Clarifying law-enforcement cooperation with bordering states
SB723 amends West Virginia law governing cooperation among law-enforcement agencies. The bill updates definitions in the cooperation article to expressly include adjoining-state law-enforcement personnel within the category of “criminal justice enforcement personnel,” and it clarifies who counts as the head of a law-enforcement agency and who qualifies as a head of campus police. It also broadens and restates the authority for West Virginia agencies and campus police to provide or receive temporary assistance from other state, federal, or adjoining-state agencies when investigating crimes or possible criminal activity.
The bill specifically allows written requests for assistance, but also permits unwritten requests in emergency situations involving imminent risk of death or serious bodily injury. It authorizes multijurisdictional task force agreements, temporary assignments, undercover work, sharing of equipment, training, technical assistance, and information systems. While assigned, officers retain the same jurisdiction, powers, privileges, immunities, compensation, workers’ compensation coverage, and employment benefits through their home agency, while operating under the lawful command of the receiving agency or task force. The bill also requires requests and agreements to be filed with the circuit clerk in the counties where the agencies operate, allows sealing subject to court disclosure for good cause, and makes clear that the article does not create permanent mergers, alter civil service protections, or otherwise change agency authority except as expressly provided.
SB723 amends §15-10-3 and §15-10-4 of the West Virginia Code, expanding and clarifying the statutory framework for interagency law-enforcement cooperation, including cooperation with adjoining states and campus police. It affects state, county, municipal, federal, and campus law-enforcement agencies by formalizing temporary cross-jurisdictional assignments, task force participation, and the legal status of officers while they are assisting another agency. The bill took effect from passage.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the Senate and House unanimously, including concurrence in House amendments, with no recorded dissenting votes in the available history. The lack of committee transcript material suggests there was little public dispute or that the measure was viewed as a technical or clarifying update to existing law.
No significant opposition is reflected in the available record. The main policy points addressed by the bill are administrative and jurisdictional: how far agencies may cooperate across state lines, whether emergency assistance can be requested without a written document, how temporary assignments affect authority and benefits, and whether filing and sealing requirements should apply to interagency agreements. The bill expressly preserves civil service protections and avoids permanent consolidation or merger of agencies, which appears designed to reassure stakeholders concerned about loss of local control or employment rights.