Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 31 - Public Safety › Part 101 - THE BOARD ON JAIL OFFICER STANDARDS AND TRAINING PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION POLICY AND PROCEDURES MANUAL › Chapter 1 - Applicant Evaluation, Employment and Certification Procedures › Rule 31-101-1.1 - Definitions

Current through June 25, 2024
Herein are defined certain terms used in these Policy and
				  Procedures.
1.
Administrative
				Hold
- Shall mean the withholding of all training funds and
				certification certificates due to non-compliance with Board policy or official
				requests for information.
2.
Board
- Shall mean the Board on Jail Officer Standards and
				Training.
3.
Board
				Director
- Shall mean the Director of the Office of Standards and
				Training.
4.
Break in
				Service
- Any period of time when an individual is not a detention
				officer as defined in this policy.
5.
Certificates
- Shall mean
				certificates issued only to fully qualified detention officers.
6.
Certified
- Shall mean the
				Board has acknowledged that all requirements mandated by this policy and the
				Jail Officers Training Program have been achieved and that a certificate has
				been issued as documentation of the same.
7.
Chief of Police/Sheriff
-
				Shall mean the chief law enforcement officer of the municipality/county, who
				shall have control and supervision of all detention officers employed by the
				municipality/county. The officer in charge of detention officers, regardless of
				title, is acting as the Chief of Police/Sheriff.
8.
Criminal Record
- Shall mean
				any type of felony or misdemeanor conviction. Criminal Records that are
				specific and directly related to the duties and responsibilities of a jail
				officer may only be considered when evaluating applicants. Factors to determine
				disqualifying criminal convictions are: the nature and seriousness of the crime
				for which the individual was convicted; the passage of time since the
				commission of the crime; the relationship of the crime to the ability,
				capacity, and fitness required to perform the duties and discharge the
				responsibilities of a jail officer; and any evidence of rehabilitation or
				treatment undertaken by the individual that might mitigate against a direct
				relation.
9.
Employment
				Standards -All detention officer applicants must meet the following guidelines
				to be employed as a detention officer.
They must be at least eighteen
				(18) years of age; be a high school graduate (or obtain a General Educational
				Development (GED) Diploma); be a United States citizen; be of good physical and
				mental condition, capable of performing the duties, under conditions inherent
				to the profession, as verified by a licensed physician, and be of good moral
				character as evidenced among other things by having neither a conviction, a
				plea of guilty, a plea of nolo contendere, probation, pre-trial diversion or
				the payment of any fine for a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral
				turpitude. Individuals must have been discharged from the Armed Forces under
				honorable conditions. Fitness for service as it relates to moral character must
				be verified by an appropriate background investigation.
10.
"Grand-fathered" or exempt
				detention officers
- Shall mean full-time detention officers already
				serving under permanent appointment on January 1, 2000, shall not be required
				to meet certification requirements of this section as a condition of continued
				employment; nor shall failure of any such jail officer to fulfill such
				requirements make that person ineligible for any promotional examination for
				which that person is otherwise eligible. If any jail officer certified under
				this chapter leaves his employment and does not become employed as a jail
				officer within two (2) years from the date of termination of his prior
				employment, he shall be required to comply with board policy as to rehiring
				standards in order to be employed as a jail officer.
11.
Lateral Transfer
- A
				transfer by a certified detention officer to a different law enforcement
				agency.
12.
Detention Officer
				Employer
- Shall mean the agency which employs the detention
				officer.
13.
The Board on
				Jail Officer Standards Detention Officers -
The Board on Jail Officer
				Standards and Training, by rules and regulations consistent with other
				provisions of law, shall fix other qualifications for the employment of jail
				officers, including education, physical and mental standards, citizenship, good
				moral character, experience and such other matters as relate to the competence
				and reliability of persons to assume and discharge the responsibilities of jail
				officers, and the board shall prescribe the means for presenting evidence of
				fulfillment of these requirements. Additionally, the board shall fix
				qualifications for the appointment or employment of part-time jail officers to
				essentially the same standards and requirements as jail officers. The board
				shall develop and implement a part-time jail officer training program that
				meets the same performance objectives and has essentially the same or similar
				content as the programs approved by the board for full-time jail
				officers.
14.
Detention
				Officer Trainee
- Shall mean any person appointed or employed in a
				full-time or part-time capacity by the state or any political subdivision
				thereof for the purposes of completing all the selection and training
				requirements established by the board to become a detention officer.
15.
Moral Turpitude
- Any
				conduct, or pattern of conduct, contrary to justice, honesty, honor, modesty,
				or good morals that would tend to disrupt, diminish, or otherwise jeopardize
				public trust and fidelity in law enforcement.
16.
Probationary Period
- A
				period of two years from the initial date of hire as a detention officer
				trainee, in the original appointment. The probationary period cannot be
				enlarged by additional or multiple appointments. Individuals acquire an
				additional two-year period following a break in-service of more than two
				years.
Miss Code Ann.
				  §
										45-4-1,
				  45-4-3,
				  45-4-5,
				  45-4-7,
				  45-4-9