Opinion ID: 1282019
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: eligibility for reinstatement under w.va.code 8-14-12 (1972)

Text: The core issue governing Staten's right to reinstatement and the Mayor's duty to recognize that right is whether Staten resigned from the police force at a time when there were charges of misconduct or other misfeasance pending against him, making him ineligible for reinstatement. The West Virginia Legislature has made it clear that a police officer who resigns in the face of charges of misconduct or misfeasance is ineligible for reinstatement. The eligibility requirements for reinstatement are mandated by statute and the code allows for reinstatement, [p]rovided, [t]hat in the event any applicant formerly served upon the paid police department of the city to which he makes application, for a period of more than his probationary period, and resigned from the department at a time when there were no charges of misconduct or other misfeasance pending against such applicant, within a period of two years next preceding the date of his application, and at the time of his application resides within the corporate limits of the city in which the paid police department to which he seeks appointment by reinstatement is located, then such individual shall be eligible for appointment by reinstatement in the discretion of the policemen's civil service commission.... W.Va.Code 8-14-12 (1972) (emphasis added). All of these requirements must coexist in order for an applicant to be eligible for reinstatement and entitled to review by the Commission. In the event that charges of misconduct or other misfeasance are pending at the time of resignation, the Commission does not have the power to review an application for reinstatement because that person is simply not eligible for reinstatement. We hold that under W.Va.Code 8-14-12 (1972), eligibility for reinstatement to a municipal police department is governed by events that were extant at the time of the resignation and not at the time of reinstatement. Accordingly, Staten can only possess a right to be reinstated if at the time of his resignation on January 22, 1993, there were no charges of misconduct or other misfeasance.