Bill Text: VA SB659 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Law-Enforcement Officers Procedural Guarantee Act; hearing panel decisions.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-02-05 - Failed to report (defeated) in Courts of Justice (5-Y 8-N) [SB659 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-SB659-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 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
not 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 circuit court in the jurisdiction in which the
grievance arose 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 agency must provide to the grievant, upon request, all information relevant
to a grievance unless the agency can show just cause for not disclosing the
information. 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 majority 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 binding upon the agency.
E. Within 30 days of the hearing panel's decision, a party may appeal on the grounds that the determination is contradictory to law by filing a notice of appeal with the clerk of the circuit court in the jurisdiction in which the grievance arose. After a notice of appeal has been filed by either party, the agency shall then transmit a copy of the grievance record to the clerk of the court. The court, on motion of a party, shall issue a writ of certiorari requiring transmission of the record on or before a certain date. Within 30 days of receipt of the grievance record, the court, sitting without a jury, shall hear the appeal on the record. The court may affirm the decision or may reverse or modify the decision. The decision of the court shall be rendered no later than the fifteenth day from the date of the conclusion of the hearing. The circuit court hearing shall be at no cost to the Commonwealth or the grievant.
