West Virginia Code 62-11B-7b – Home incarceration supervisors deemed qualified law-enforcement officers as that term is used in 18 U.S.C. §926B
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, for purposes of this section it is hereby recognized that home incarceration is a form of confinement as that term is used in 18 U.S.C. § 926B.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 62-11B-7b
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Home: means the actual living area of the temporary or permanent residence of an offender. See West Virginia Code 62-11B-3
- 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
(b) In recognition of the duties of their employment supervising confinement and supervised release, and the inherent arrest powers for violation of the same which constitute law enforcement, home incarceration supervisors, are determined to be qualified law-enforcement officers as that term is used in 18 U.S.C. § 926B.
(c) Any home incarceration supervisor may carry a concealed firearm for self-defense purposes pursuant to the provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 926B if the following criteria are met:
(1) The home incarceration program has a written policy authorizing home incarceration supervisors to carry a concealed firearm for self-defense purposes.
(2) There is in place in the home incarceration program a requirement that the home incarceration supervisors must regularly qualify in the use of a firearm with standards for qualification which are equal to, or exceed those required of sheriff’s deputies in the county in which the home incarceration supervisors are employed; and
(3) The home incarceration program issues a photographic identification and certification card which identify the home incarceration supervisors as law-enforcement employees of the home incarceration program of § 30-29-12 of this code.
(d) Any policy instituted pursuant to subsection (b) of this section shall include provisions which:
(1) Preclude or remove a person from participation in the concealed firearm program;
(2) Preclude from participation persons prohibited by federal or state law from possessing or receiving a firearm; and
(3) Prohibit persons from carrying a firearm pursuant to the provisions of this subsection while in an impaired state as defines in § 17C-5-2 of this code.
(e) Any home incarceration supervisor who participates in a program authorized by the provisions of this subsection is responsible, at his or her expense, for obtaining and maintaining a suitable firearm and ammunition.
(f) The privileges authorized by the amendments to this section enacted during the 2022, regular session of the Legislature are wholly within the discretion of the supervising authority over the home incarceration supervisors.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting the amendments to this section during the 2021 regular session of the Legislature to authorize home incarceration programs wishing to do so to allow home incarceration supervisors to meet the requirements of the federal Law-Enforcement Officer’s Safety Act, 18 U.S.C. § 926B.