W. Va. Code § 30-29-11 — WV Code / Chapter 30 / Article 29 / Section 11
§30-29-11. Certified law-enforcement officers who are separated from their employment.
Status: in_force

(a) The certification of a law-enforcement officer who is separated from his or her employment with a West Virginia law-enforcement agency, shall immediately become inactive and remain inactive until the subcommittee authorizes reactivation of the officer's certification pursuant to the procedure set forth in this section.

(b) Whenever a law-enforcement officer is separated from his or her employment with a West Virginia law-enforcement agency, the chief law-enforcement officer of that law-enforcement agency shall notify the subcommittee of the separation within ten days of the date of separation. The notification of the separation from employment shall include reason or reasons the officer is no longer employed.

(c) A person whose law-enforcement certification has become inactive pursuant to subsection (a), may apply to the subcommittee to have his or her certification reactivated.

(d) At the time of his or her application, an applicant for the reactivation of his or her certification, whether for employment purposes or otherwise, shall provide the subcommittee with an authorization for the release of his or her personnel file from the law-enforcement agency with which they were most recently employed.

(e) Upon receipt of an application for reactivation, the subcommittee shall review the notification of separation received from the law-enforcement agency with which the applicant was most recently employed, and unless the notification indicates that the separation from employment was based on circumstances that would result in the applicant being ineligible for certification pursuant to section five of this article, the subcommittee shall grant the applicant a temporary reactivation of his or her certification until a final determination is made pursuant to subsection (i).

(f) The subcommittee may request that the law-enforcement agency from which the applicant was most recently separated, provide a copy of the applicants personnel file or other information relevant to the applicant's separation of employment. (g) Upon receipt of a request by the subcommittee, the chief law-enforcement official of the law-enforcement agency with which the applicant was most recently employed, or his or her designee, shall, within eight calendar days, provide the subcommittee with a copy of the applicant's personnel file or other information relevant to the applicant's separation of employment.

(h) An applicant shall be entitled to a copy of all documents or other materials submitted to the subcommittee related to the application.

(i) Within thirty days of the receipt of the applicant's personnel file or any other information provided by the law-enforcement agency, the subcommittee shall review the information and issue a final decision.

(j) For the purpose of making a determination on an application for reactivation, the subcommittee is authorized to examine witnesses and to subpoena persons, books, records or documents from law-enforcement agencies in this state.

(k) An application for reactivation shall be approved unless the subcommittee affirmatively demonstrates, in writing, that the applicant has engaged in conduct that may result in his or her decertification. Where information available to the subcommittee indicates that the applicant has engaged in conduct that is in violation of this article or other laws or rules, the application for reactivation may not be granted.

(l) An applicant whose certification is not reactivated pursuant to a final decision of the subcommittee, may appeal the final decision of the subcommittee to the Governor's committee.

(m) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the rehiring of a person by a law enforcement agency from which he or she was separated, even though the subcommittee authorizes his or her certification to be reactivated.

(n) A law-enforcement official, or appointing officer, or his or her designee, is immune from civil liability for providing to the subcommittee any information required or requested by this section.

(o) The provisions of this section apply only to those certified law-enforcement officers who are separated from employment with a West Virginia law enforcement agency after the effective date of this section during the 2011 Regular Session of the Legislature.