2018 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 24 - Government - State
Principal Departments
Article 31 - Department of Law
Part 3 - Peace Officers Standards and Training
§ 24-31-303. Duties - powers of the P.O.S.T. board
(1) The P.O.S.T. board has the following duties:
(a) To approve and to revoke the approval of training programs and training academies, and to establish reasonable standards pertaining to such approval and revocation;
(b) To conduct periodic evaluations of training programs and inspections of training academies;
(c) To establish procedures for determining whether or not an applicant has met the standards which have been set;
(d) To certify qualified applicants and withhold, suspend, or revoke certification;
(e) To certify inspectors of vehicle identification numbers, promulgate rules deemed necessary by the board for certification of inspectors of vehicle identification numbers, and approve related training courses;
(f) To require a background investigation of each applicant by means of fingerprint checks through the Colorado bureau of investigation and the federal bureau of investigation or such other means as the P.O.S.T. board deems necessary for such investigation;
(g) To promulgate rules and regulations deemed necessary by such board for the certification of applicants to serve as peace officers or reserve peace officers in the state pursuant to the provisions of article 4 of this title;
(h) To establish standards for training in bail recovery practices;
(i) To promulgate rules and regulations that establish the criteria that shall be applied in determining whether to recommend peace officer status for a group or specific position as provided in section 16-2.5-201 (4), C.R.S.;
(j) To establish standards for training of school resource officers, as described in section 24-31-312;
(k) To establish training standards to prepare law enforcement officers to recognize and address incidents of abuse and exploitation of at-risk elders, as described in sections 18-6.5-102 (1) and (10), C.R.S.;
(l) To promulgate rules deemed necessary by the board concerning annual in-service training requirements for certified peace officers, including but not limited to evaluation of the training program and processes to ensure substantial compliance by law enforcement agencies and departments;
(m) In addition to all other powers conferred and imposed upon the board in this article, the board has the power and duty to adopt and promulgate, under the provisions of section 24-4-103, rules as the board may deem necessary or proper to carry out the provisions and purposes of this article, which rules must be fair, impartial, and nondiscriminatory;
(n) To complete a review and evaluation of the basic academy curriculum, including using community outreach as a review and evaluation component, by July 1, 2016, and every five years thereafter;
(o) (I) To establish, add, and remove, as necessary, subject matter expertise committees to:
(A) Develop skills training programs, academic curriculums, and P.O.S.T. board rules;
(B) Review documents for and approve or deny academy programs, lesson plans, training sites, and skills instructors; and
(C) Assist P.O.S.T.board staff with academy inspections and skills test-outs;
(II) (A) In order to create diversified subject matter expertise committees, the chair of the P.O.S.T. board shall consider an applicant's age, gender, race, professional experience, and geographic location when making appointments to the committees.
(B) If available, each subject matter committee shall include at least two non-law enforcement members who have law enforcement expertise or expertise in providing effective training through professional experience or subject matter training.
(p) To develop a community outreach program that informs the public of the role and duties of the P.O.S.T. board; and
(q) To develop a recruitment program that creates a diversified applicant pool for appointments to the P.O.S.T. board and the subject matter expertise committees.
(2) (a) The P.O.S.T. board may charge the following fees, the proceeds of which may be used to support the certification of applicants pursuant to this part 3:
(I) For the manuals or other materials that the board may publish in connection with its functions, an amount not to exceed twenty dollars per publication; and
(II) For the administration of certification and skills examinations, an amount not to exceed one hundred fifty dollars per examination per applicant.
(b) There is hereby created in the state treasury a P.O.S.T. board cash fund. The fees collected pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (2) and pursuant to section 42-3-304 (24), C.R.S., shall be transmitted to the state treasurer who shall credit such revenue to the P.O.S.T. board cash fund. It is the intent of the general assembly that the fees collected shall cover all direct and indirect costs incurred pursuant to this section. In accordance with section 24-36-114, all interest derived from the deposit and investment of moneys in the P.O.S.T. board cash fund shall be credited to the general fund. All moneys in the P.O.S.T. board cash fund shall be subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly and shall be used for the purposes set forth in this subsection (2) and in section 24-31-310. At the end of any fiscal year, all unexpended and unencumbered moneys in the P.O.S.T. board cash fund shall remain in the fund and shall not revert to the general fund or any other fund.
(3) The P.O.S.T. board may make grants to local governments, any college or university, or any nonprofit for the purpose of funding the training programs required by this section.
(4) (Deleted by amendment, L. 98, p. 749, § 2, effective May 22, 1998.)
(5) It is unlawful for any person to serve as a peace officer, as described in section 16-2.5-102, C.R.S., or a reserve peace officer as defined in section 16-2.5-110, C.R.S., in this state unless such person:
(a) Is certified pursuant to this part 3; and
(b) Has undergone both a physical and a psychological evaluation to determine such person's fitness to serve as a peace officer or a reserve peace officer. Such evaluations shall have been performed within one year prior to the date of appointment by a physician and either a psychologist or psychiatrist licensed by the state of Colorado.
(6) Repealed.
