(A) Every appointing authority shall
require each of its appointed peace officers and troopers to complete up to
twenty-four hours of continuing professional training each calendar
year.
(B) Effective from the date of this
amendment, every peace officer and trooper must complete the required hours of
continuing professional training each calendar year in order to carry a firearm
while on duty and perform the functions of a peace officer or trooper. The
commission shall set the required minimum number of hours based upon the
training needs and availability of funding for reimbursement.
(C) Newly certified peace officers shall
be exempt from continuing professional training requirements for the calendar
year in which the peace officer completed peace officer basic training. Newly
commissioned troopers shall be exempt from continuing professional training
requirements for the calendar year in which the trooper completed the highway
patrol cadet training program.
(D) Regardless of when a peace officer or trooper receives
an appointment during a calendar year, the peace officer or trooper is required
to complete continuing professional training for the calendar year in which the
peace officer or trooper was appointed. If a peace officer or trooper was not
appointed by any agency in a calendar year where continuing professional
training was required, the peace officer or trooper is not required to complete
continuing professional training for the calendar year or years in which the
peace officer or trooper was not appointed by any agency.
(E) Sheriffs completing training pursuant to division (B)
of section 109.80 and division (E) of section 311.01 of the Revised Code may
receive credit towards the peace officer continuing professional training
requirement as long as the training satisfies the requirements of this
chapter.
(F) Chiefs of police completing training pursuant to
division (A) of section 109.804 of the Revised Code may receive credit towards
the peace officer continuing professional training requirement as long as the
training satisfies the requirements of this chapter.
(G) Officers completing statutorily mandated training may
receive credit towards the peace officer continuing professional training
requirement for the calendar year the training is taken as long as the training
satisfies the requirements of this chapter.
(H) Peace officers and troopers may receive credit for up
to four hours of continuing professional training for time spent while on duty
providing drug use prevention education training if all of the following
requirements are met:
(1) The curricula and
lesson plans utilized must be evidenced-based.
(2) The students
instructed must be in a school district, community school established under
Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code, STEM school established under Chapter 3326.
of the Revised Code or a college-preparatory boarding school established under
Chapter 3328. of the Revised Code, and
(3) The peace officer or
trooper providing the training meets the instructor requirements found in
paragraph (A)(4)(a) of rule 109:2-18-03 of the Administrative
Code.
(I) A law enforcement agency utilizing a peace officer or
trooper to provide training described in a paragraph (H) of this rule may use
any hours in excess of four that the officer or trooper accumulates while
providing that training for other peace officers or troopers appointed by the
agency to offset the number of continuing professional training hours required.
No more than four hours of training per officer or trooper may be offset
pursuant to this paragraph.
(J) The training described in paragraph (H) of this rule
cannot be used by a peace officer, trooper, or law enforcement agency to offset
any hands-on training required by the commission.
(K) The executive director may extend the time for
completion of the continuing professional training requirements upon written
request from the appointing authority. Such request shall contain an
explanation of the emergency circumstances which created the need for the
extension. The application shall set forth the name of the peace officer or
trooper for whom the extension is requested, the emergency circumstances,
including documentation, for which the extension is requested, and the date on
which the request was submitted to the commission. Factors which may be
considered in granting or denying such requests include, but are not limited
to, serious illness of the individual or an immediate family member, prolonged
military service, or an unexpected shortage of manpower within the appointing
agency. Based upon the emergency circumstances in any given case, the executive
director may extend the required completion date. Extensions shall be for
ninety days, absent a finding by the executive director that special
circumstances exist for a longer extension.
(L) The executive director shall either grant or deny the
request for extension within thirty days after the date on which the request
was received by the commission. The executive director shall send written
notice of the decision to the appointing authority.
(M) In the event a peace officer or trooper is concurrently
appointed by more than one agency in a calendar year, the agency responsible
for documenting the training and eligibility shall be determined by order of
priority as follows: (1) full-time, (2) part-time, and (3) other. In the event
a peace officer or trooper only holds appointments of equal priority, the
agency by which the peace officer or trooper was first appointed shall be the
agency responsible for documenting the training and reimbursement
eligibility.
(N) Continuing professional training does not include
annual in-service firearms re-qualification pursuant to section 109.801 of the
Revised Code.
(O) For purposes of this rule, "hands-on
training" means
(1) Training that is not
primarily lecture-based;
(2) Training that
involves physical activity or exertion; and
(3) Training that
involves direct practical experience for the students.
