2013 Arizona Revised Statutes
Title 38 - Public Officers and Employees
§ 38-1109 Law enforcement officers; probation officers; fitness for duty examinations; rights of officers; definitions

38-1109. Law enforcement officers; probation officers; fitness for duty examinations; rights of officers; definitions

A. An employer may order a law enforcement officer or probation officer to submit to a physical examination only if the law enforcement officer or probation officer has acted or failed to act in an observable manner that indicates that there is a physical condition materially limiting the law enforcement officer's or probation officer's ability to perform the essential functions of the law enforcement officer's or probation officer's job within the law enforcement officer's or probation officer's job description. The order shall state all of the specific objective facts on which the order for the physical exam is based except that the order may omit the specific names of individuals who reported the law enforcement officer's or probation officer's conduct to the supervisor.

B. The order shall provide at least ten days' notice to the law enforcement officer or probation officer to be examined and shall specify the time, place, manner, conditions and scope of the examination and the person or persons who will conduct the examination. The law enforcement officer or probation officer to be examined may have a representative present during the examination if the physician conducting the examination agrees.

C. The employer shall provide the law enforcement officer or probation officer with the final report of the examination containing the medical professional's findings. The employer may provide any additional information related to the fitness for duty examination to the examining physician.

D. The report shall be provided only to the employer and the law enforcement officer or probation officer and shall not be provided to any other person except as required for any subsequent appeal or certification action involving the law enforcement officer or probation officer. The employer shall provide notice to the law enforcement officer or probation officer that the report has been received by the employer. The report shall be provided to the law enforcement officer or probation officer immediately if the law enforcement officer or probation officer presents the final report of an independent medical examination or if the law enforcement officer or probation officer waives any right to request an independent medical examination. If the law enforcement officer or probation officer does not present the results of an independent medical examination within twenty days after the employer provides the law enforcement officer or probation officer notice that the report has been received by the employer, the law enforcement officer or probation officer is deemed to have waived the right to present the results of the independent medical examination.

E. The employer shall make a reasonable good faith effort to deliver the report to the law enforcement officer or probation officer.

F. The physician may consider and report on only the law enforcement officer's or probation officer's medical or other records that are directly relevant to the actions in question and when conducting the examination, including medical records that record preexisting conditions that are relevant to the examination. The physician may additionally consider and report any condition of the law enforcement officer or probation officer that the physician identifies during the course of the physical examination and that endangers the safety of the law enforcement officer or probation officer or the community.

G. The employer shall not take any final action until after the law enforcement officer or probation officer has had at least twenty days to review the report unless the law enforcement officer or probation officer waives the twenty-day period or the employer grants an extension.

H. This section does not prohibit the preexamination materials from being used in any proceeding held pursuant to section 38-1101.

I. Providing the preexamination materials to the person conducting the independent examination of the law enforcement officer or probation officer does not change the disclosure requirements under section 38-1101.

J. This section does not diminish any rights of a law enforcement officer or probation officer that exist in this title and does not preempt agreements that supplant, revise or otherwise alter the provisions of this section, including preexisting agreements between employers and law enforcement officers or probation officers or the law enforcement officer's or probation officer's lawful representative association.

K. For the purposes of this section:

1. " Independent medical examination" means an assessment that is requested by a law enforcement officer or probation officer, that is conducted by a physician who is licensed pursuant to title 32, chapter 13 or 17 and that is used to provide a second, independent opinion of a current law enforcement officer or probation officer who has been determined to not be able to perform essential functions of the job as a result of observation and a subsequent employer-ordered physical examination.

2. " Law enforcement officer" means:

(a) A regularly employed and paid individual, other than a probationary employee, who is certified by the Arizona peace officer standards and training board and who is working in a position requiring certification by the Arizona peace officer standards and training board, other than a person employed by a multi-county water conservation district, an at-will employee or a voluntary or reserve employee.

(b) A corrections officer or detention officer, excluding a juvenile detention officer, who is employed by this state or a political subdivision of this state.

3. " Preexamination materials" means all information or materials that the employer gives to the physician who conducts the physical examination and that serve as the basis for the examination.

4. " Probation officer" means a probation officer or surveillance officer, other than a probationary employee, who is employed by this state or a political subdivision of this state.