WEST virginia Legislature
2017 regular session
By
[
to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL to amend and
reenact §7-4-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend
said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §30-29-12, all relating
to West Virginia officials carrying concealed firearm nationwide as provided in
the federal Law-Enforcement Officers
Safety Act, 18 U. S. C. §926B; providing statutory authority necessary to give prosecuting attorneys
and assistant prosecuting attorneys the option to carry firearms pursuant to
that federal act upon completion of required training and annual background
check; granting prosecuting attorneys and assistant prosecuting attorneys
arrest powers under certain circumstances; providing that law-enforcement
agencies are neither prohibited from nor required to permit an officer to carry
his or her service weapon off duty; and requiring West Virginia law-enforcement
agencies to offer access to training and certification for honorably retired
officers to be permitted to carry a concealed firearm nationwide as a qualified
retired law-enforcement officer as provided in the federal Law-Enforcement
Officers Safety Act of 2004.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That §7-4-1 of the
Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that
said code be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §30-29-12,
all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 7. COUNTY COMMISSIONS AND OFFICERS.
ARTICLE 4. PROSECUTING ATTORNEY, REWARDS AND LEGAL
ADVICE.
§7-4-1. Duties of
prosecuting attorney; further duties upon request of Attorney General.
(a) It shall be the duty of The prosecuting
attorney to shall attend to the criminal business of the state in
the county in which he or she is elected and qualified, and when he
the prosecuting attorney has information of the violation of any penal
law committed within such the county, he the
prosecuting attorney shall institute and prosecute all necessary and proper
proceedings against the offender, and may in such case issue or cause to be
issued a summons for any witness he may deem the prosecuting attorney
considers material. Every public officer shall give him the
prosecuting attorney information of the violation of any penal law
committed within his or her county. It shall also be the duty of
The prosecuting attorney to shall also attend to civil suits in such
the county in which the state, or any department, commission or board
thereof, is interested, and to advise, attend to, bring, prosecute or defend,
as the case may be, all matters, actions, suits and proceedings in which such
county or any county board of education is interested.
(b) (1) In furtherance
of the prosecuting attorney’s duty to prosecute criminal offenses committed in
the county to which they have been assigned, the prosecuting attorney and
assistant prosecuting attorneys under his or her supervision shall have the authority
to arrest any person committing a violation of the criminal laws of the State
of West Virginia, the United States or a violation of Rule 42 of the West
Virginia Rules of Criminal Procedure which occur in the county courthouse and
other buildings where court proceedings are held in which the prosecutor or
assistant prosecutor is appearing before the court in a criminal matter and in
the presence of the prosecuting attorney or assistant prosecuting attorney.
(2) For purposes of
subdivision (1) of this subsection, the arrest authority of a prosecuting
attorney or assistant prosecuting attorney shall be consistent with that
authority vested in a deputy sheriff, within the geographic limitations of
subdivision (b)(1).
(3) Should a prosecuting
attorney or assistant prosecuting attorney desire to carry a concealed firearm
for self-defense purposes pursuant to the provisions of 18 U. S. C. §926B, the
following criteria must be met:
(A) The prosecuting
attorney’s office shall have a written policy authorizing the prosecuting
attorney and his or her assistant prosecuting attorneys to carry a concealed
firearm for self-defense purposes;
(B) There shall be in
place in the office of the prosecuting attorney a requirement that the
prosecuting attorney and assistant prosecuting attorneys must regularly qualify
in the use of a firearm with standards therefore which are equal to or exceed
those required of sheriff’s deputies in the county in which the prosecuting
attorney was elected or appointed;
(C) The office of the
prosecuting attorney shall issue a photographic identification and
certification card which identify the prosecuting attorney or assistant
prosecuting attorneys as law enforcement employees of the prosecuting
attorney’s office pursuant to the provisions of section twelve, article
twenty-nine, chapter thirty of this code.
(4) A prosecuting
attorney’s office which institutes a policy pursuant to this subsection shall
include in such policy a provision that precludes persons from participation in
the concealed firearm program and persons subject to any disciplinary action
which could result in loss of the authority conferred by this subsection to
prosecute violations of criminal law and to arrest persons committing
violations of State and Federal Criminal laws and West Virginia Rule of
Criminal Procedure 42 and provisions which expressly preclude from
participation persons prohibited by Federal or State law from possessing or
receiving a firearm or those under the influence of alcohol or another
intoxicating or hallucinatory drug or substance.
(5) Any prosecuting
attorney or assistant prosecuting attorney who elects to participate in the
program authorized by the provisions of this subsection shall be responsible,
at his or her expense, for a suitable firearm and ammunition.
(6) It is the intent of
the legislation in enacting the amendment to this section during the 2017
Regular Session of the Legislature to authorizing a prosecuting attorney and
assistant prosecuting attorneys wishing to do so to meet the requirements of
the Federal Law-Enforcement Officer’s Safety Act, 18 U. S. C. §926B.
(c) It shall be the duty of The prosecuting
attorney to shall keep his or her office open in the
charge of a responsible person during the hours when polls are open during
general, primary and special county-wide election days, and the prosecuting
attorney, or his the prosecuting attorney's assistant,
if any, shall be available for the purpose of advising election officials. It
shall be the further duty of The prosecuting attorney, when requested by
the Attorney General, to shall perform or to assist the
Attorney General in performing, in the county in which he the
prosecuting attorney is elected, any legal duties required to be performed
by the Attorney General, and which are not inconsistent with the duties of the
prosecuting attorney as the legal representative of such the
county. It shall also be the duty of The prosecuting attorney, when
requested by the Attorney General, to shall perform or to
assist the Attorney General in performing, any legal duties required to be
performed by the Attorney General, in any county other than that in which such
the prosecuting attorney is elected, and for the performance of any
such these duties in any county other than that in which such
the prosecuting attorney is elected he the prosecuting
attorney shall be paid his or her actual expenses.
Upon the request of the
Attorney General the prosecuting attorney shall make a written report of the
state and condition of the several causes in which the state is a party,
pending in his or her county, and upon any matters referred to him
the prosecuting attorney by the Attorney General as provided by law.
CHAPTER 30. PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS.
ARTICLE 29. LAW-ENFORCEMENT TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION.
§30-29-12.
Law-enforcement officers to receive identification and certification to carry weapons off duty.
(a) Every person
employed by a West Virginia state, county or municipal agency who is a
qualified law-enforcement officer within the meaning of 18 U. S. C. §926B shall
receive an appropriate photo identification and certification of training
required to carry a concealed firearm under the federal Law-Enforcement
Officers Safety Act. 18 U. S. C. §926B. No currently employed officer may be
charged a fee for the photo identification and certification. This subsection
does not prohibit a law-enforcement agency from controlling the use of any
department-owned weapon.
(b) When a qualified
law-enforcement officer, within the meaning of 18 U. S. C. §926B retires from,
or otherwise honorably ceases employment with, a West Virginia state, county or
municipal agency, the agency shall provide, at no charge, an appropriate photo
identification to show the former employee's status as an honorably separated
or retired qualified retired law-enforcement officer within the meaning of 18
U. S. C. §926C. Every West Virginia state, county or municipal agency which
conducts firearms qualification for current employees shall offer its honorably
retired or separated former employees an opportunity to participate in such
firearms qualification on an annual basis. The former employees shall provide
at their own expense an appropriate firearm and ammunition and may be charged a
fee not to exceed $25. Upon completion of the training and payment of any fee,
the law-enforcement agency shall issue a new photo identification and
certification which identifies the former employee as a “qualified retired
law-enforcement officer” who has satisfied the annual training requirements of
18 U. S. C. §926C.
(c) A law-enforcement
agency may, in its sole discretion, allow a person who honorably retired or
separated from another agency as a qualified law-enforcement officer within the
meaning of 18 U. S. C. §926B, the opportunity to participate in firearms qualification
the agency provides its own former employees under subsection (b) of this
section. A participant shall provide at their own expense an appropriate
firearm and ammunition and may be charged a fee not to exceed $50. Upon
completion of the training and payment of any fee, the law-enforcement agency
shall issue a certification which states that the retiree satisfied the
training requirements of 18 U. S. C. 926C.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is
to
Strike-throughs indicate language
that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring
indicates new language that would be added.