By Autumn Shelton, West Virginia Press Association
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – On Tuesday, the House Committee on Political Subdivisions moved along a bill that would give mayors in West Virginia’s smallest towns the ability to serve as chief of police, and another bill intended to limit municipalities’ ability to retain revenue from minor traffic violations.
HB 4849–sponsored by Del. David Adkins, R-Lincoln, would allow mayors of a Class IV town or village to serve as chief of police during their term “if there are no other willing and qualified police officers working for the paid police department of that town or village.”
Class IV towns or villages have a population of 2,000 people or less.
Two amendments were approved during the committee meeting.
The first amendment provides that the mayors who do serve in the role of chief of police are not required to become a certified law enforcement officer.
In response to a question from Del. Gary Howell, R-Mineral, about whether or not the mayor serving as a chief of police would be able to perform police duties, like conducting traffic stops, counsel responded they would have the authority, if it is written into the town’s charter or city ordinance.
“So, we could have people who are completely untrained [enter] into a bad situation, and I’m assuming they would be armed?” Howell asked.
“They would have to obey all the regular due process laws. They can’t just willy-nilly pull people over, but, yes, they would be elected citizens–the town is so small they generally couldn’t afford a certified police officer,” counsel responded.
“If they’re not certified, how would they know what due process was,” Howell asked.
“They’re gonna have to learn,” counsel responded. […] If they are going to run for mayor, they should have some understanding of what they are doing.”
However, he said it would be up to each mayor to decide whether or not to hire a chief of police, or serve in the role.
Del. Adkins, who also serves as the mayor of Hamlin, was in attendance to speak on his bill.
“The intent is, I am a mayor as you all know, and I am also grandfathered in as chief of police,” Adkins said. “I asked my … officers back then, I had elderly officers, and I asked them if they would be chief of police. They said no. They did not want the responsibilities. So I know that my town, and most Class IV towns, 2,000 and below, … they can’t afford to hire another officer just to be a chief of police.”
He continued that he doesn’t carry a gun or a badge, even though he is able to.
“It is really to help the smaller towns, and that’s why I wanted Class III taken away,” Adkins said, referring to the committee’s second amendment removing Class III cities from the section in West Virginia State code that states they “may provide by ordinance whether the individual appointed chief of police who held a position as a member of the paid police department prior to his or her appointment as chief of police shall be reinstated to the officer’s previous rank following his or her term as chief of police.”
“You’re talking Hurricane and big cities, just put it to small towns that don’t have the income, and can’t afford this type of governing over the chiefs of police,” Adkins said.
Following passage of both amendments, HB 4849 is now on its way to the House Judiciary Committee.
Also, during the meeting, the committee advanced HB 4970.
According to the bill, minor traffic violations, such as signal violations or non-reckless driving speeding, that occur on “state or federal divided highways under full or limited access control shall only be prosecuted in magistrate court or circuit court for offenses.”
Additionally, the bill states “every town, village, city or municipality may only receive or retain a maximum revenue of $10 from each fine, each forfeiture, and each court cost assessed for minor traffic violations occurring on state or federal divided highways under full or limited access control.”
After some discussion, Del. Wayne Clark, R-Jefferson, asked counsel a question.
“Would you be surprised to hear that in my district, as an example, we have three divided highways with 60 mph zones that our state police do not have the ability to patrol because we don’t have enough,” he asked. “Our sheriff’s department doesn’t write tickets because they don’t actually get any revenue from the tickets to do it, and they don’t have enough staff. It’s all relied on our municipalities, and when there is a speeding ticket that’s issued by the municipality when there’s an accident, it’s our municipalities that are the ones being called to the scene of the crime.”
Counsel responded, “It would vary all over the state, but under this bill, jurisdiction would be taken away and the counties would see more revenue.”
“They would get the court costs because it would go to magistrate or county circuit court,” counsel continued. “So, while the city policeman might be writing the ticket, the prosecution would actually happen on a county level so that the court costs would all be paid to the counties.”
After passing a technical amendment, and denying an amendment that would have changed the minimum revenue amount from $10 to $100, HB 4970 is on its way to the House Judiciary Committee.
