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Panel backs bill allowing law-enforcement time in schools to count as in‑service credit
Summary
A Senate committee voted to send House Bill 2802 to the full Senate recommending passage after sponsors said the bill would let active officers earn in‑service credit for spending time working inside schools under Law Enforcement Professional Standards Committee rules.
A Senate committee on [date not specified] voted to report House Bill 2802 to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass. The bill would allow the Law Enforcement Professional Standards (LEPS) Committee to grant in‑service credit to active law‑enforcement officers for spending time physically stationed in schools and participating in school safety programs.
The bill’s lead sponsor, Delegate Pinson, told the committee he served seven years as a police officer, including nearly two years stationed inside a 1,200‑student school. “School safety has been a priority of this legislature,” Pinson said, and the bill would let officers earn up to eight hours of their 16‑hour required in‑service training by working in schools under LEPS oversight.
The change would amend Chapter 30 of the West Virginia Code to add a proviso permitting the LEPS committee to make a one‑for‑one exchange of on‑duty school assignment time for in‑service credit. Pinson said the LEPS committee has already taken administrative steps to adopt the exchange but that a statutory change is required to authorize the credit in code. He credited the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department under Sheriff Ross Mellinger with pioneering the concept within the state.
Supporters told the committee the proposal could increase officer presence in schools while reducing travel and training costs for departments. “So in short, with about 4,500 police officers in the state of West Virginia, we can incentivize these police officers to be in schools at random points throughout the school year,” Pinson said, adding that operational details such as verification of presence and eligibility would be set by the LEPS committee.
Committee members asked whether the program could apply to off‑duty hours and whether smaller municipal departments could staff such programs; Pinson and others said LEPS and local supervisors would set implementation rules, including whether officers could be credited for off‑duty time or only while on duty. The committee’s vice chair moved the bill to the full Senate with a recommendation that it do pass; the chair conducted a voice vote and declared the motion adopted.
The bill now moves to the full Senate, where its details and any additional amendments will be considered.
