SB 66

Under existing law, applicants for appointment as law enforcement officers are required to be graduates of State Department of Education accredited or approved high schools or to possess a high school equivalency certificate issued by general educational development

This bill would include graduation from a nonpublic education program as qualifying education for applying to become a law enforcement officer in the state

To amend Section 36-21-46, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to the Peace Officers' Standards and Training Commission; to provide that graduation from a nonpublic education program satisfies the education component for an applicant to become a law enforcement officer in the state.

Section 1

Section 36-21-46 of the Code of Alabama 1975, is amended to read as follows:

§36-21-46.

(a) The standards provided in this subsection shall apply to applicants and appointees as law enforcement officers. No city, town, county, sheriff, constable, or other employer shall employ any applicant unless the person submits to the appointing authority an application for employment verified by affidavit of the applicant and showing compliance with the following qualifications:

(1) AGE. The applicant shall be not less than 19 years of age at the time of appointment.

(2) EDUCATION. The applicant shall be a graduate of a high school accredited with or approved by the State Department of Education or, shall be the holder of a certificate of high school equivalency issued by general educational development, or shall be a graduate of nonpublic education including, but not limited to, a private, church, parochial, or religious school or a home-school program.

(3) TRAINING. Prior to certification, the applicant shall complete the required course of training established by the commission. An applicant may be provisionally appointed for a period of six months. No individual may be employed for an additional period until that individual is certified by the commission.

(4) PHYSICAL QUALIFICATIONS. The applicant shall be certified by a licensed physician designated as satisfactory by the appointing authority as in good health and physically fit for the performance of the duties of a law enforcement officer.

(5) CHARACTER. The applicant shall be a person of good moral character and reputation. In making this determination, the commission shall consider convictions for misdemeanors and other factors set forth in its duly adopted and promulgated rules. No person who has been convicted of a felony shall be certified, employed, appointed, or approved by the commission as a law enforcement officer.

(b) The foregoing requirements shall not apply to any person who is presently employed as a law enforcement officer in the state and who continues to be so employed when he or she makes application for or is employed as a law enforcement officer in a different capacity or for a different employer."

Section 2

This act shall become effective on the first day of the third month following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.