West Virginia Code 7-14C-2 – Investigation and interrogation of a deputy sheriff
When any deputy sheriff is under investigation and subjected to interrogation by his or her commanding officer, or any other member of the department, which could lead to punitive action, the interrogation shall be conducted under the following conditions:
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 7-14C-2
- Deputy sheriff: means any person appointed by a sheriff as his or her deputy whose primary duties as deputy are within the scope of active, general law enforcement and as such is authorized to carry deadly weapons, patrol the highways, perform police functions, make arrests or safeguard prisoners. See West Virginia Code 7-14C-1
- Hearing: means any meeting in the course of an investigatory proceeding, other than an interrogation at which no testimony is taken under oath, conducted by a hearing board for the purpose of taking or inducing testimony or receiving evidence. See West Virginia Code 7-14C-1
- Punitive action: means any action which may lead to dismissal, demotion, suspension, reduction in salary, written reprimand or transfer for purposes of punishment. See West Virginia Code 7-14C-1
- under interrogation: means any situation in which any deputy sheriff becomes the focus of inquiry regarding any matter which may result in punitive action. See West Virginia Code 7-14C-1
(a) The interrogation shall be conducted at a reasonable hour, preferably at a time when the deputy sheriff is on duty, or during his or her normal working hours, unless the seriousness of the investigation requires otherwise. If the interrogation does occur during the off-duty time of the deputy sheriff being interrogated at any place other than his or her residence, the deputy sheriff shall be compensated for that off-duty time in accordance with regular department procedure. If the interrogation of the deputy sheriff occurs during his or her regular duty hours, the deputy sheriff may not be released from employment for any work missed due to interrogation.
(b) Any deputy sheriff under investigation shall be informed of the nature of the investigation prior to any interrogation. The deputy sheriff shall also be informed of the name, rank and command of the officer in charge of the interrogation, the interrogating officers and all other persons to be present during the interrogation. No more than three interrogators at one time may question the deputy sheriff under investigation.
(c) No deputy sheriff under interrogation may be subjected to offensive language or threatened with punitive action. No promise of reward may be made as an inducement to answering questions.
(d) The complete interrogation of any deputy sheriff shall be recorded, whether written, taped or transcribed. Upon request of the deputy sheriff under investigation or his or her counsel, and upon advance payment of the reasonable cost thereof, a copy of the record shall be made available to the deputy sheriff not less than ten days prior to any hearing.
(e) Upon the filing of a formal written statement of charges or whenever an interrogation focuses on matters which are likely to result in punitive action against any deputy sheriff, then that deputy sheriff shall have the right to be represented by counsel who may be present at all times during the interrogation.
Nothing herein prohibits the immediate temporary suspension from duty, pending an investigation, of any deputy sheriff who reports for duty under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance which would prevent the deputy from performing his or her duties as defined in chapter sixty-a of this code, or under the influence of an apparent mental or emotional disorder.