HB 4601 West Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Relating to the Child Abuse and Neglect Investigations Unit

HB 4601 expands West Virginia's Child Abuse and Neglect Investigations Unit from a minimum of six to at least 21 members, requiring each of the 21 State Police districts to contribute at least one retired officer. The bill establishes unit offices in every State Police district (located within Human Services offices) and allows honorably retired State Police officers to rejoin under specific conditions - without accruing pension rights and after completing required training in areas like firearms and child abuse investigation protocols. The unit must coordinate with Child Protective Services, maintain statewide statistical data on child abuse/neglect convictions (without identifying individuals), and submit annual reports to the legislature. This directly affects Child Protective Services offices, law enforcement agencies, and retired State Police officers who may rejoin the unit.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 20, 2026 Last action Feb 4, 2026
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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
11
Key actions
1
Committee
7
Feb 4, 2026
Committee
To House Finance
lower
Feb 4, 2026
Committee
To Finance
lower
Feb 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Do pass
lower
Jan 30, 2026
Committee
To House Judiciary
lower
Jan 28, 2026
Committee
To House Legal Services
lower
Jan 20, 2026
Committee
To House Judiciary
lower
Jan 20, 2026
Introduced
Introduced in House
lower
Jan 20, 2026
Committee
To Judiciary
lower
1 primary · 7 co-sponsors

Sponsors