H. B. 2944
(By Delegates Beane, Azinger, Webster, Amores,
Stalnaker, G. White and Hrutkay)
[Introduced March 9, 2005; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §8-14-12 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to removing the "within two years"
time restriction in which an application by a former police
officer, thirty-five years old or older, who previously
resigned from the police force, may submit an application for
reinstatement.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §8-14-12 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 14. LAW AND ORDER; POLICE FORCE OR DEPARTMENTS; POWERS,
AUTHORITY AND DUTIES OF LAW-ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS
AND POLICEMEN; POLICE MATRONS; SPECIAL SCHOOL ZONE
AND PARKING LOT OR PARKING BUILDING POLICE
OFFICERS; CIVIL SERVICE FOR CERTAIN POLICE
DEPARTMENTS.
§8-14-12. Form of application; age and residency requirements;
exceptions.
The Policemen's Civil Service Commission in each Class I and Class II city shall require individuals applying for admission to
any competitive examination provided
for under the civil service
provisions of this article or under the rules
and regulations of
said commission to file in its office, within a reasonable time
prior to the proposed examination, a formal application in which
the applicant shall state under oath or affirmation:
(1) His
or her full name, residence and post-office address;
(2) His
or her
United States citizenship, age and the place
and date of his or her
birth;
(3) His or her
state of health and his or her
physical
capacity for the public service;
(4) His or her
business and employments and residences for at
least three previous years; and
(5) Such other information as may reasonably be required,
touching upon the applicant's qualifications and fitness for the
public service.
Blank forms for such applications shall be furnished by the
commission, without charge, to all individuals requesting the same.
The commission may require, in connection with such application,
such certificates of citizens, physicians and others, having
pertinent knowledge concerning the applicant, as the good of the
service may require.
No application for original appointment shall be received if
the individual applying is less than eighteen years of age or more
than thirty-five years of age at the date of his or her
application: Provided, That in the event any applicant formerly served upon the paid police department of the city to which he or
she
makes application, for a period of more than his or her
probationary period, and resigned from the department at a time
when there were no charges of misconduct or other misfeasance
pending against such applicant, within a period of two years next
preceding the date of his application, and at the time of his or
her
application resides within the corporate limits of the city in
which the paid police department to which he or she
seeks
appointment by reinstatement is located, then such individual shall
be eligible for appointment by reinstatement in the discretion of
the Policemen's Civil Service Commission, even though such
applicant shall be over the age of thirty-five years, and such
applicant, providing his or her
former term of service so
justifies, may be appointed by reinstatement to the paid police
department without a competitive examination, but such applicant
shall undergo a medical examination; and if such individual shall
be so appointed by reinstatement to the paid police department, he
or she
shall be the lowest in rank in the department next above the
probationers of the department.
Any applicant for original appointment must have been a
resident for one year, during some period of time prior to the date
of his or her
application, of the city in which he or she
seeks to
become a member of the paid police department: Provided, That if
the commission deems it necessary it may consider for original
appointment or for reinstatement under the preceding proviso of
this section, applicants who are not residents of the city but who have been residents of the county in which the city or any portion
of the territory thereof is located for a period of at least one
year.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the "within two
years" time restriction in which an application by a former police
officer, thirty-five years old or older, who previously resigned
from the police force, may submit an application for reinstatement.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.