STATE TROOPER PAY Senators Propose Gradually Hiring 800 More WV Troopers, Increase Starting Pay
Reported by: Associated Press
Web Producer: Jeff Morris
Reported: Feb. 22, 2013 1:10 PM EST
Updated: Feb. 22, 2013 7:58 PM EST
EYEWITNESS ONLINE WEBCAST VIDEO C L I C K T O P L A Y
Charleston
, Kanawha County
, West Virginia
A bipartisan group of West Virginia senators is proposing that the state gradually hire 800 additional state troopers and increase their starting pay.
Senate President Jeffrey Kessler said Friday that West Virginia has not had a state trooper cadet training class in the last two years and that the state is losing state troopers through attrition.
He said that pay raises may be necessary to attract new state troopers, but acknowledged that any pay raise may be difficult to pass in the current political climate.
A proposed pay raise for magistrates recently spurred a contentious floor debate in the House, and the Senate finance chairman has said that he doesn't think the magistrate pay raise will pass his committee.
The starting salary for state troopers is currently just over $41,000.
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