SB 264 — Prohibiting persons who have been convicted of certain crimes against minors from holding positions on boards of education

(8) (9) A statement that the person filing the certificate of announcement is a candidate for the office in good faith;

and (9) (10) The words "subscribed and sworn to before me this ______ day of _____________, 20____" and a space for the signature of the officer giving the oath.

(e) The Secretary of State or the board of ballot commissioners, as the case may be, may refuse to certify the candidacy or may remove the certification of the candidacy upon receipt of a certified copy of the voter’s registration record of the candidate showing that the candidate was registered as a voter in a party other than the one named in the certificate of announcement during the 60 days immediately preceding the filing of the certificate:

Provided, That unless a signed formal complaint of violation of this section and the certified copy of the voter’s registration record of the candidate are filed with the officer receiving that candidate’s certificate of announcement no later than 10 days following the close of the filing period, the candidate may not be refused certification for this reason.

(f) The certificate of announcement shall be subscribed and sworn to by the candidate before some an officer qualified to administer oaths, who shall certify the same.

Any person who knowingly provides false information on the certificate is guilty of false swearing and shall be punished in accordance with §3-9-3 of this code.

(g) Any candidate for delegate to a national convention may change his or her statement of presidential preference by notifying the Secretary of State by letter, received by the Secretary of 3 State no later than the third Tuesday following the close of candidate filing.

When the rules of the political party allow each presidential candidate to approve or reject candidates for delegate to convention who may appear on the ballot as committed to that presidential candidate, the presidential candidate or the candidate’s committee on his or her behalf may file a list of approved or rejected candidates for delegate and the Secretary of State shall list as "uncommitted" any candidate for delegate who is disapproved by the presidential candidate.

(h) A person may not be a candidate for more than one office or office division at any election:

Provided, That a candidate for an office may also be a candidate for President of the United States, for membership on political party executive committees or for delegate to a political party national convention:

Provided, however, That an unsuccessful candidate for a nonpartisan office in an election held concurrently with the primary election may be appointed under the provisions of §3-5-19 of this code to fill a vacancy on the general ballot.

(i) A candidate who files a certificate of announcement for more than one office or division and does not withdraw, as provided by §3-5-11 of this code, from all but one office prior to the close of the filing period may not be certified by the Secretary of State or placed on the ballot for any office by the board of ballot commissioners.

CHAPTER 18.

EDUCATION.

one of whom is the chancellorChancellor of the Higher Education Policy Commission, ex officio;

and one of whom is the Chancellor of the West 4 Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education, ex officio, none of whom is entitled to vote.

No more than five of the appointive members may belong to the same political party and no person is eligible for appointment to membership on the state board who is a member of any political party executive committeecommittee, or holds any other public office or public employment under the federal government or under the government of this state or any of its political subdivisions, or who is an appointee or employee of the board.

Notwithstanding the provisions of §6-6-4 of this code, a member of the state board may not be removed from office by the Governor except for official misconduct, incompetence, neglect of Intr SB 264 2023R2721 duty, or gross immorality and then only in the manner prescribed by law for the removal by the Governor of state elective officers.

5 (a) A person who is a member of a county board:

Intr SB 264 2023R2721 (ii) The term "public office" as used in this section does not include service on any other board, elected or appointed, profit or nonprofit, under the following conditions:

6 (C) Serve as an unpaid volunteer on a partisan campaign;

(1) Within thirty30 days of receipt of the request, the Ethics Commission shall issue a written advisory opinion in response to the request and also shall publish the opinion in a manner which, to the fullest extent possible, does not reveal the identity of the person making the request.

(2) A county board member who relies in good faith upon an advisory opinion issued by the West Virginia Ethics Commission to the effect that holding a particular office or public office is not a Intr SB 264 2023R2721 bar from membership on a county board and against whom proceedings are subsequently brought for removal from the county board on the basis of holding that office or officesoffices, is entitled to reimbursement by the county board for reasonable attorney's fees and court costs incurred by the member in defending against these proceedings, regardless of the outcome of the proceedings.

(c) To be eligible for election or appointment as a member of a county board, a person shall 7 possess at least a high school diploma or a general educational development (GED) diploma.

(3) Members appointed to the county board shall attend and complete the next orientation Intr SB 264 2023R2721 course offered following their appointment;

(e) Annually, each member of a county board shall receive seven clock hours of training in areas relating to boardsmanship, governance effectiveness, and school performance issues including, but not limited to, pertinent state and federal statutes such as the "Process for Improving Education" set forth in section five, article two-e of this chapter §18-2E-5 of this code and the "No Child Left Behind Act" and their respective administrative rules.

and 8 (B) If the state board elects to exclude time spent in training on school performance issues from the requisite seven hours, the state board shall limit the training to a feasible and practicable amount of time.

(2) Failure to attend and complete the approved course of orientation and training relating to boardsmanship and governance effectiveness without good causecause, as determined by the state board by duly promulgated legislative rulesrules, constitutes neglect of duty under section seven, article six, chapter six §6-6-7 of this code.

Failure to comply with the training requirements of this section without good causecause, as defined by the state board by duly promulgated legislative rulesrules, constitutes neglect of duty under §6-6-7 of this code.

(g) The state board shall appoint a committee named the "county"County boardBoard memberMember trainingTraining standardsStandards reviewReview committee"Committee" whose members shall meet at least annually.

Subject to state board Intr SB 264 2023R2721 approval, the committee shall determine which particular trainings and training organizations shall be approvedapproved, and whether county board members have satisfied the annual training requirement.

Members of the committee serve without compensation,compensation but may be reimbursed by their agencies or employers for all reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred in the performance of their duties under this subsection.

NOTE:

The purpose of this bill is to prohibit persons who have been convicted of certain crimes against minors from holding positions on boards of education.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.