2023 Pennsylvania Consolidated & Unconsolidated Statutes › Act 37 - MUNICIPALITIES (53 PA.C.S.) - POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMISSION

Session of 2023
No. 2023-37
HB 863
AN ACT
Amending Title 53 (Municipalities Generally) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes,
            in employees, further providing for powers and duties of commission.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1.  Section 2164(8) of Title 53 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes is amended to
            read:
§ 2164.  Powers and duties of commission.
The powers and duties of the commission shall be as follows:
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(8)  To require minimum standards for physical fitness, psychological evaluation and education
            as prerequisites to employment as a police officer.
The
following shall apply:
(i)  The minimum physical fitness standards for a school located in a city of the first
            class shall require an applicant for certification to score no lower than the 30th
            percentile of the Cooper standards, which coincides with the 30th percentile of the
            general population, for each required evaluation to be eligible for employment as
            a police officer. A school may not enroll an individual into a recruit training program
            certified by the commission unless the individual has obtained a score in the 15th
            percentile or higher for the individual's age and gender as specified in the Cooper
            standards for each required evaluation.
(ii)  Subparagraph (i) shall expire five years after the effective date of this subparagraph.
(iii)  The minimum education standards shall include a demonstration of reading comprehension
            through the use of a reading comprehension test approved by the commission. The commission
            shall:
(A)  Immediately approve two reading comprehension tests.
(B)  Evaluate additional reading comprehension tests that are submitted by a school or
            that otherwise come to the attention of the commission for review.
(C)  Provide notice of a list of approved reading comprehension tests by:
(I)  Transmitting notice of the list to the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication
            in the next available issue of the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
(II)  Posting the list on the publicly accessible Internet website of the commission.
(iv)  Within 12 months of the effective date of this subparagraph, the Joint State Government
            Commission shall issue a report to the General Assembly on the impact that the current
            minimum standards for physical fitness, psychological evaluation and education prerequisites
            to employment as a police officer may or may not have on recruitment, education and
            training of individuals to serve as police officers in jurisdictions across this Commonwealth.
            This subparagraph shall expire upon transmission of the report to the General Assembly.
            The Joint State Government Commission shall provide notice to the Legislative Reference
            Bureau that the report has been sent to the General Assembly under this subparagraph.
* * *
Section 2.  This act shall take effect immediately.
APPROVED--The 14th day of December, A.D. 2023.
JOSH SHAPIRO