BILL REQ. #:  S-3320.1 

Read first time 01/17/14.   Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.

     AN ACT Relating to peace officer certification; and amending RCW 43.101.105.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 43.101.105 and 2011 c 234 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Upon request by a peace officer's employer or on its own initiative, the commission may deny or revoke certification of any peace officer, after written notice and hearing, if a hearing is timely requested by the peace officer under RCW 43.101.155, based upon a finding of one or more of the following conditions:
     (a) The peace officer has failed to timely meet all requirements for obtaining a certificate of basic law enforcement training, a certificate of basic law enforcement training equivalency, or a certificate of exemption from the training;
     (b) The peace officer has knowingly falsified or omitted material information on an application for training or certification to the commission;
     (c) The peace officer has been convicted at any time of a felony offense under the laws of this state or has been convicted of a federal or out-of-state offense comparable to a felony under the laws of this state; except that if a certified peace officer was convicted of a felony before being employed as a peace officer, and the circumstances of the prior felony conviction were fully disclosed to his or her employer before being hired, the commission may revoke certification only with the agreement of the employing law enforcement agency;
     (d) The peace officer has been discharged for disqualifying misconduct, the discharge is final, and some or all of the acts or omissions forming the basis for the discharge proceedings occurred on or after January 1, 2002;
     (e) The peace officer has a sustained finding for untruthfulness that is an intentional and knowing misstatement of a material fact in an official proceeding that alters, or could reasonably alter, the outcome of the proceeding or decisions of others; or felony level criminal activity or gross misdemeanor activity while on duty, or any felony criminal activity and the following gross misdemeanor crimes: Assault in the fourth degree, theft in the third degree or malicious mischief in the third degree while off duty, and some or all of the acts or omissions forming the basis for the finding occurred on or after July 1, 2014;
     (f) The peace officer's certificate was previously issued by administrative error on the part of the commission; or
     (((f))) (g) The peace officer has interfered with an investigation or action for denial or revocation of certificate by: (i) Knowingly making a materially false statement to the commission; or (ii) in any matter under investigation by or otherwise before the commission, tampering with evidence or tampering with or intimidating any witness.
     (2) After July 24, 2005, the commission shall deny certification to any applicant who has lost his or her certification as a result of a break in service of more than twenty-four consecutive months if that applicant failed to comply with the requirements set forth in RCW 43.101.080(19) and 43.101.095(2).