Mo. Rev. Stat. § 590.040 — MO Code / Chapter 590 / Section 590.040
590.040 Minimum hours of basic training required.
Status: in_force

590.040. Minimum hours of basic training required. — 1. The POST commission shall set the minimum number of hours of basic training for licensure as a peace officer no lower than six hundred, with the following exceptions:

(1) Up to one thousand hours may be mandated for any class of license required for commission by a state law enforcement agency;

(2) As few as one hundred twenty hours may be mandated for any class of license restricted to commission as a reserve peace officer with police powers limited to the commissioning political subdivision;

(3) Persons validly licensed on August 28, 2001, may retain licensure without additional basic training;

(4) Persons licensed and commissioned within a county of the third classification before July 1, 2002, may retain licensure with one hundred twenty hours of basic training if the commissioning political subdivision has adopted an order or ordinance to that effect;

(5) Persons serving as a reserve officer on August 27, 2001, within a county of the first classification or a county with a charter form of government and with more than one million inhabitants on August 27, 2001, having previously completed a minimum of one hundred sixty hours of training, shall be granted a license necessary to function as a reserve peace officer only within such county. For the purposes of this subdivision, the term "reserve officer" shall mean any person who serves in a less than full-time law enforcement capacity, with or without pay and who, without certification, has no power of arrest and who, without certification, must be under the direct and immediate accompaniment of a certified peace officer of the same agency at all times while on duty; and

(6) The POST commission shall provide for the recognition of basic training received at law enforcement training centers of other states, the military, the federal government and territories of the United States regardless of the number of hours included in such training and shall have authority to require supplemental training as a condition of eligibility for licensure.

2. The director shall have the authority to limit any exception provided in subsection 1 of this section to persons remaining in the same commission or transferring to a commission in a similar jurisdiction.

3. The basic training of every peace officer, except agents of the conservation commission, shall include at least thirty hours of training in the investigation and management of cases involving domestic and family violence. Such training shall include instruction, specific to domestic and family violence cases, regarding: report writing; physical abuse, sexual abuse, child fatalities and child neglect; interviewing children and alleged perpetrators; the nature, extent and causes of domestic and family violence; the safety of victims, other family and household members and investigating officers; legal rights and remedies available to victims, including rights to compensation and the enforcement of civil and criminal remedies; services available to victims and their children; the effects of cultural, racial and gender bias in law enforcement; and state statutes. Said curriculum shall be developed and presented in consultation with the department of health and senior services, the children's division, public and private providers of programs for victims of domestic and family violence, persons who have demonstrated expertise in training and education concerning domestic and family violence, and the Missouri coalition against domestic violence.

4. The basic training of every peace officer first licensed on or after August 28, 2027, shall include at least six hours of training concerning the prohibition against racial profiling and such training shall promote understanding and respect for racial and cultural differences and the use of effective, noncombative methods for carrying out law enforcement duties in a racially and culturally diverse environment. Such training shall include two hours of racial profiling training, two hours of implicit bias training, and two hours of de-escalation training.

(L. 2001 H.B. 80, A.L. 2005 H.B. 353, A.L. 2007 H.B. 41, A.L. 2014 H.B. 1299 Revision, A.L. 2023 S.B. 186, A.L. 2025 H.B. 495) Severability clause, see § 1.1001