Canine teams working in the state of Washington shall be certified to the adopted standards as set by criminal justice training commission (CJTC) policy. The standards shall be maintained by commission staff and readily available to stakeholders. These standards include the minimum performance standards for canine teams performing specific law enforcement or corrections functions. As a condition of certification, each handler must ensure that the canine performs to a level that is deemed acceptable by the commission in the category for the team's intended use.

An evaluator shall be a person who is recognized and appointed by the CJTC to perform the testing of the canine teams. The qualifications to become an evaluator relating to canine certification shall be outlined in the evaluation policy adopted by the CJTC.

In evaluating the proficiency of the canine team, evaluators shall use the standards approved by the commission for that particular discipline. Each certification issued pursuant to these rules will remain valid as set forth in CJTC policy, as long as the composition and responsibility of the canine team does not change. A canine team's certification shall automatically expire if the specific handler and canine, originally paired at the time of certification, cease to perform canine team functions together or if the function for which the team was certified changes.

This process is not related to, nor does it have any effect upon, the requirements for peace officer certification. Nothing in these rules is intended to limit the use of canine teams employed by other state or federal agencies for law enforcement purposes, or the use of volunteer canine teams where the handler is not a Washington peace officer or corrections officer.