WEST virginia legislature
2025 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
Senate Bill 503
By Senators Helton and Rose
[Reported March 4, 2025, from the Committee on the Judiciary]
A BILL to amend and reenact §6-3-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to appointment of more than one chief deputy by the sheriff; limiting the engagement in certain political activities by chief deputies; providing for the removal of chief deputies who violate these restrictions; and removing the current restrictions on county conservators carrying firearms or other weapons by allowing these conservators to carry such weapons in compliance with West Virginia law.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
(a) (1) The clerk of the Supreme Court of Appeals, or of any circuit, criminal, common pleas, intermediate, or county court commission, or of any tribunal established by law in lieu thereof, may, with the consent of the court, or such tribunal, duly entered of record, appoint any person or persons his or her deputy or deputies.
(2) A sheriff, surveyor of lands, or assessor may, with the consent of the county court commission duly entered of record, appoint any person or persons his or her deputy or deputies: Provided, That the sheriff may have and appoint more than one chief deputy by and with the consent of the county commission.
(3) Chief deputies may not:
(A) Solicit any assessment, subscription, or contribution for any political party, committee, or candidate from any person who is a member or employee of the county sheriff's department by which they are employed;
(B) Use any official authority or influence, including, but not limited to, the wearing by a chief deputy sheriff of his or her uniform, for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the nomination, election, or defeat of any candidate or the passage or defeat of any ballot issue: Provided, That this subdivision does not prohibit any chief deputy sheriff from casting his or her vote at any election while wearing his or her uniform;
(C) Coerce or command anyone to pay, lend, or contribute anything of value to a party, committee, organization, agency, or person for the nomination, election, or defeat of a ballot issue; or
(D) Be a candidate for or hold any other public office in the county in which he or she is employed.
(4) Other types of partisan or nonpartisan political activities not inconsistent with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section are permissible political activities for chief deputy sheriffs.
(5) Any chief deputy sheriff violating the provisions of this section shall have his or her appointment vacated and he or she shall be removed from their position as chief deputy, in accordance with the pertinent provisions of this section.
(3) (6) A sheriff, when, in the opinion of the judge of the circuit court, the public interest requires it, may, with the assent of said court the commission, duly entered of record, appoint any person or persons his or her deputy or deputies to perform any temporary service or duty.
(4) (7) Each deputy so appointed shall take the same oath of office required of his principal, the sheriff, and may, during his or her continuance in office, perform and discharge any of the official duties of his principal the sheriff, and any default or misfeasance in office of the deputy shall constitute a breach of the conditions of the official bond of his principal the sheriff.
(5) (8) A sheriff in any county in which there are more than four deputies shall devote his or her full time to the performance of the services or duties required by law of such the sheriff, and he or she shall not receive any compensation or reimbursement, directly or indirectly, from any person, firm, or corporation for the performance of any private or public services or duties: Provided, That any such the sheriff may retain or make any investment and receive income therefrom, unless such the investment is otherwise prohibited by law or will impair his or her independence of judgment in the exercise of, or might reasonably tend to conflict with the proper discharge of, the services or duties of his or her office. A sheriff in any county in which there are four or fewer deputies, or a deputy sheriff in any county irrespective of the number of deputies, need not devote his or her full time to the services or duties of his or her office as sheriff or his or her employment as deputy sheriff, as the case may be; but any such the sheriff or deputy sheriff shall not engage in any business or transaction, accept other employment, or make any investment which is otherwise prohibited by law or which will impair his or her independence of judgment in the exercise of, or might reasonably tend to conflict with the proper discharge of, the services or duties of his or her office as sheriff or his or her employment as deputy sheriff, as the case may be. A sheriff and his or her deputies in any county, irrespective of the number of deputies, shall not receive any compensation or renumeration for the performance of their public services and duties, no compensation or remuneration except such as may be that which is regularly provided and paid out of public funds to the amount and in the manner provided by law. A sheriff or deputy sheriff in any county, irrespective of the number of deputies, may not receive, directly or indirectly, any gift or donation from any person, firm, or corporation.
(6) (9) Except as hereinafter expressly provided by subsection (b) of this section, no a sheriff shall not appoint or continue the appointment of any deputy contrary to the provisions hereof of this section. Any sheriff or deputy sheriff who shall violate violates any of the provisions of this section shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $500 nor more than $5,000, or confined in jail not to exceed one year, or both, in the discretion of the court fined and confined.
(7) (10) Circuit courts shall have jurisdiction in equity and mandamus, and the Supreme Court of Appeals shall have has jurisdiction in mandamus, upon the filing of a petition by the prosecuting attorney, the Attorney General, or any three or more citizens of the county, to require any sheriff and the county court commission to vacate the appointment of any deputy, the appointment of which is made or continued in violation of the provisions hereof of this section. Any such A proceeding may be instituted and prosecuted by the Attorney General either in the circuit court of Kanawha County or in the county for which such the appointment was made.
(b) (1) Any resident or group of residents of any unincorporated community, as hereinafter defined, may petition the sheriff for the appointment of a local conservator of the peace and such the sheriff, when in his or her opinion the public interests require it, may with the assent of said the county court commission and the judge of the circuit court duly entered of record, either in term or vacation of any such the court, appoint any person or persons a local conservator or conservators of the peace to perform the duties of a conservator of the peace outside of any incorporated city, town, or village. No A person shall not be appointed such local conservator of the peace who has not been a bona fide resident and taxpayer of the county for at least one year prior to his or her appointment. Such The local conservator of the peace during his or her continuance in office, may perform and discharge any of the official duties of the sheriff, subject nevertheless to the provisions of this section. No An appointed local conservator so appointed shall be is not subject to the direction or control of any person other than his or her principal and he or she shall not perform any services or duties, either private or public, except the duties required by law of conservators of the peace pursuant to the provisions hereof of this subsection, for any person, firm, or corporation. No such A local conservator shall be is not entitled to collect or receive any fees provided by law to be paid to the sheriff or to a deputy sheriff, but all fees provided by law for the sheriff, when such the duties and services are rendered by such the local conservator, shall be paid to the sheriff as regular collections of the sheriff's office. The local conservator shall be paid for the public services performed by him or her a salary of not less than $75 per month out of the county treasury from a fund to be paid into such the treasury by a resident or the residents of the community for which he or she is appointed, for the sole purpose of compensating such the local conservator or conservators and no such a local conservator shall not receive any other compensation, directly or indirectly, from any person, firm, or corporation, for any private or public service, except the salary payable to him or her for his or her public services and duties and from such fund, except that he or she shall be is entitled to witness and mileage fees when a witness in a court of record. Each appointed local conservator so appointed shall take the same oath of office required of his or her principal sheriff and any default or misfeasance in the office of such the local conservator shall constitute constitutes a breach of the conditions of the official bond of his or her principal sheriff.
(2) When the sheriff shall have has been petitioned for the appointment of a local conservator and has determined that the appointment is proper, he or she shall select the person whom he or she proposes to have appointed such as conservator and shall notify the county court commission of the community for which such the conservator is to be appointed and the name of the person proposed for such that appointment. The county court commission shall thereupon cause notice that the sheriff has recommended the appointment of the person named as conservator for the community named to be published as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine §59-3-1 et seq. of this code, and the publication area for such the publication shall be is the county. The notice shall designate a day not less than five days after the date of the last publication when the county court commission will act upon the petition and recommendation. Neither the county court commission nor the judge of the circuit court shall assent and approve the appointment of such the local conservator until such the publication has been made. The costs of the publication shall be paid by the person or persons petitioning for the appointment of the conservator.
No A local conservator shall not be appointed except it be made to appear to the satisfaction of the county court commission and the judge of the circuit court that because of the lack of sufficient funds, geographical location of the unincorporated community for which such the conservator is to be appointed, or other good reason, the sheriff and his or her regular deputies and the constables of the county are not sufficient to afford proper local policing of such the community and that the person or persons moving for the appointment of such the local conservator have made satisfactory arrangements to compensate him or her for his or her services as such the local conservator of the peace.
(3) Such The local conservator of the peace shall have may exercise all the powers and shall carry out all the duties of a regularly appointed deputy sheriff except that he or she shall may not execute any civil process except such process as may be that is necessary to bring parties before the court in any action at law or suit in equity and subpoenas for witnesses within the unincorporated community for which he or she is appointed and within a distance of one mile outside the boundaries thereof, except as hereinafter expressly provided, but he or she shall not participate in any strike, unemployment boycott, or other industrial or labor dispute, nor serve any court process of any character relating thereto. He or she shall act as such the local conservator only in the unincorporated community for which he or she is appointed, and within a distance of one mile from the boundaries thereof as fixed by the county court commission: Provided, however, That the authority of one local conservator shall not extend into any other unincorporated community for which another local conservator is appointed and acting, except as otherwise expressly provided by subdivision (6) of this subsection, except that in fresh pursuit he or she may effect arrests anywhere in the county. He or she may also exercise the powers of a regularly appointed deputy anywhere in the county when required to guard or assist in guarding a payroll, or any other property of value in transit to or from the unincorporated community for which he or she is appointed. Any person arrested by such the local conservator shall, with all convenient speed, be turned over to the sheriff, or one of his or her regular deputies, or to a regular constable of the county to be dealt with according to law, and his or her authority for that purpose shall be is coextensive with the county.
(4) Any local conservator appointed to perform the duties of conservator of the peace shall be is a public officer and the payment, or contribution to the payment of compensation of such the local conservator, shall does not constitute the person, firm, or corporation making such the payment or contribution as the employer of such the local conservator, and no a person, firm or corporation paying, or contributing to the payment of compensation to such the local conservator shall be is not answerable in law or in equity for any damages to person or property resulting from any official act of such the local conservator.
(5) No A person appointed such local conservator shall thereby be entitled to may carry weapons, but such the local conservator may carry weapons when he or she shall be is duly licensed and shall have has given bond as provided by §61-7-2 of this code. as otherwise permitted under West Virginia law.
(6) Not No more than one local conservator of the peace shall be appointed, to perform the duties of conservator of the peace, for each 2,500 inhabitants of the county as ascertained by the last regular decennial census after deducting the number of inhabitants of the county residing in the incorporated cities, towns, and villages in such the county. Not No more than one local conservator shall be appointed for any unincorporated community unless the population thereof exceed exceeds 1,500 people and, in such case, not no more than two conservators shall be appointed for such that community.
(7) The phrase "unincorporated community" within the meaning of this section shall mean means any center of population wherein in which 50 or more persons reside within an area of not more than one square mile.
(8) The county court commission and the judge of the circuit court in approving the appointment of a local conservator shall enter of record an order making such the appointment and shall show therein in the order the necessity for the appointment, the person or persons on whose motion the appointment is made, the arrangement for the payment of compensation to such the local conservator, and the unincorporated community or communities, for which the appointment is made, including the general boundary of each unincorporated community for which he or she is appointed.
(9) No A local conservator shall may not act as an election official or remain in, about or near any voting place or place of political convention, further than is necessary for him or her to promptly cast his or her vote and retire from leave the voting place.
(10) Any local conservator violating any of the provisions of subdivisions (3) and (9) of this subsection shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $50 nor more than $300, or be confined in the county jail not more than six months, or both fined and confined, in the discretion of the court; and it shall be the duty of the sheriff and the county court commission to shall forthwith immediately revoke his or her appointment irrespective of any criminal prosecution. A proceeding in mandamus or injunction shall lie in the circuit court and a proceeding in mandamus shall lie in the Supreme Court of Appeals at the instance of the prosecuting attorney, the Attorney General, or of any three or more citizens of the community for which such the conservator is appointed, to require the performance of such that duty by the sheriff and the county court commission.
(11) Such The local conservator shall serve during the joint will and pleasure of the sheriff and the county court commission and his or her appointment may be revoked by order entered of record by the county court commission either with or without the assignment of cause therefor.
A local conservator may be removed by the judge of the circuit court, either in term or vacation, for drunkenness, gross immorality, incompetence, neglect of duty, or other good cause, upon the petition of three or more residents of the community for which he or she has been appointed. The petition shall set forth the cause or causes for which such the removal is asked and shall show that demand for removal has been made of the sheriff and the county court commission and that the sheriff and the county court commission have failed to remove the local conservator. At least three copies of the petition shall be filed, and upon the filing of the petition the judge shall fix a time and place for a hearing thereon, which time shall not be less than 10 days after the filing of the petition, and shall cause a copy thereof to be served upon the sheriff, county commission, and such the local conservator at least 10 days before the hearing thereon.