Bill Text: VA SB1708 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Law-Enforcement Officers Procedural Guarantee Act; hearing panel decisions.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-01-28 - Failed to report (defeated) in Courts of Justice (6-Y 6-N 2-A) [SB1708 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2019-SB1708-Introduced.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §9.1-504 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§9.1-504. Hearing; hearing panel composition and decisions.
A. Whenever a law-enforcement officer is dismissed, demoted,
suspended, or transferred for punitive
reasons, he may, within a reasonable amount of time following such action, as
set by the agency, request a hearing. If such request is timely made, a hearing
shall be held within a reasonable amount of time set by the agency. However,
the hearing shall not be set later than fourteen 14 calendar days following the
date of request unless a later date is agreed to by the law-enforcement
officer. At the hearing, the law-enforcement officer and his agency shall be
afforded the opportunity to present evidence, and examine and cross-examine
witnesses. The law-enforcement officer shall also be given the opportunity to
be represented by counsel at the hearing unless the officer and agency are
afforded, by regulation, the right to counsel in a subsequent de novo hearing.
B. The hearing shall be conducted by a panel consisting of one member from within the agency selected by the grievant, one member from within the agency of equal rank of the grievant but no more than two ranks above appointed by the agency head, and a third member from within the agency to be selected by the other two members. In the event that such two members cannot agree upon their selection, the chief judge of the judicial circuit wherein the duty station of the grievant lies shall choose such third member. The hearing panel may, and on the request of either the law-enforcement officer or his agency shall, issue subpoenas requiring the testimony of witnesses who have refused or failed to appear at the hearing. The hearing panel shall rule on the admissibility of the evidence. A record shall be made of the hearing.
C. At the option of the agency, it may, in lieu of complying
with the provisions of §9.1-502, give the law-enforcement officer a statement,
in writing, of the charges, the basis therefor, and
the action which that
may be taken, and provide a hearing as
provided for in this section prior to dismissing, demoting, suspending, or transferring for punitive
reasons the law-enforcement officer.
D. The recommendations decision of the hearing panel,
and the reasons therefor, shall be in writing and transmitted promptly to the
law-enforcement officer or his attorney and to the chief executive officer of
the law-enforcement agency. Such recommendations
shall be advisory only, but shall be accorded significant weight decision shall be final and binding if consistent
with law and written policy.
E. Either party may petition the circuit court having jurisdiction in the locality in which the grievant is employed for an order requiring the implementation of the final decision of the hearing panel.
