Relating to the hiring requirements of West Virginia law enforcement employees

HB 4159 Text

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Introduced Version

House Bill 4159 History

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Key:
Green
= existing Code.
Red
= new code to be enacted

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2026
REGULAR SESSION
Introduced
House Bill 4159
By Delegate Kump
[Introduced January 14, 2026; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary]
A BILL to amend and reenact §8-14-15 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to
police vacancy positions; and changing the process of appointing eligible law enforcement officers after competitive examinations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

Article 14. Law and Order; Police Force or Departments; Powers, Authority and Duties of Law-Enforcement Officials and Policemen; Police Matrons; Special School Zone and Parking Lot or Parking Building Police Officers; Civil Service for Certain Police Departments.

Part V. Civil Service for Certain Police Departments

§8-14-15. Appointments from list of eligibles.

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 policemen’s Civil Service Commission of any vacancy or vacancies in a position or positions which he or she desires to fill and shall request the certification of eligibles. The commission shall forthwith certify the names of at least one but no more than
three

five
eligible individuals ranked according to their 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, thereupon, with sole reference to the relative merit and fitness of the candidates, make an appointment or appointments from the names so certified.
Additionally, hiring agencies have the discretion to hire among the lesser number of applicants if the number of ranking applicants is less than the optimum number:

Provided
, That should he make objection, to the commission, to one or more of these individuals, for any of the reasons stated in
§8-14-14 of this code
, and should such objection be sustained by the commission, after a public hearing along the lines of the hearing provided for in §8-14-14 of this code, if any such hearing is requested, the commission shall thereupon strike the name of any such individual from the eligible list, and certify the next highest name for each individual so 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 three times rejected for the same or another position in favor of a name or names below it on the same list, the said 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 foregoing provisions. When an appointment is made under the provisions of this section it shall be, in the first instance, for the probationary period of one year, as provided in §8-14-11 of this code.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change the process of appointing eligible law enforcement officers after competitive examinations.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

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