Permitting teachers to wear a “mobile alert button” for emergency situations, to be known as “Alyssa’s Law.”, the official text

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE

         2026 REGULAR SESSION

                   ENROLLED

            Committee Substitute
                         for

           House Bill 4798

     BY DELEGATES PINSON, TONEY, CROUSE, BURKHAMMER,
        LEAVITT, PARSONS, PRITT, ELLINGTON, HORNBY, AND
                                    BUTLER
         [Passed March 10, 2026; in effect 90 days from
                         passage (June 8, 2026)]
    Enr CS for HB4798

1 AN ACT to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding a new section,

2   designated §18-9F-9a, relating to Alyssa's law; requiring the West Virginia Board of

3   Education in conjunction with the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency

4   Management to promulgate a rule permitting all public schools in the state to implement a

5   wearable panic alert system device contingent on available funding; specifying

6   requirements and county board authority relating to the wearable panic alert system

7   device; requiring all security data within a school facility to be accessible by a local law-

8   enforcement agency; creating the Alyssa Alhadeff School Safety Fund; making

9   expenditures from the fund available for the implementation of mobile panic buttons and

10  similar school safety equipment; and sunsetting Alyssa's law by December 31, 2029.

    Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

    ARTICLE 9F. SCHOOL ACCESS SAFETY ACT.

    §18-9F-9a. Wearable panic alert system, "Alyssa's law".

1   (a) The state board in conjunction with the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency

2 Management shall promulgate by December 31, 2026, a legislative rule in accordance with §29A-

3 3B-1 et seq. of this code, and if necessary may promulgate an emergency rule in accordance with

4 that article, permitting a wearable panic alert system device to be implemented at every public

5 school in the state contingent upon available funding. Each county board may apply to the West

6 Virginia Department of Homeland Security for funding from the fund created pursuant to §18-9F-

7 9a(f) of this section. This section shall be known as Alyssa’s law.

8   (b) Each wearable panic alert system device shall be capable of integrating with local

9 public safety answering point infrastructure to transmit 9-1-1 calls and mobile activations and

10 initiating a campus-wide lockdown notification.

11  (c) Each county board may provide each school employee in a school facility with a

12 wearable panic alert device that allows for immediate contact with local emergency response

13 agencies.

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    Enr CS for HB4798

14  (d) Prior to the first day of school each year, each county board shall ensure that all school

15 facility personnel who utilize the wearable panic alert devices receive training on the protocol for

16 and appropriate use of the panic alert device.

17  (e) Each county board shall ensure that all security data within a school facility is

18 accessible by a local law-enforcement agency and coordinate with the local law-enforcement

19 agency to establish appropriate access protocols. Accessible security data includes cameras,

20 maps, and access control.

21  (f) The Alyssa Alhadeff School Safety Fund is hereby created within the Treasury of the

22 State. The fund shall be administered by the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security and

23 shall consist of all monies from any source, including, but not limited to, all fees, gifts, grants,

24 bequests, or transfers from any source. Expenditures from the fund shall be available for the

25 implementation of mobile panic buttons and similar school safety equipment.

26  (g) The provisions of this section shall sunset by December 31, 2029.

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Enr CS for HB4798
              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

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