Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official PDF posted by the West Virginia Legislature, fetched 2026-09-25. Page and line markers are part of the official record; nothing is edited or removed. The official bill page.
WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2026 REGULAR SESSION
ENROLLED
Committee Substitute
for
House Bill 4552
BY DELEGATES BROOKS, MARTIN, HORNBY, PRITT,
GREEN, AND HOTT
[Passed March 14, 2026; in effect 90 days from
passage (June 12, 2026)]
Enr CS for HB 4552
1 AN ACT to amend §15A-3-10 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the
2 law-enforcement powers of correctional officers; clarifying that certain employees of the
3 Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation are law-enforcement officers; clarifying the
4 powers and duties of the commissioner; clarifying the authority of correctional peace
5 officers; and clarifying that certain correctional officers shall receive identification to carry
6 weapons off duty.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 3. DIVISION OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION.
§15A-3-10. Law-enforcement powers of employees; authority to carry firearms.
1 (a) As outlined in this section, a correctional officer employed by the division is a law-
2 enforcement officer: Provided, That such law-enforcement officers who have successfully
3 completed the appropriate training program for correctional officers established by the
4 commissioner pursuant to §15A-3-4 are not subject to the certification requirements set forth in
5 §30-29-1 et seq.: Provided, however, That the commissioner may consult with the Law
6 Enforcement Professional Standards Subcommittee of the Governor's Committee on Crime,
7 Delinquency, and Correction when designing his or her law-enforcement officer training course
8 specifically for correctional officers: Provided further, That nothing in this section shall be
9 construed as superseding the requirements set forth in §30-29-5 of this code for a person to be
10 employed as a law-enforcement officer by any West Virginia law-enforcement agency or by any
11 state institution of higher education or by a hospital or by the Public Service Commission of West
12 Virginia.
13 (b) The commissioner is a law-enforcement official and may use, and allow or disallow his
14 or her designated employees to use, publicly provided vehicle to travel to and from their
15 workplace: Provided, That the usage is subject to the supervision of the commissioner and is
16 directly connected with and required by the nature and in the performance of the official’s or
17 designated employee’s duties and responsibilities.
1
Enr CS for HB 4552
18 (c) All employees of the division are responsible for enforcing rules and laws necessary
19 for the control and management of correctional units and the maintenance of public safety that is
20 within the scope of responsibilities of the division.
21 (d) Persons employed by the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation as correctional
22 officers may make arrests of persons already charged with a violation of law who surrender
23 themselves to the correctional officer, to arrest persons already in the custody of the division for
24 violations of law occurring in the officer’s presence, to detain or arrest persons for violations of
25 state law committed on the property of any facility under the jurisdiction of the commissioner, and
26 to conduct investigations, pursue, and apprehend escapees from the custody of a facility of the
27 division.
28 (e) The commissioner may designate correctional employees as correctional peace
29 officers who may:
30 (1) Detain persons for violations of state law committed on the property of any state
31 correctional institution;
32 (2) Conduct investigations regarding criminal activity occurring within a correctional facility;
33 (3) Execute criminal process or other process in furtherance of these duties; and
34 (4) Apply for, obtain, and execute search warrants necessary for the completion of his or
35 her duties and responsibilities.
36 (f) The Corrections Special Operations Team is continued and consists of the Corrections
37 Emergency Response Team, the K9 unit, and the Crisis Negotiations Team created under the
38 former Division of Corrections. The Corrections Special Operations Team serves as the first
39 responder necessary for the protection of life, liberty, and property. It has limited law-enforcement
40 authority regarding matters occurring at jails, correctional centers, and juvenile centers, and arrest
41 powers to apprehend escapees, absconders, and in all matters arising on the grounds of a facility
42 under the care and control of the commissioner: Provided, That at any time the Corrections
43 Special Operations Team is apprehending an escapee or an absconder outside the confinement
2
Enr CS for HB 4552
44 of the facility grounds, it does so with the assistance and cooperation of local law enforcement or
45 the West Virginia State Police.
46 (g) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, the commissioner may issue
47 a certificate authorizing any correctional employee who has successfully completed the division’s
48 training program for firearms certification to carry a firearm in the performance of his or her official
49 duties. The training program shall be approved by the commissioner and be equivalent to the
50 training requirements applicable to deputy sheriffs for the use and handling of firearms. Any
51 correctional employee authorized to do so by the commissioner may carry division-issued
52 firearms while in the performance of his or her official duties, which shall include travel to and
53 from work sites. To maintain certification, a correctional employee must successfully complete an
54 annual firearms qualification course equivalent to that required of certified law-enforcement
55 officers as established by the law enforcement professional standards program. The certificate
56 shall be on a form prescribed by the commissioner and shall bear his or her official signature.
57 (h) In recognition of the duties of their employment supervising the confinement and
58 transportation of inmates, and their arrest powers referenced in this section which constitute law
59 enforcement, correctional officers with the power to arrest and who have been authorized to carry
60 firearms by the Commissioner are determined to be qualified law-enforcement officers as that
61 term is used in 18 U.S.C. § 926B. When a qualified law-enforcement officer within the meaning
62 of this subsection retires from, or otherwise honorably ceases employment with the division, such
63 correctional officer is determined to be a qualified retired law-enforcement officer within the
64 meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 926C: Provided, That such officer maintains the requirements of and
65 status as an honorably separated or qualified retired law-enforcement officer within the meaning
66 of 18 U.S.C. § 926C.
67 (i) Any state designated correctional officer may carry a concealed firearm for self-defense
68 purposes pursuant to the provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 926B, if the following criteria are met:
3
Enr CS for HB 4552
69 (1) The Commissioner of Corrections has a written policy authorizing correctional officers
70 to carry a concealed firearm for self-defense purposes;
71 (2) There is in place a requirement that the designated correctional officers annually
72 qualify in the use of a firearm with standards for qualification which are equal to, or exceed, those
73 required of sheriff's deputies by the Law-Enforcement Professional Standards Program;
74 (3) The Commissioner issues a photographic identification and certification card which
75 identify the designated correctional officers as qualified law-enforcement employees pursuant to
76 the provisions of this subsection.
77 (j) Any policy instituted pursuant to this section shall include provisions which:
78 (1) Preclude or remove a person from participation in the concealed firearm program;
79 (2) Preclude from participation persons prohibited by federal or state law from possessing
80 or receiving a firearm and;
81 (3) Prohibit persons from carrying a firearm pursuant to the provisions of this subsection
82 while in an impaired state as defined in §17C-5-2 of this code.
83 (k) Any designated correctional officer who participates in a program authorized by the
84 provisions of this subsection is responsible, at his or her expense, for obtaining and maintaining
85 a suitable firearm and ammunition.
86 (l) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting the amendments to this section during the
87 2024 regular session of the Legislature to authorize designated correctional officers wishing to do
88 so to meet the requirements of the federal Law-Enforcement Officer's Safety Act, 18 U.S.C. §
89 926B.
90 (m) The privileges authorized by the amendments to this section enacted during the 2024
91 regular session of the Legislature are wholly within the discretion of the Commissioner.
92 (n) The provisions of §30-29-12 of this code shall apply to all correctional officers
93 recognized in subsection (h) of this section.
4
Enr CS for HB 4552
The Clerk of the House of Delegates and the Clerk of the Senate hereby
certify that the foregoing bill is correctly enrolled.
...............................................................
Clerk of the House of Delegates
...............................................................
Clerk of the Senate
Originated in the House of Delegates.
In effect 90 days from passage.
...............................................................
Speaker of the House of Delegates
...............................................................
President of the Senate
__________
The within is ................................................ this the...........................................
Day of ..........................................................................................................., 2026.
.............................................................
Governor
5Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.