Senate Bill No. 608
(By Senator Hunter)
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[Introduced February 23, 2004; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §17C-2-3 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §24A-7-6 of said code;
and to amend and reenact §30-29-1 of said code, all relating
to including public service commission motor carrier
enforcement officers and weight enforcement officers in the
definition of "law-enforcement officer".
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17C-2-3 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; that §24A-7-6 of said code be amended and
reenacted; and that §30-29-1 of said code be amended and reenacted,
all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 17C. TRAFFIC REGULATIONS AND LAWS OF THE ROAD.
ARTICLE 2. OBEDIENCE TO AND EFFECT OF TRAFFIC LAWS.
§17C-2-3. Enforcement of chapter; designation and power of special
officers; bond of special officers; failure to obey
police officer or special officers.
(a) It is the duty of the West Virginia state police and its members to enforce the provisions of this chapter and other laws of
this state governing the operation of vehicles upon the streets and
highways of this state as defined in section thirty-five, article
one of this chapter or in other designated places specifically
referred to in a given section in this chapter; and it is the duty
of sheriffs and their deputies and of the police of municipalities
to render to the West Virginia state police assistance in the
performance of said duties as the superintendent of the West
Virginia state police may require of them.
(b) The West Virginia commissioner of highways is authorized
to designate employees of the West Virginia division of highways as
special officers to enforce the provisions of this chapter only
when special officers are directing traffic upon bridges and the
approaches to bridges which are a part of the state road system
when any bridge needs special traffic direction and the
superintendent of the West Virginia state police has informed the
West Virginia commissioner of highways that he or she is unable to
furnish personnel for traffic direction. The West Virginia
commissioner of highways may also designate certain employees of
the West Virginia division of highways serving as members of
official weighing crews as special officers to enforce the
provisions of article seventeen of this chapter. Notwithstanding
any provision of this code to the contrary, designated special
officers serving as members of official weighing crews may carry
handguns in the course of their official duties after meeting
specialized qualifications established by the governor's committee on crime, delinquency and correction, which qualifications shall
include the successful completion of handgun training, including a
minimum of four hours' training in handgun safety, paid for by the
division of highways and comparable to the handgun training
provided to law-enforcement officers by the West Virginia state
police: Provided, That nothing in this section shall be construed
to include designated special officers authorized by the provisions
of this section as law-enforcement officers as such are defined in
section one, article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of this code.
Provided, however, That weight enforcement officers transferred
from the department of transportation to the public service
commission pursuant to section three, article seventeen-b, chapter
seventeen-c of this code shall be considered law-enforcement
officers as defined in section one, article twenty-nine, chapter
thirty of this code. The West Virginia commissioner of highways
shall provide a blanket bond in the amount of ten thousand dollars
for all employees designated as special officers, as above
provided.
(c) No person shall willfully fail or refuse to comply with a
lawful order or direction of any police officer or designated
special officer invested by law with authority to direct, control
or regulate traffic.
(d) No person shall willfully fail or refuse to comply with a
lawful order or direction of any designated special officer
pursuant to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section.
CHAPTER 24A. COMMERCIAL MOTOR CARRIERS.
ARTICLE 7. COMPLAINTS, DAMAGES AND VIOLATIONS.
§24A-7-6. Duty of prosecuting attorneys and law-enforcement
officers to enforce chapter; regulatory authority of
commission; qualifications of commission employees
designated as motor carrier enforcement officers.
It shall be the duty of the West Virginia state police and the
sheriffs of the counties in West Virginia to make arrests and the
duty of the prosecuting attorneys of the several counties to
prosecute all violations of this chapter and of other chapters
governing the regulatory authority of the commission. The
commission employees designated as motor carrier inspectors
enforcement officers shall have the same authority as
law-enforcement officers to enforce the provisions of this chapter
and the provisions of other chapters of this code governing the
regulatory authority of the commission as such provisions apply to
entities and persons regulated by the commission in any county or
city of this state. Notwithstanding any provision of this code to
the contrary, such motor carrier inspectors enforcement officers
may carry handguns in the course of their official duties after
meeting specialized qualifications established by the governor's
committee on crime, delinquency and correction, which
qualifications shall include the successful completion of handgun
training, including a minimum of four hours' training in handgun
safety, paid for by the commission and comparable to the handgun
training provided to law-enforcement officers by the West Virginia
state police. Provided, That nothing in this section shall be construed to include Motor carrier inspectors within the meaning of
Motor carrier enforcement officers shall be considered
law-enforcement officers as defined in section one, article
twenty-nine, chapter thirty of this code.
CHAPTER 30. PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS.
ARTICLE 29. LAW-ENFORCEMENT TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION.
§30-29-1. Definitions.
For the purposes of this article, unless a different meaning
clearly appears in the context:
"Approved law-enforcement training academy" means any
training facility which is approved and authorized to conduct
law-enforcement training as provided in this article;
"Chief executive" means the superintendent of the state
police; the chief conservation officer of the division of natural
resources; the sheriff of any West Virginia county; any
administrative deputy appointed by the chief conservation officer
of natural resources; or the chief of any West Virginia municipal
law-enforcement agency;
"County" means the fifty-five major political subdivisions of
the state;
"Exempt rank" means any noncommissioned or commissioned rank
of sergeant or above;
"Governor's committee on crime, delinquency and correction" or
"governor's committee" means the governor's committee on crime,
delinquency and correction established as a state planning agency
pursuant to section one, article nine, chapter fifteen of this code;
"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, and also includes
public service commission motor carrier enforcement officers and
weight enforcement officers, except that the public service
commission shall determine the training and certification
requirements for motor carrier enforcement officers and weight
enforcement officers, and to the extent public service commission
requirements differ from the provisions of this article, motor
carrier enforcement officers and weight enforcement officers are
exempt from these provisions. The term also further 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:
Provided, That the subject rangers shall pay the tuition and costs
of training. As used in this article, the term "law-enforcement
officer" does not apply to the chief executive of any West Virginia
law-enforcement agency or any watchman or special conservation officer;
"Law-enforcement official" means the duly appointed chief
administrator of a designated law-enforcement agency or a duly
authorized designee;
"Municipality" means any incorporated town or city whose
boundaries lie within the geographic boundaries of the state;
"Subcommittee" or "law-enforcement training subcommittee"
means the subcommittee of the governor's committee on crime,
delinquency and correction created by section two of this article;
and
"West Virginia law-enforcement agency" means any duly
authorized state, county or municipal organization employing one or
more persons whose responsibility is the enforcement of laws of the
state or any county or municipality thereof: Provided, That
neither the Hatfield-McCoy regional recreation authority nor any
state institution of higher education may be deemed a
law-enforcement agency.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to include Public Service
Commission motor carrier enforcement officers and weight
enforcement officers in the definition of "law-enforcement
officer."
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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