West Virginia Code 15-10A-1 – Legislative findings
The Legislature finds:
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 15-10A-1
- officer: means : (A) Any sheriff and any deputy sheriff of any county. See West Virginia Code 15-10A-2
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
(1) That West Virginia law enforcement is currently suffering from an unacceptably high number of vacant law-enforcement positions because of military service obligations, and that given the time factors and expense associated with the hiring and training of personnel with no prior law-enforcement experience, it is in the interest of the state to reemploy retired law-enforcement officers in order to temporarily fill only the vacant positions of those law-enforcement officers called to active military duty;
(2) That no pension rights of any kind shall accrue or attach pursuant to reemployment under this article; and
(3) That a law-enforcement agency who hires a retired law-enforcement officer shall bear no responsibility for medical payments resulting from work-related injuries or illnesses of persons hired pursuant to this article, other than those commonly associated with state employees covered by workers' compensation.