Senate Bill No. 274
(By Senators Prezioso, Bailey, Barnes, Guills, Hunter, Dempsey,
Minear, Minard, White, Jenkins, Unger, Plymale, Caruth and
Foster)
____________
[Introduced January 25, 2006; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
____________
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 child abuse and neglect investigations.
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 Investigations
Unit.
(a) The superintendent shall establish a special unit of the
State Police, called the Child Abuse and Neglect Investigations Unit, the sole purpose of which is to focus on identifying,
investigating and prosecuting criminal child abuse and neglect
cases, in coordination with Child Protective Services,
established pursuant to section nine, article six-a, chapter
forty-nine of the code.
The unit shall assist other state police
members and state law-enforcement officers with child abuse or
neglect investigations as well as the Division of Child
Protective Services, but nothing in this section may be construed
to mean that the unit will assume the duties or investigations of
other state police members or 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, and a unit director. State Police
members so assigned shall assist Child Protective Service
caseworkers in investigating and coordinating with other law
enforcement personnel, cases of suspected child abuse or neglect.
This includes allegations received pursuant to section two,
article six-a, chapter forty-nine of this code, and any other
credible child abuse or 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;
(3) Assisting Child Protective Services in developing and refining protocols for improving identification and prosecution
of suspected criminal acts of child abuse or neglect; and
(4) Assuring that all other directives and responsibilities
of the unit are fulfilled.
(d) The unit shall maintain a statewide child abuse and
neglect statistical index of all suspected child abuse or neglect
cases reported and any child abuse and neglect criminal charges,
to enable the unit to monitor the timely and proper investigation
and disposition of child abuse or neglect cases. The index is to
include information contained in the initial, progress and final
reports required under article six-a, chapter forty-nine of this
chapter, 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 must
include the statistical index required under 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 state law-enforcement agency of the state shall
periodically provide, as required by the unit, statistical information regarding child abuse and neglect cases investigated
and prosecuted by that law-enforcement agency.
NOTE:
The purpose of this bill is to create a specialized
unit within the State Police to focus on child abuse and 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."