BILL REQ. #:  H-5017.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/10/04.   

     AN ACT Relating to requiring prehire screening for law enforcement applicants; amending RCW 43.101.080, 43.101.095, 43.101.105, and 43.43.020; and adding a new section to chapter 43.101 RCW.

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;
     (19) To require that each applicant that has been offered a conditional offer of employment as a full-time or part-time commissioned peace officer or a reserve officer that has had a break of more than twenty-four consecutive months in the officer's service as a full-time law enforcement officer to take and successfully pass a psychological examination and a polygraph test or similar assessment procedure as administered by county, city, or state law enforcement agencies as a condition of employment as a peace officer. The employing county, city, or state law enforcement agency may require that each applicant who is required to take a psychological examination and a polygraph or similar test pay a portion of the testing fee based on the actual cost of the test or four hundred dollars, whichever is less. County, city, and state law enforcement agencies may establish a payment plan if they determine that the peace officer does not readily have the means to pay for his or her portion of the testing fee.
     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 43.101.095 and 2001 c 167 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) As a condition of continuing employment as peace officers, all Washington peace officers: (a) Shall timely obtain certification as peace officers, or timely obtain certification or exemption therefrom, by meeting all requirements of RCW 43.101.200, as that section is administered under the rules of the commission, as well by meeting any additional requirements under this chapter; ((and)) (b) shall maintain the basic certification as peace officers under this chapter; and (c) shall successfully pass a psychological examination and a polygraph or similar test as administered by a county, city, or state law enforcement agency if the officer is an applicant that has been offered a conditional offer of employment as a full-time or part-time commissioned peace officer or a reserve officer that has had a break of more than twenty-four consecutive months in the officer's service as a full-time law enforcement officer. The commission shall certify peace officers who have satisfied, or have been exempted by statute or by rule from, the basic training requirements of RCW 43.101.200 on or before January 1, 2002. Thereafter, the commission may revoke certification pursuant to this chapter.
     (2) The commission shall allow a peace officer to retain status as a certified peace officer as long as the officer: (a) Timely meets the basic law enforcement training requirements, or is exempted therefrom, in whole or in part, under RCW 43.101.200 or under rule of the commission; (b) meets or is exempted from any other requirements under this chapter as administered under the rules adopted by the commission; (c) is not denied certification by the commission under this chapter; and (d) has not had certification revoked by the commission.
     (3) As a prerequisite to certification, as well as a prerequisite to pursuit of a hearing under RCW 43.101.155, a peace officer must, on a form devised or adopted by the commission, authorize the release to the commission of his or her personnel files, termination papers, criminal investigation files, or other files, papers, or information that are directly related to a certification matter or decertification matter before the commission.

Sec. 3   RCW 43.101.105 and 2001 c 167 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:
     (((1))) (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;
     (((2))) (b) The peace officer has knowingly falsified or omitted material information on an application for training or certification to the commission;
     (((3))) (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;
     (((4))) (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;
     (((5))) (e) The peace officer's certificate was previously issued by administrative error on the part of the commission; or
     (((6))) (f) The peace officer has interfered with an investigation or action for denial or revocation of certificate by: (((a))) (i) Knowingly making a materially false statement to the commission; or (((b))) (ii) in any matter under investigation by or otherwise before the commission, tampering with evidence or tampering with or intimidating any witness.
     (2) The commission shall deny certification of any applicant that has been offered a conditional offer of employment as a full-time or part-time commissioned peace officer or a reserve officer that has had a break of more than twenty-four consecutive months in the officer's service as a full-time law enforcement officer, if that applicant failed to successfully pass the psychological examination, the polygraph test or similar assessment procedure, or both, as administered by county, city, or state law enforcement agencies.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 43.101 RCW to read as follows:
     Before a person may be appointed or hired to act as a peace officer, the person shall meet the minimum standards for employment with the hiring local law enforcement agency, including: (1) Successful completion of a psychological examination and polygraph examination administered by county, city, or state law enforcement agencies; and (2) obtaining a certificate of basic law enforcement training or a certificate of basic law enforcement training equivalency.

Sec. 5   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 or similar assessment procedure 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.