enforcement
agencies, child protective service workers and prosecuting
attorneys in identifying, investigating and prosecution of criminal
child abuse and criminal child neglect cases. For purposes of this
section, criminal child abuse and criminal child neglect cases
shall mean cases where there is any investigation or prosecution
for an alleged or suspected violation of the of the provisions of
article eight-d, chapter sixty-one of this code or a felony
violation of the provisions of article two, chapter sixty-one of
this code where the defendant or alleged perpetrator is eighteen
years of age or older. The unit shall provide technical expertise
and other assistance to State Police, county and local law-
enforcement officers, the Division of Child Protective Services and
prosecuting attorneys involved in criminal child abuse or criminal
child neglect investigations. Nothing in this section may be
construed to mean that the unit will be required to assume the
duties or investigations of other law-enforcement officers.
(b) The unit is to consist of, at a minimum, six members of
the State Police, five assigned regionally to assist county Child
Protective Services offices, state and law enforcement and county
prosecuting attorneys. State Police members so assigned shall also
assist Child Protective Service caseworkers in coordinating with law enforcement personnel in cases of suspected criminal child
abuse or criminal child neglect. This may include allegations
received pursuant to section two, article six-a, chapter forty-nine
of this code, and any other credible criminal child abuse or
criminal child neglect allegations.
(c) The unit director's duties include:
(1) Overseeing State Police members assigned to the unit;
(2) Coordinating activities of the unit with Child Protective
Services and state, county and local law-enforcement agencies;
(3) Assisting law enforcement, Child Protective Services and
prosecuting attorneys in developing and refining protocols for
improving identification and prosecution of suspected criminal acts
of criminal child abuse or criminal child neglect; and
(4) Assuring that all other directives and responsibilities of
the unit are fulfilled.
(d) The unit shall maintain a statewide criminal child abuse
and criminal child neglect register of all criminally investigated
criminal child abuse and neglect cases, to enable the unit to
monitor and assist in the timely and proper investigation and
disposition of criminal child abuse or criminal child neglect
cases. The register shall include information about the progress
and final disposition of criminal investigations of criminal child
abuse and criminal child neglect and any other information deemed
appropriate by the unit director.
(e) On or before the thirty-first day of December of each
year, the unit director shall submit an annual report to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance. The annual report shall
include the data required by the provisions of subsection (d) of
this section, and may include recommendations for statutory or
program reforms that will assist the unit and further promote the
goals of the unit. The report may not contain information of a
specific nature that would identify individual cases or persons.
(f) Every law-enforcement agency in the state shall
periodically provide, as required by the unit director, information
regarding criminal child abuse and criminal child neglect cases
investigated by that law-enforcement agency.
(g) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human
Resources, or his or her designee, shall promulgate a legislative
rule requiring employees of the department to report to the unit
information regarding cases referred to law enforcement for
investigation.
(h) The Superintendent shall promulgate procedural rules to
effectuate the provisions of this section.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create a specialized
unit within the State Police to focus on criminal child abuse and
criminal child neglect cases and to assist Child Protective
Services in identifying criminal violations.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
This bill was recommended for introduction and passage during
the 2006 Regular Session by Interim Select Committee "A.")