BILL REQ. #:  H-3610.2 

Prefiled 12/24/2003. Read first time 01/12/2004.   Referred to Committee on Criminal Justice & Corrections.

     AN ACT Relating to requiring prehire screening for law enforcement applicants; and amending RCW 43.101.080 and 43.43.020.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 43.101.080 and 2001 c 166 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     The commission shall have all of the following powers:
     (1) To meet at such times and places as it may deem proper;
     (2) To adopt any rules and regulations as it may deem necessary;
     (3) To contract for services as it deems necessary in order to carry out its duties and responsibilities;
     (4) To cooperate with and secure the cooperation of any department, agency, or instrumentality in state, county, and city government, and other commissions affected by or concerned with the business of the commission;
     (5) To do any and all things necessary or convenient to enable it fully and adequately to perform its duties and to exercise the power granted to it;
     (6) To select and employ an executive director, and to empower him to perform such duties and responsibilities as it may deem necessary;
     (7) To assume legal, fiscal, and program responsibility for all training conducted by the commission;
     (8) To establish, by rule and regulation, standards for the training of criminal justice personnel where such standards are not prescribed by statute;
     (9) To own, establish, and operate, or to contract with other qualified institutions or organizations for the operation of, training and education programs for criminal justice personnel and to purchase, lease, or otherwise acquire, subject to the approval of the department of general administration, a training facility or facilities necessary to the conducting of such programs;
     (10) To establish, by rule and regulation, minimum curriculum standards for all training programs conducted for employed criminal justice personnel;
     (11) To review and approve or reject standards for instructors of training programs for criminal justice personnel, and to employ personnel on a temporary basis as instructors without any loss of employee benefits to those instructors;
     (12) To direct the development of alternative, innovate, and interdisciplinary training techniques;
     (13) To review and approve or reject training programs conducted for criminal justice personnel and rules establishing and prescribing minimum training and education standards recommended by the training standards and education boards;
     (14) To allocate financial resources among training and education programs conducted by the commission;
     (15) To allocate training facility space among training and education programs conducted by the commission;
     (16) To issue diplomas certifying satisfactory completion of any training or education program conducted or approved by the commission to any person so completing such a program;
     (17) To provide for the employment of such personnel as may be practical to serve as temporary replacements for any person engaged in a basic training program as defined by the commission;
     (18) To establish rules and regulations recommended by the training standards and education boards prescribing minimum standards relating to physical, mental and moral fitness which shall govern the recruitment of criminal justice personnel where such standards are not prescribed by statute or constitutional provision. The minimum standards must include, but not be limited to, the requirement that county, city, and state agencies administer psychological examinations and polygraph tests to persons applying for law enforcement personnel positions, including part-time positions and positions for reserve officers, with the county, city, or state agency.
     All rules and regulations adopted by the commission shall be adopted and administered pursuant to the administrative procedure act, chapter 34.05 RCW, and the open public meetings act, chapter 42.30 RCW.

Sec. 2   RCW 43.43.020 and 1983 c 144 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     The governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint the chief of the Washington state patrol, determine his compensation, and may remove him at will.
     The chief shall appoint a sufficient number of competent persons to act as Washington state patrol officers, may remove them for cause, as provided in this chapter, and shall make promotional appointments, determine their compensation, and define their rank and duties, as hereinafter provided. Before a person may be appointed to act as a Washington state patrol officer, the person shall meet the minimum standards for employment with the Washington state patrol, including successful completion of a psychological examination and polygraph examination administered by the chief or his or her designee.
     The chief may appoint employees of the Washington state patrol to serve as special deputies, with such restricted police authority as the chief shall designate as being necessary and consistent with their assignment to duty. Such appointment and conferral of authority shall not qualify said employees for membership in the Washington state patrol retirement system, nor shall it grant tenure of office as a regular officer of the Washington state patrol.
     The chief may personally appoint, with the consent of the state treasurer, employees of the office of the state treasurer who are qualified under the standards of the criminal justice training commission, or who have comparable training and experience, to serve as special deputies. The law enforcement powers of any special deputies appointed in the office of the state treasurer shall be designated by the chief and shall be restricted to those powers necessary to provide for statewide security of the holdings or property of or under the custody of the office of the state treasurer. These appointments may be revoked by the chief at any time and shall be revoked upon the written request of the state treasurer or by operation of law upon termination of the special deputy's employment with the office of the state treasurer or thirty days after the chief who made the appointment leaves office. The chief shall be civilly immune for the acts of such special deputies. Such appointment and conferral of authority shall not qualify such employees for membership in the Washington state patrol retirement system, nor shall it grant tenure of office as a regular officer of the Washington state patrol.