§30-29-5. Certification Requirements and Power to Decertify or Reinstate

(a) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (e) of this section, a person may not be employed as a law-enforcement officer by any West Virginia law-enforcement agency or by any state institution of higher education or by a hospital or by the Public Service Commission of West Virginia on or after the effective date of this article unless the person is certified, or is certifiable in the manner specified in subsection (c) of this section, by the subcommittee as having met the minimum entry level law-enforcement qualification and training program requirements promulgated pursuant to this article: Provided, That the provisions of this section do not apply to persons hired by the Public Service Commission as commercial vehicle enforcement officers and weight enforcement officers before July 1, 2007.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, a person who is not certified, or certifiable in the manner specified in subsection (c) of this section, may be conditionally employed as a law-enforcement officer until certified: Provided, That within 90 calendar days of the commencement of employment or the effective date of this article, if the person is already employed on the effective date, he or she makes a written application to attend an approved law-enforcement training academy and that the person satisfactorily completes the approved law-enforcement training academy within 18 consecutive months of the commencement of his or her employment: Provided, however, That the subcommittee may grant an extension, one-time only, not to exceed six months, based upon a written request from the person justifying the need for such an extension: Provided further, That the subcommittee, in its sole discretion, may grant an additional extension upon demonstration of a hardship warranting it. The persons employer shall provide notice, in writing, of the 90-day deadline to file a written application to the academy within 30 calendar days of that persons commencement of employment. The employer shall provide full disclosure as to the consequences of failing to file a timely written application. The academy shall notify the applicant in writing of the receipt of the application and of the tentative date of the applicants enrollment. Any applicant who, as the result of extenuating circumstances acceptable to his or her employing law-enforcement official, is unable to attend the scheduled training program to which he or she was admitted may reapply and shall be admitted to the next regularly scheduled training program. One year after the effective date of this section, certification as a law-enforcement officer within this state of persons who are not certifiable as provided in subsection (c) of this section shall, in addition to graduation from an established academy in the state, be based on: Current employment as a sworn law-enforcement officer by any West Virginia law-enforcement agency or any state institution of higher education or the Public Service Commission; and the persons successful completion of an approved entry level law-enforcement examination established by legislative rule of the subcommittee, which shall include, at a minimum, written testing requirements, medical standards, physical standards, and good moral character standards conducted in accordance with such rule. The production of a record of successful passage of the approved entry level law-enforcement examination shall indicate the applicant as qualified under the law-enforcement training and certification standards within this state. An applicant who satisfactorily completes the program and successfully passes the approved entry level law-enforcement examination shall, within 30 days of completion, make written application to the subcommittee requesting certification as having met the minimum entry level law-enforcement qualification and training program requirements. Upon determining that an applicant has met the requirements for certification as set forth in this section, the subcommittee shall forward to the applicant documentation of certification. An applicant who fails to complete the training program to which he or she is first admitted, or was admitted upon reapplication, or who fails to pass the approved entry level law-enforcement examination, may not be certified by the subcommittee: And provided further, That an applicant who has completed the minimum training and examination required by the subcommittee may be certified as a law-enforcement officer, notwithstanding the applicants failure to complete additional training hours required in the training program to which he or she originally applied. If more than 24 months but less than 60 months have passed since the applicant for certification has successfully completed the approved entry level law-enforcement examination, the person may be certified but must complete the additional training set forth in legislative rules promulgated by the subcommittee addressing the recertification requirements of certified officers. If more than 60 months have passed since the applicant for certification has successfully completed the approved entry level law-enforcement examination, the person must then attend a subcommittee-approved training program and successfully complete a separate subcommittee entry level law-enforcement examination.

(c) Any person who begins employment on or after the effective date of this article as a law-enforcement officer is certifiable as having met the minimum entry level law-enforcement training program requirements and is exempt from attending a law-enforcement training academy if the person has satisfactorily completed a course of instruction in law enforcement equivalent to or exceeding the minimum applicable law-enforcement training curricula promulgated by the subcommittee. To receive certification, the person shall make written application within 90 calendar days following the commencement of employment to the subcommittee requesting certification. The application shall include a notarized statement of the applicants satisfactory completion of the course of instruction in law enforcement, a notarized transcript of the applicants relevant scholastic records, and a notarized copy of the curriculum of the completed course of instruction. The subcommittee shall review the application and, if it finds the applicant has met the requirements for certification, shall forward to the applicant documentation of certification. The subcommittee may set the standards for required records to be provided by or on behalf of the applicant officer to verify his or her training, status, or certification as a law-enforcement officer. The subcommittee may allow an applicant officer to participate in the approved equivalent certification program to gain certification as a law-enforcement officer in this state.

(d) Except as provided in subdivisions (1) through (3), inclusive, of this subsection, any person who is employed as a law-enforcement officer on or after the effective date of this article and fails to be certified shall be automatically terminated and no further emoluments shall be paid to such officer by his or her employer. Any person terminated shall be entitled to reapply, as a private citizen, to the subcommittee for training and certification, and upon being certified may again be employed as a law-enforcement officer in this state: Provided, That if a person is terminated under this subsection because an application was not timely filed to the academy, and the persons employer failed to provide notice or disclosure to that person as set forth in subsection (b) of this section, the employer shall pay the full cost of attending the academy if the persons application to the subcommittee as a private citizen is subsequently approved.