Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 501 - Law Enforcement Academy › Chapter 3 - Certification of Law Enforcement Officers › Rule 501-3.1 - Certification Through Training Required for All Law Enforcement Officers

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
(1) All law enforcement officers must be
			 certified through the successful completion of training at an approved law
			 enforcement training facility in order to remain eligible for employment. As a
			 condition precedent to enrollment in a certifying training program, the Iowa
			 law enforcement academy must be provided with verification by the enrollee's
			 hiring agency that the minimum standards for Iowa law enforcement officers have
			 been met as provided in rule 501-2.1 (80B), except for a person elected or
			 appointed as sheriff who may choose to be exempted from the requirement of
			 subrule 2.1(6), and may determine not to participate in physical training and
			 who shall then be eligible only for certification as provided in subrule
			 3.1(2). Officers must be certified within one year of their employment, except
			 sheriffs who must be certified within one year of taking office. (See rule
			 501-3.8 (80B) for certification by testing requirements.)
(2) A person elected or appointed sheriff who
			 otherwise successfully completes a basic training course except for the
			 physical training requirements, as provided by Iowa Code section 331.651(1),
			 shall be granted certification limited to and valid only for the position of
			 sheriff of the county in which the person was elected or appointed.
(3) The academy council may, at the council's
			 discretion, extend the one-year time period in which an officer must become
			 certified for up to 180 days after a showing of "undue hardship" by the officer
			 or the officer's hiring agency. To be considered for an extension of the
			 one-year certification period, the person or agency requesting the extension
			 must initiate the request in writing, not less than 10 days prior to the
			 council meeting at which it is to be discussed, and then make a presentation to
			 the council at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the council. Extensions
			 shall not be liberally granted and shall only be granted after a showing that
			 all other alternatives to an extension have been considered and
			 rejected.
(4) In accordance with
			 Iowa Code section 80B.17, the one-year time period in which an officer must
			 become certified is automatically extended for up to 180 days for an officer
			 who is enrolled in training within 12 months of initial appointment. For
			 purposes of this subrule, "enrolled" means physically present in and currently
			 attending a basic certification training class.
(5) The time period within which a person
			 must achieve certification as a law enforcement officer in the state of Iowa as
			 specified in rule 501-3.1 (80B) shall commence on the day a person is first
			 employed as a regular law enforcement officer in the state of Iowa. Any
			 subsequent changes in a law enforcement officer's employment status, including
			 transfers to a different employing agency, shall not toll or otherwise extend
			 the certification period.
(6)
			 Should a person employed as a law enforcement officer fail to achieve
			 certification within the time period or any extensions allowed by rule
			 501-3.1 (80B), that person shall not be eligible for employment as and shall not
			 serve as a regular or a reserve law enforcement officer in the state of Iowa
			 for a period of not less than 12 months from the date the time period in which
			 to achieve certification specified in rule 501-3.1 (80B) expired, or from the
			 date that the person was last employed as a regular law enforcement officer in
			 the state of Iowa, whichever comes first.