CHAPTER 128
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CHAPTER 128
( HB 79 )
AN ACT relating to mental health.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
Section 1. KRS 15.518 is amended to read as follows:
(1) As used in this section, unless the context requires otherwise:
(a) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the department;
(b) "Department" means the Department of Criminal Justice Training of the Justice and Public Safety
Cabinet;
(c) "Fund" means the Law Enforcement Professional Development and Wellness Program fund established
in subsection (8) of this section; and
(d) "Program" means the Law Enforcement Professional Development and Wellness Program established
in this section.
(2) The department shall develop a Law Enforcement Professional Development and Wellness Program.
(3) The program shall use seminar-based peer support and counseling services designed to reduce negative mental
and behavioral health outcomes.
(4) The program shall be offered to Kentucky law enforcement officers and telecommunicators at least two (2)
times each calendar year.
(5) On a limited basis, the program may be offered to law enforcement officers from states other than Kentucky
upon application to and approval by the commissioner. However, no Kentucky law enforcement officer or
telecommunicator[officers] may be denied admission to the program if law enforcement officers from another
state are admitted to the program.
(6) The department shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A to
implement this section. The administrative regulations shall address, at a minimum:
(a) The required qualifications and duties of any person used by the department to implement or administer
the program;
(b) The curriculum, programming, seminar type, and treatment modalities used in the program;
(c) The extent to which a participant's[participating officer's] relatives or friends may participate in
seminars;
(d) The standards by which law enforcement officers from other states may be accepted into the program
by the commissioner; and
(e) A protocol for establishing reciprocity for interagency assistance with other state, federal, and tribal law
enforcement agencies and officers in administering the program.
(7) (a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subsection, communications, identifying data, and
any reports made in the application for or in the course of an officer's or telecommunicator's
participation in the program shall be confidential and privileged from disclosure in any civil or criminal
proceeding and shall not be subject to discovery, disclosure, or production upon the order or subpoena
of a court or other agency with subpoena power, regardless of who possesses them. The participating
officer or telecommunicator is the holder of the privilege.
(b) The department may use anonymous data for research, statistical analysis, and educational purposes.
(c) Any communication making an actual threat of physical violence against a clearly identified or
reasonably identifiable victim or an actual threat of some specific violent act may be revealed by the
program in order to prevent the commission of any physical violence or violent act using the protocol
established in KRS 202A.400. ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2
(8) (a) There is hereby established in the State Treasury a restricted fund to be known as the Law Enforcement
Professional Development and Wellness Program fund.
(b) The fund shall consist of moneys received from the Kentucky Law Enforcement Foundation Program
fund established in KRS 15.430, grants, gifts, state appropriations, and federal funds.
(c) The fund shall be administered by the department.
(d) Amounts deposited in the fund shall be used only for administration of the program.
(e) Notwithstanding KRS 45.229, fund amounts not expended at the close of a fiscal year shall not lapse
but shall be carried forward to the next fiscal year.
(f) Any interest earnings of the fund shall become a part of the fund and shall not lapse.
(g) Moneys deposited in the fund are hereby appropriated for the purposes set forth in this section and shall
not be appropriated or transferred by the General Assembly for any other purposes.
Section 2. KRS 15.550 is amended to read as follows:
(1) The basic course offered by the training program shall consist of no less than forty (40) hours of instruction or
training and shall consist of subjects appropriate for the basic training of law enforcement telecommunicators
in the technique of emergency services communications. The Kentucky Law Enforcement Council shall
approve all training curriculum and instructions.
(2) As a portion of the basic course offered, all telecommunicators who receive or dispatch emergency medical
service calls shall be trained in:
(a) Telephone cardiopulmonary resuscitation (T-CPR) utilizing nationally recognized emergency
cardiovascular care guidelines. At a minimum this training shall incorporate recognition protocols for
out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, compression-only CPR instructions for callers, and continuing education
as appropriate; and
(b) Recognizing the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). At a minimum, this training
shall include guidelines for identifying the symptoms of PTSD and provide a resource guide of
available services for treatment.
(3) Online training modules based on nationally recognized guidelines that at a minimum incorporate recognition
protocols for out of hospital cardiac arrest and compression-only CPR shall be acceptable for
telecommunicators who have not been through the training academies or who are not otherwise certified in
these protocols.
(4) The Kentucky Law Enforcement Council shall incorporate mental health training, with a primary focus on
PTSD, into the telecommunicators training program and maintain a current resource list for all
telecommunicators and their supervisors about the management and treatment of PTSD and work-induced
stress.
Section 3. KRS 15.560 is amended to read as follows:
(1) No person shall receive an official appointment on a permanent basis as a law enforcement telecommunicator
unless the person has previously been awarded a certificate by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council
attesting to such person's satisfactory completion of a non-CJIS telecommunications academy. Every person
who is employed after June 24, 2003, as a law enforcement telecommunicator by any law enforcement agency
in this state, regardless of prior experience as a non-CJIS telecommunicator, shall forfeit his or her position as
such unless, within twelve (12) months from the date of his or her employment, he or she satisfactorily
completes the non-CJIS telecommunications academy and is awarded a certificate attesting thereto. The
council shall waive the training requirements listed in this section for all law enforcement telecommunicators
who are serving on July 15, 2006, and possess a certificate of completion of an approved law enforcement
telecommunicator basic training program.
(2) All non-CJIS telecommunicators, whether originally employed before or after July 15, 2006, shall successfully
complete each calendar year an in-service training course, appropriate to their job assignment and
responsibility, of eight (8) hours' duration at a school certified or recognized by the Kentucky Law
Enforcement Council. Each in-service training course shall include a mental health component which
highlights post-traumatic stress disorder and work-induced stress, including symptom recognition,
treatment, and available resources. CHAPTER 128
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(3) In the event of extenuating circumstances beyond the control of a non-CJIS telecommunicator that prevent
completion of training within the time specified, the commissioner or the commissioner's designee may grant
the non-CJIS telecommunicator an extension of time, not to exceed one hundred eighty (180) days, in which to
complete the training.
(4) A non-CJIS telecommunicator who fails to complete the training within a period of twelve (12) months and
any extension of time granted under this section shall be terminated by the employing agency and shall not be
permitted to serve as a telecommunicator with any governmental agency in the Commonwealth for a period of
one (1) year.
Section 4. KRS 15.565 is amended to read as follows:
(1) No person shall receive an official appointment on a permanent basis as a CJIS telecommunicator unless that
person has previously been awarded a certificate by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council attesting to that
person's satisfactory completion of the CJIS telecommunications academy. Every person who is employed
after July 15, 2006, as a CJIS telecommunicator shall forfeit his or her position as such unless, within six (6)
months from the date of employment, that person satisfactorily completes the CJIS telecommunications
academy and is awarded a certificate attesting thereto. The council shall waive the training requirements listed
in this section and award a CJIS telecommunicator certificate for all CJIS telecommunicators who are serving
on July 15, 2006, and have successfully completed the CJIS-full access course.
(2) A non-CJIS telecommunicator who gains employment as a CJIS telecommunicator shall successfully complete
the CJIS-full access course within six (6) months from the date of his or her employment. A non-CJIS
telecommunicator whose employing agency initiates the use of CJIS shall successfully complete the CJIS-full
access course within six (6) months from the date that the agency initiates the use of CJIS.
(3) All CJIS telecommunicators, whether originally employed before or after July 15, 2006, shall successfully
complete each calendar year an in-service training course, appropriate to their job assignment and
responsibility, of eight (8) hours' duration, of which the number of hours shall not be changed by the Kentucky
Law Enforcement Council, at a school certified or recognized by the council. Each in-service training course
shall include a mental health component which highlights post-traumatic stress disorder and work-induced
stress, including symptom recognition, treatment, and available resources.
(4) All CJIS telecommunicators, whether originally employed before or after July 15, 2006, shall successfully
complete eight (8) hours of CJIS in-service training every two (2) years at a school certified or recognized by
the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council.
(5) Extensions of time in which to complete the training specified in this section may be granted by the
commissioner of the Department of Kentucky State Police or the commissioner's designee.
(6) A CJIS telecommunicator who fails to complete the training within a period of six (6) months and any
extension of time granted under this section shall be terminated by the employing agency and shall not be
permitted to serve as a telecommunicator with any governmental agency in the Commonwealth for a period of
one (1) year.
Section 5. KRS 15.590 is amended to read as follows:
(1) KRS 15.530 to 15.590 shall be administered by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council, which shall
promulgate administrative regulations as necessary regarding training, in-service training, and
telecommunications practices.
(2) The Kentucky Law Enforcement Council may, by administrative regulations promulgated in accordance with
KRS Chapter 13A, explicitly set the exact number at a different number of hours from that established in KRS
15.530 required for completion of the:
(a) Non-CJIS telecommunicators academy; and
(b) Telecommunications academy.
If the council sets an exact number of hours at a different number from that established in KRS 15.530 in an
administrative regulation as set out in this subsection, it shall not further change the number of hours without
promulgating administrative regulations in accordance with the provisions of KRS Chapter 13A to set the
exact number of hours required for each of the academies. ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 4
(3) Nothing in KRS 15.530 to 15.590 shall be interpreted to permit the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council to
increase or decrease the eight (8) hours required to be completed by telecommunicators for in-service training
as established in KRS 15.560(2) and 15.565(3) and (4).
(4) The Kentucky Law Enforcement Council shall include mental health training and resources for post-
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and work-induced stress during each in-service training for all
telecommunicators.
(5) At the conclusion of each in-service training, a guideline for recognizing the symptoms of and available
treatment resources for PTSD or work-induced stress shall be provided to all supervisors of
telecommunicators.
(6) All telecommunicators shall have access to the Law Enforcement Professional Development and Wellness
Program established in Section 1 of this Act.
Section 6. This Act may be cited as the Lifeliner's Act.
Signed by Governor April 8, 2022.