reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-7. Incorporation of Volunteer Fire Companies; Duties and Obligations; Dissolution

In lieu of forming a company as specified in section four of this article, interested persons may cause the incorporation of a volunteer fire company as a nonstock, nonprofit corporation under the general corporation laws of this state. The corporation and the members thereof shall have all of the duties and obligations imposed upon unincorporated volunteer fire companies and the members thereof by the provisions of sections four and five of this article. The provisions of section six of this article shall be applicable to any such corporation, except that instead of entering an order of dissolution, the governing body shall enter an order directing the members of the corporation to take the necessary action under the general corporation laws of this state to bring about the dissolution of such corporation. Upon the entry of any such order, it shall be the duty of the members of such corporation to comply therewith.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-7a. Audit or Financial Examination of Volunteer Fire Companies

The Auditor shall have the authority and the duty to make a regular review of the finances of each volunteer fire company constituted under the provisions of this article. Audits or financial examinations are not required to be conducted on an annual basis, but shall be scheduled as to complete a review of each volunteer fire company at least once every five years: Provided, That nothing in this section shall prevent the Auditor from conducting more than one financial examination or audit of a volunteer fire company within the five-year period if the Auditor has cause to believe that loss, mismanagement, misuse, or waste of the funds of the company that may occur or is occurring. The scope of the Auditors examination or audit shall include all income of the voluntary fire company, regardless of the source of funds, the assets, liabilities, and all expenditures of the company: Provided, however, That the State Auditor shall implement internal policies to ensure that any costs associated with an audit under this section of the code may be carried by the State Auditor or may be recouped by the volunteer fire company.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-8. Support of Volunteer Fire Company; Return of Property Upon Dissolution

Any municipality may contribute to the support of its volunteer fire company by providing a firehouse, firefighting equipment, necessary paid personnel and incidental requirements to maintain such company upon an efficient basis. Upon the dissolution of any such company, all of the property contributed by the municipality shall become the property of and be returned to such municipality.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-8a. Eligibility for Allocation From Municipal Pensions and Protection Fund and the Fire Protection Fund

(a) In order to be eligible to receive revenues allocated from the municipal pensions and protection fund or the Fire Protection Fund, each volunteer or part volunteer fire company or department must meet the following requirements:
(1) Submit and maintain current submission of fire loss data to the State Fire Marshal;
(2) Complete or be in the process of receiving firefighters training, including section one of the West Virginia University fire service extension or its equivalent. The fire company or department must have at least ten members certified as having completed the training or if a volunteer fire company or department has twenty or fewer members, fifty percent of the active volunteer members must have completed such training; and
(3) Comply with all applicable federal and state laws.
(b) Each volunteer or part volunteer fire company or department shall have a grace period of ninety days, beyond the allocation date in which to comply with submission requirements to the State Fire Marshal. The State Fire Marshal shall notify each volunteer or part volunteer fire company or department of the due date for submitting the information required by this section and the grace period by certified mailing requiring signature and a return receipt.
(c) When the records of a volunteer or part volunteer fire company or department are destroyed by a fire or other natural disaster, then the affected volunteer or part volunteer fire company or department is exempt from the provisions of subdivision (1), subsection (a) of this section, for the three months period immediately following the destruction of the records.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-8c. Donation of Equipment

(a) Effective July 1, 2002, no person, company or other organization who donates fire control or rescue equipment, including federal excess or surplus property, to a volunteer fire department is subject to civil liability for any personal injury, property damages or death resulting from any defect in the equipment unless the person, company or organization acted with malice, gross negligence, recklessness or intentional misconduct which proximately caused the personal injury, property damages or death.
(b) For purposes of this section, "fire control or rescue equipment" means a vehicle, fire fighting tool, protective gear, breathing apparatus or other supply or tool used in fire fighting or fire rescue. No breathing apparatus may be donated unless, prior to the donation, it has been recertified to the manufacturer's specifications by a technician approved by the manufacturer.
(c) Unless the insured has executed a specific written rejection of such coverage in the policy, any insurer who has sold, issued or delivered an insurance policy providing liability coverage to any person, company or other organization who donates fire control or rescue equipment is barred and estopped from asserting the civil immunity granted to the insured by this section against claims or suits covered by the terms of the policy, up to the limits of the policy.
The limitation on civil liability set forth in the provisions of this section applies only to policies of insurance issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2001.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-9. Establishment and Maintenance of Paid Fire Department

§8-15-9. Establishment and maintenance of paid fire department.
Any municipality may provide for, establish, equip and maintain a full-time paid fire department. A paid fire department shall be subject to the authority, control and discipline of the administrative authority. For the purposes of this article, the term "paid fire department" shall be taken to mean only a municipal fire department maintained and paid for out of public funds and whose employees are paid on a full-time basis out of public funds. The term shall not be taken to mean a department whose employees are paid nominal salaries or wages or are only paid for services actually rendered on an hourly basis.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-10. Hours of Duty for Firemen in a Paid Fire Department

On and after the effective date of this section, the members of a paid fire department, without any reduction in their total annual compensation as such members, shall not be required to remain on duty in excess of one hundred twelve hours during any fourteen consecutive days' period. The members of any such paid fire department shall, by a majority vote, determine the schedule of hours to be worked in any twenty-four-hour period: Provided, That the members of any paid fire department shall not remain on duty for more than twenty-four consecutive hours except in case of an emergency requiring the service of more than one half of the department. The chief executive officer of the department is hereby empowered, authorized and directed to make the necessary assignments as provided in this section.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-10a. Firemen Who Are Required to Work During Holidays; How Compensated

From the effective date of this section, if any member of a paid fire department is required to work during a legal holiday as is specified in subsection (a), section one, article two, chapter two of this code, or if a legal holiday falls on the member's regular scheduled day off, he or she shall be allowed equal time off at such time as may be approved by the chief executive officer of the department under whom he or she serves or, in the alternative, shall be paid at a rate not less than one and one-half times his or her regular rate of pay: Provided, That if a special election of a political subdivision other than a municipality falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the municipality may choose not to recognize the day of the election as a holiday if a majority of the municipality's city council votes not to recognize the day of the election as a holiday.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-11. Qualifications for Appointment or Promotion to Positions in Paid Fire Departments to Be Ascertained by Examination; Provisions Exclusive as to Appointments, etc.; Rights of Certain Chiefs; &Quotappointing Officer" Defined

(a) All appointments and promotions to all positions in all paid fire departments shall be made only according to qualifications and fitness to be ascertained by examinations, which, so far as practicable, shall be competitive, as hereinafter provided.
(b) No individual may be appointed, promoted, reinstated, removed, discharged, suspended or reduced in rank or pay as a paid member of any paid fire department, regardless of rank or position, in any manner or by any means other than those prescribed in this article: Provided, That in all municipalities in which the office of fire chief of a paid fire department was not covered by the provisions of former article six-a of this chapter on January 1, 1949, the office in the municipality shall be excepted from the civil service provisions of article fifteen of this chapter, until the time the governing body of the municipality shall, by appropriate ordinance or resolution adopted by a majority of its members, elect to place the office of fire chief under the civil service provisions of this article.
(c) Until the office of fire chief is placed under the civil service provisions of this article by the governing body, the member of any paid fire department now occupying such office or hereafter appointed to such office shall in all cases of removal, except for removal for good cause, retain the status he or she held in the paid fire department at the time of his or her appointment to the office of fire chief or which he or she attained during his or her term as fire chief.
(d) The term "appointing officer" as used in this article shall mean the municipal officer in whom the power of appointment of members of a paid fire department is vested by charter provision or ordinance of the municipality.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-13. Recorder Ex Officio Clerk of Commission; Clerical and Stenographic Services

The recorder of the municipality shall be ex officio clerk of the firemen's civil service commission and shall supply to the commission without extra compensation all necessary clerical and stenographic services for the work of the commission.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-14. Rooms, Stationery, etc., to Be Furnished by Municipality; Appropriations Required

It shall be the duty of the mayor and the heads of the departments of government of every municipality having a paid fire department to cause suitable and convenient rooms and accommodations to be assigned and provided, furnished, heated and lighted for carrying on the work and examinations of the commission. The commission may order from the proper authorities the necessary stationery, postage stamps, official seal and other articles to be supplied, and the necessary printing to be done, for its official use. It shall be the duty of the officers of every such municipality to aid the commission in all proper ways in carrying out the civil service provisions of this article, and to allow the reasonable use of public buildings, and to heat and light the same, for holding examinations and investigations, and in all proper ways to facilitate the same.
All municipalities subject to the civil service provisions of this article are hereby required to appropriate sufficient funds for the purpose of carrying out such provisions.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-16. Rules for All Examinations; Probationary Appointments

The firemen's civil service commission in each municipality shall make rules providing for both competitive and medical examinations for appointments and promotions to all positions in the paid fire department in the municipality, and for other matters as are necessary to carry out the purposes of the civil service provisions of this article. Any commission shall have the power and authority to require by rules a physical fitness examination as a part of its competitive examination or as a part of its medical examination: Provided, That after June 30, 1981, the medical requirements for appointment to all positions in the paid fire department in the municipality shall include, but not be limited to, the medical requirements stated in section sixteen, article twenty-two of this chapter. Due notice of the contents of the rules and of any modifications thereof shall be given, by mail, in due season, to the appointing officer; and the rules and any modifications thereof shall also be printed for public distribution. All original appointments to any positions in a paid fire department subject to the civil service provisions of this article shall be for a probationary period of one year: Provided, however, That at any time during the probationary period the probationer may be discharged for just cause, in the manner provided in section twenty-five of this article. If, at the close of this probationary term, the conduct or capacity of the probationer has not been satisfactory to the appointing officer, the probationer shall be notified, in writing, that he or she will not receive absolute appointment, whereupon his or her employment shall cease; otherwise, his or her retention in the service shall be equivalent to his or her final appointment.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-16a. Apprenticeship Programs

Any paid municipal fire department may have an apprenticeship program. If a paid municipal fire department has an apprenticeship program and the program has a final apprenticeship examination, an apprentice shall be terminated from employment after three unsuccessful attempts to pass the final apprenticeship examination. The provisions of this section apply to apprentices hired after March 31, 2003.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-18. Character and Notice of Competitive Examinations; Qualifications of Applicants; Press Representatives; Posting Eligible List; Medical Examinations

All competitive examinations for appointments or promotions to all positions shall be practical in their character, and shall relate to such matters, and include such inquiries, as will fairly and fully test the comparative merit and fitness of the individual or individuals examined to discharge the duties of the employment sought by him or them. All competitive examinations shall be open to all applicants who have fulfilled the preliminary requirements specified in the other civil service provisions of this article.
Adequate public notice of the date, time and place of every competitive examination, together with information as to the kind of position to be filled, shall be given at least one week prior to such competitive examination. The said commission shall adopt reasonable rules and regulations for permitting the presence of representatives of the press at any such competitive examination. The commission shall post, in a public place at its office, the eligible list, containing the names and grades of those who have passed such competitive examinations for positions in the paid fire department, and shall indicate thereon such appointments as may be made from said list.
All applicants for appointment or promotion to any position in a paid fire department who have passed the competitive examination specified above shall, before being appointed or promoted, undergo a medical examination which shall be conducted under the supervision of a board composed of two doctors of medicine appointed for such purpose by the mayor of the municipality. Such board must certify that an applicant is free from any bodily or mental defects, deformity or diseases which might incapacitate him from the performance of the duties of the position desired and is physically fit to perform such duties before said applicant shall be appointed or promoted to any position. Notwithstanding the first sentence of this paragraph, in the event the commission deems it expedient, the medical examination may be given prior to the competitive examination, and if the medical examination is not passed as aforesaid, the applicant shall not be admitted to the competitive examination.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-18a. Individual Review of Test and Answers From Promotional Examination

(a) Any applicant for promotion to any position in a paid fire department may personally review such applicant's examination questions, answers and scores to all parts of any competitive examination within five days after the posting of results of the competitive examination. Such five days shall not include the days the examination results are posted, nor any day that the office of the recorder of the city is not open for business to the public. The commission shall not certify the list of eligibles until all procedures before the commission under this section have been exhausted. The commission shall provide any applicant requesting review of such applicant's examination questions, answers and scores with a location to review such materials.
(b) If any applicant feels aggrieved by the answers and/or scores received on a promotional competitive examination, the commission shall, at the request of such applicant made within five days as calculated above, appoint a date, time and place for a public hearing, at which time such applicant may appear, with or without counsel. The commission shall review all parts of the competitive examination questions, answers and scores of the aggrieved applicant, and testimony shall be taken. The commission shall subpoena, at the expense of the applicant, any competent witnesses requested by such applicant.
(c) After such review, the commission shall render a decision either in favor of the applicant, and therefore adjust the eligibility list to provide for such applicant's adjusted score, or the commission shall rule that the applicant's prior score should remain unchanged. Any decision rendered by the commission under this section shall be in writing and shall set forth findings of fact and conclusions of law relied upon to reach such decision.
(d) The commission shall not certify a list of eligibles after the completion of a competitive promotional examination until all applicants for such position have exhausted the procedures before the commission set forth in this section.
(e) If any applicant is aggrieved by a decision rendered by the commission under this section, such applicant may, within twenty days of the date of the commission's decision, seek judicial review thereof in the circuit court of the county wherein such municipality is located. Nothing in this section shall be construed as depriving such applicant of the right to seek a writ of mandamus to the appropriate court within the time specified in this subsection.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-19. Refusal to Examine or Certify; Review Thereof

The commission may refuse to examine an applicant, or after examination to certify as eligible one, who is found to lack any of the established preliminary requirements for the examination or position for which he applies; or who is physically so disabled as to be rendered unfit for the performance of the duties of the position desired; or who is addicted to the habitual use of intoxicating liquors or drugs; or who has been guilty of any crime or of infamous or notoriously disgraceful conduct; or who has been dismissed from public service for delinquency or misconduct; or who has made a false statement of any material fact, or practiced or attempted to practice any deception or fraud, in his application, in any such examination, or in securing his eligibility; or who refuses to comply with the rules and regulations of the commission.
If any applicant feels aggrieved by the action of the commission in refusing to examine him, or after an examination in refusing to certify him as an eligible, the commission shall, at the request of such applicant, appoint a date, time and place for a public hearing; at which time such applicant may appear, by himself or counsel, or both, and the commission shall then review its refusal to make such examination or certification, and testimony shall be taken. The commission shall subpoena, at the expense of the applicant, any competent witnesses requested by him. After such review, the commission shall file in its records the testimony taken, and shall again make a decision, which decision shall be final and not subject to judicial review, but under no circumstances shall the provisions of this article be construed, in the case of a refusal to examine an applicant for promotion or to certify an applicant as eligible for promotion, as depriving such applicant of his right to seek a writ of mandamus, if the application for such writ is made within twenty days from the date of the decision refusing to examine or to certify him as eligible for promotion.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-20. Appointments From List of Eligible Applicants; Special Examinations for Electricians or Mechanics

(a) Every position, unless filled by promotion, reinstatement, or reduction, shall be filled only in the manner specified in this section. The appointing officer shall notify the Firemen’s Civil Service Commission of any vacancy in a position which he or she desires to fill, and shall request the certification of eligible applicants. The commission shall immediately certify, from the eligible list, the names of the three individuals on the eligible list who received the highest averages at preceding competitive examinations held under the civil service provisions of this article within a period of three years next preceding the date of the prospective appointment. The appointing officer shall, with sole reference to the relative merit and fitness of the candidates, make an appointment from the three certified names: Provided, That if the appointing officer objects, to the commission, to one or more of these individuals, for any of the reasons stated in §8-15-19 of this code, and the objection is sustained by the commission, after a public hearing along the lines of the hearing provided for in §8-15-19 of this code, if a hearing is requested, the commission shall strike the name of the individual from the eligible list, and certify the next highest name for each individual stricken. As each subsequent vacancy occurs, in the same or another position, precisely the same procedure shall be followed: Provided, however, That after any name has been rejected three times for the same or another position in favor of a name or names below it on the same list, the name shall be stricken from the list. When there are a number of positions of the same kind to be filled at the same time, each appointment shall, nevertheless, be made separately and in accordance with the provisions of this section. When an appointment is made under the provisions of this section it shall be, in the first instance, for the probationary period of six months, as provided in §8-15-16 of this code: Provided further, That in the event any position as an electrician or mechanic is to be filled in any paid fire department, then the examinations to be given to applicants for either position shall be drawn to test only the qualifications of the applicants in regard to their ability as electricians or mechanics, the examinations to be special examinations.
(b) If there are not enough eligible applicants to certify a list of three, then the appointing officer may appoint a qualified individual to fill the position.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-20a. Special Examination for Firefighter Paramedic

(a) A municipality with a firefighter's civil service commission providing an advanced life support ambulance service licensed by the state health department may also administer a special examination for the position of firefighter paramedic.
(b) An applicant for the position of firefighter paramedic shall: (1) Be a certified paramedic; (2) successfully pass the firefighter paramedic examination; and (3) meet the requirements of section seventeen of this article.
(c) Any person employed as a firefighter paramedic under the provisions of this section shall: (1) Maintain paramedic certification; (2) complete all required fire service training; and (3) comply with all other provisions of this article applicable to the continued employment of firefighters.
(d) Every position of firefighter paramedic, unless filled by promotion, reinstatement, reduction or a current firefighter, shall be filled only in the manner specified in section twenty of this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-21. Noncompetitive Examination for Filling Vacancy; Provisional Appointment

Whenever there are urgent reasons for filling a vacancy in any position in a paid fire department and there is no list of individuals eligible for appointment after a competitive examination, the appointing officer may nominate an individual to the firemen's civil service commission for noncompetitive examination; and if such nominee shall be certified by the said commission as qualified, after such noncompetitive examination and a medical examination, he may be appointed provisionally, to fill such vacancy until a selection and appointment can be made after competitive examination, in the manner prescribed in section twenty of this article; but such provisional appointment shall not continue for a longer period than three months, nor shall successive provisional appointments be made to the same position, under the provisions of this section.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-22. Vacancies Filled by Promotions; Eligibility for Promotion

Vacancies in positions in a paid fire department shall be filled, so far as practicable, by promotions from among individuals holding positions in the next lower grade in the department. Promotions shall be based upon experience and by competitive written examinations to be provided by the firemen's civil service commission: Provided, That no individual shall be eligible for promotion from the lower grade to the next higher grade until such individual shall have completed at least two years of continuous service in the next lower grade in the department immediately prior to said examination and has completed the registered apprenticeship and certification program under article fifteen-a, chapter eight of this code: Provided, however, That completion of the registered apprenticeship and certification program as a requirement for promotion shall apply only to those firefighters employed since June 12, 1987. The commission shall have the power to determine in each instance whether an increase in salary constitutes a promotion.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-23. No Inquiry Shall Be Made Concerning Political or Religious Opinions or Affiliations of Applicants, etc.

No question in any form of application or in or during any examination shall be so framed as to elicit information concerning the political or religious opinions or affiliations of any applicant; nor shall inquiry be made concerning such opinions or affiliations; and all disclosures thereof shall be discountenanced. No discrimination shall be exercised, threatened or promised by any individual in a paid fire department against, or in favor of, an applicant, eligible, or member of a paid fire department because of his political or religious opinions or affiliations.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-24. Political Activities of Members Prohibited; Exceptions

(a) No member of any paid fire department may:
(1) Solicit any assessment, subscription or contribution for any political party, committee or candidate from any person who is a member or employee of the same fire department by which they are employed;
(2) Use any official authority or influence, including, but not limited to, the wearing by a member of a paid fire department 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 shall not be construed to prohibit any member of a paid fire department from casting his or her vote at any election while wearing his or her uniform;
(3) 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
(4) Be a candidate for or hold any other public office in the municipality in which he or she is employed: Provided, That any paid member of a fire department that is subject to the provisions of 15 U.S.C. §1501 et seq., may not be a candidate for elective office.
(b) Other types of partisan or nonpartisan political activities not inconsistent with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section are permissible political activities for members of paid fire departments.
(c) No person shall be appointed or promoted to or demoted or dismissed from any position in a paid fire department or in any way favored or discriminated against because of his or her engagement in any political activities authorized by the provisions of this section. Any elected or appointed official who violates the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by the penalties contained in section twenty-six, article fifteen, chapter eight of this code.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-26. Offenses and Penalties

Any individual who makes an appointment or promotion to any position, or selects an individual for employment contrary to the civil service provisions of this article, or willfully refuses or neglects otherwise to comply with, or to conform to, any of the civil service provisions of this article, or violates any of those provisions, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Any commissioner or examiner, or any other individual, who willfully, by himself or herself or in cooperation with one or more persons, defeats, deceives or obstructs any individual with respect to his or her right of examination or registration according to the civil service provisions of this article, or to any rules and regulations prescribed pursuant thereto, or who willfully or corruptly, falsely marks, grades, estimates or reports upon any such examination or proper standing of any individual so examined, registered or certified, pursuant to the civil service provisions of this article, or aids in so doing, or who willfully or corruptly furnishes to any individual any special or secret information, for the purpose of either improving or injuring the prospects or chances of appointment or promotion to any position of any individual so examined, registered or certified, or to be so examined, registered or certified, or who impersonates any other individual, or permit or aid in any manner any other individual to impersonate him or her, in connection with any such examination or registration, or application or request to be examined or registered, is, for each offense, guilty of a misdemeanor.
Any person convicted of any of these misdemeanor offenses shall be punished by a fine of not less than $500, nor more than $10,000 or by confinement in jail for a term not exceeding one year, or by both fine and confinement, in the discretion of the court.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-27. Repeal of Conflicting Acts and Provisions; Civil Service Provisions of Article Exclusive; Status or Tenure Not Affected

All acts, whether general, special, local or special legislative charters, or parts thereof, in relation to any civil service measure affecting any paid fire department inconsistent with the civil service provisions of this article shall be, and the same are, hereby repealed insofar as such inconsistencies shall exist. It is intended by the civil service provisions of this article to furnish a complete and exclusive system for the appointment, promotion, reinstatement, removal, discharge, suspension and reduction of all members of all paid fire departments in all municipalities. The status or tenure of all members of any paid fire department, which members were employed on the effective date of this article, shall not be affected by the enactment of this article, but all such members shall be subject to all of the civil service provisions of this article with like effect as if they had been appointed members hereunder.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15. Fire Fighting; Fire Companies and Departments; Civil Service for Paid Fire Departments › §8-15-28. Awarding Service Weapon Upon Retirement

(a) Upon the retirement of a municipal fire marshal, any full-time deputy fire marshal, or any full-time assistant fire marshal employed pursuant to this article, the municipal fire department shall award to the retiring member his or her service weapon, without charge, upon determining:
(1) That the retiring employee is retiring honorably with at least 20 years of service; or
(2) The retiring employee is retiring with less than 20 years of service based upon a determination that the employee is totally physically disabled as a result of his or her service with the municipal fire department.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the municipal fire department may not award a service weapon to any employee whom the municipal fire department knows is prohibited from possessing a firearm, finds to be mentally incapacitated, or who constitutes a danger to any person or the community.
(c) If a service weapon is taken out of service due to routine wear, the municipal fire department may offer the service weapon for sale to any active or retired municipal fire marshal, assistant fire marshal, or deputy fire marshal, at fair market value, with the proceeds from any sales used to offset the cost of new service weapons. The disposal of service weapons pursuant to this subsection does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Purchasing Division of the Department of Administration.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15A. Standards for Professional Firefighters Training; Registered Apprenticeship and Certification › §8-15A-1. Definitions

For the purposes of this article, unless a different meaning clearly appears in the context:
(a) "Bureau of apprenticeship and training" means the bureau of apprenticeship and training of the United States department of labor;
(b) "Certificate of certification" means a certificate issued by the bureau of apprenticeship and training stating that a person has complied with the standards set forth in this article;
(c) "Local training board" means the board of the local paid fire department required to be established by the standards set forth in section two of this article;
(d) "Municipality" means any incorporated town or city whose boundaries lie within the geographic boundaries of the state;
(e) "Paid fire department" means those paid fire departments established under the provisions of section nine, article fifteen, chapter eight of this code;
(f) "Professional firefighter" means those persons who are employed by a municipality in the state that has a paid fire department;
(g) "State" means the State of West Virginia;
(h) "State board" means the professional firefighters certification board of apprenticeship and training as established in section three of this article;
(i) "West Virginia professional fire chiefs association" means the association representing paid fire chiefs in the State of West Virginia; and
(j) "Professional firefighters of West Virginia" means the association representing paid firefighters in the State of West Virginia.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15A. Standards for Professional Firefighters Training; Registered Apprenticeship and Certification › §8-15A-2. Original Appointments

All original appointments in a paid fire department subject to the civil service provisions of section sixteen, article fifteen, chapter eight of this code, made after June 12, 1987, shall enroll and complete the requirements as registered with the bureau of apprenticeship and training of the United States department of labor, for the craft of fire fighting.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15A. Standards for Professional Firefighters Training; Registered Apprenticeship and Certification › §8-15A-3. Professional Firefighters Certification Board of Apprenticeship and Training

(a) A professional firefighters certification board of apprenticeship and training is hereby created and assigned responsibility for review of programs and standards, for training of apprenticeship and certification of professional firefighters in the state. The state board shall be comprised of five members including two representatives appointed by each of the following: The professional firefighters of West Virginia; the West Virginia professional fire chiefs association, and one representative from the bureau of apprenticeship and training of the United States department of labor.
(b) The state board shall elect a chairperson. Meetings may be held upon the call of the chairperson. A majority of the members of the state board constitutes a quorum.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15A. Standards for Professional Firefighters Training; Registered Apprenticeship and Certification › §8-15A-4. Duties of the Professional Firefighters Certification Board of Apprenticeship and Training

The professional firefighters certification board of apprenticeship and training shall, by or pursuant to rule or regulation:
(a) Establish standards governing the quality of training of paid fire departments in the state pursuant to section two of this article.
(b) Establish the level of skill required for certification.
(c) Adopt procedures for the local training board to follow in securing certification of a paid firefighter by the bureau of apprenticeship and training of the United States department of labor.
(d) Certify the paid firefighter as provided in section five of this article and request a certificate of certification from the bureau of apprenticeship and training of the United States department of labor to the person that has qualified.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 15A. Standards for Professional Firefighters Training; Registered Apprenticeship and Certification › §8-15A-7. Compliance

The state board shall ensure employer and employee compliance with this article. The chief of the paid fire department and the local training board shall see and assure compliance with all established criteria.
The provisions of this article shall be liberally construed to accomplish its objectives and purposes.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 16. Municipal Public Works; Revenue Bond Financing › §8-16-2. Municipalities Authorized to Construct, etc., Public Works and to Acquire Property; Payment of Costs

Every municipality is and any two or more municipalities acting jointly, whether situate in the same county or different counties, are, hereby empowered and authorized to construct, reconstruct, establish, acquire, improve, renovate, extend, enlarge, increase, own, equip, repair (including replacements), maintain and operate any municipal public works, together with all appurtenances necessary, appropriate, useful, convenient or incidental for or to the maintenance and operation of such works, and shall have plenary power and authority to acquire by gift, grant, purchase, condemnation or otherwise, and thereafter hold, all necessary lands, rights, easements, right-of-ways, franchises and other property therefor within or without, or partly within and partly without, the corporate limits of any such municipality or municipalities, and to issue revenue bonds to pay the costs of such public works and properties: Provided, That this section shall not be construed to authorize any municipality to construct, reconstruct, establish, acquire, improve, renovate, extend, enlarge, increase, own, equip, repair (including replacements), maintain or operate any works which would render a service already being adequately rendered within such municipality. No obligation shall be incurred by any municipality in such construction, reconstruction, establishment, acquisition, improvement, renovation, extension, enlargement or increase, except such as is payable solely from the funds provided under the authority of this article.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 16. Municipal Public Works; Revenue Bond Financing › §8-16-3. Special Provisions as to Certain Municipal Public Works

When the municipal public works is a motor vehicle parking facility, any municipality involved therein shall have the plenary power and authority, in order to help finance the same, to use any revenue derived from other parking meters or other parking facilities, unless such revenue is otherwise pledged to pay for such other parking meters or other parking facilities.
When the municipal public works is a jail facility used for municipal prisoners, any municipality involved therein shall have the power and authority, in order to help finance the same, to pledge, for a period not to exceed twenty years, the proceeds derived from the imposition of fines and fees.
When the cost of the municipal public works is to be paid by special assessment against the abutting property, represented by assessment certificates which constitute a lien upon such property and said assessment certificates are pledged by any municipality to retire revenue bonds issued and sold to pay the cost thereof, the payor of such assessment certificate shall have the right to pay the same at any time before maturity, together with interest thereon to date of payment, and upon the payment of such assessment certificate the treasurer of such municipality shall deliver to the payor a release for such lien, and the funds received therefrom shall by said treasurer be deposited in a special fund to be expended only in the payment of such revenue bonds.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 16. Municipal Public Works; Revenue Bond Financing › §8-16-4b. Additional Special Provision as to the Use of Space in Motor Vehicle Parking Facilities

For all purposes of this article, the power and authority of any municipality to lease, as lessor, space in a motor vehicle parking facility to any person for business, commercial or charitable use shall be deemed to include the power and authority to lease such space to the United States of America, the State of West Virginia, the county court of any county of the State of West Virginia, and any agency, board or commission of any thereof, and the revenues derived from such leases may be pledged as security for and expended in payment of revenue bonds of such municipality in like manner and to the same extent as other revenues from such motor vehicle parking facility.
2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 8. Municipal Corporations › Article 16. Municipal Public Works; Revenue Bond Financing › §8-16-6. Preliminary Expenses

All necessary preliminary expenses actually incurred by the board of any municipality or municipalities in the making of surveys or estimates of cost and of revenues, employment of engineers or other employees, the giving of notices, the taking of options, and all other expenses of whatsoever nature necessary to be paid prior to the issue, sale and delivery of the revenue bonds herein provided for, may be paid by the municipality or municipalities, to be reimbursed and repaid out of the proceeds of the sale of such revenue bonds to be used for the construction, reconstruction, establishment, acquisition, improvement, renovation, extension, enlargement, increase, equipment or repair (including replacements) of such works as hereinafter provided.