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AN ACT relating to telecommunicators. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS 15.530 TO 15.590 IS CREATED TO 3
READ AS FOLLOWS: 4
(1) The Public Safety Telecommunicator Work Group is hereby established as an 5
independent entity to develop a new delivery format for the public safety 6
telecommunicator academy which will incorporate in-person and online training 7
components. The work group shall meet as necessary and submit to the Kentucky 8
Law Enforcement Council within one (1) year of the effective date of this section 9
a training delivery format that shall be developed and unanimously agreed upon 10
by the work group. The work group shall cease to exist after the developed 11
training delivery format is submitted to the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council 12
for approval unless the council directs its continuance. The members of the work 13
group shall not be paid or reimbursed for travel or other expenses. The work 14
group shall consist of at least one (1) member of the following entities: 15
(a) Department of Criminal Justice Training; 16
(b) Kentucky Chapter of the National Emergency Number Association: and 17
(c) Association of Public Safety Communications Officials. 18
(2) The Kentucky Law Enforcement Council shall, upon approval, implement the 19
new training delivery format developed under subsection (1) of this section for 20
the public safety telecommunicator academy on July 1, 2026. 21
Section 2. KRS 15.540 is amended to read as follows: 22
(1) An agency seeking to hire a telecommunicator[ after July 15, 2006,] shall certify to 23
the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council within ninety (90) days after the hire date 24
that[that before being employed as a telecommunicator,] the applicant: 25
(a) Is a citizen of the United States and has reached the age of majority; 26
(b) 1. Is a high school graduate, regardless of whether the school is accredited 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 2418
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or certified by a governing body, provided that the education received 1
met the attendance and curriculum standards of Kentucky law at the 2
time of graduation, as determined by the Kentucky Department of 3
Education; or 4
2. Possesses a High School Equivalency Diploma; 5
(c) Has not been convicted of a felony or other crimes involving moral turpitude 6
as determined by submission of each applicant's fingerprints to the 7
information systems section of the Department of Kentucky State Police and 8
to the Federal Bureau of Investigation identification division, and by such 9
other investigations as required by the hiring agency; 10
(d) Has taken a psychological suitability screening administered or approved by 11
the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council to determine his or her suitability to 12
perform the duties of a telecommunicator. Any agency that administers its 13
own suitability screening shall certify the results to the department; 14
(e) Has taken a polygraph examination administered or approved by the 15
Kentucky Law Enforcement Council to determine his or her suitability to 16
perform the duties of a telecommunicator. Any agency that administers its 17
own polygraph examination shall certify the results to the department; and 18
(f) Has passed a drug screening administered or approved by the Kentucky Law 19
Enforcement Council. A person shall be deemed to have passed a drug 20
screening if the results are negative for the use of an illegal controlled 21
substance or prescription drug abuse. Any agency that administers its own 22
screening shall certify passing results to the department. 23
(2) Provisions of the Open Records Act, KRS 61.870 to 61.884, to the contrary 24
notwithstanding, the applicant's home address, telephone number, date of birth, 25
Social Security number, and results of any background investigation, psychological 26
suitability screening, and polygraph examination conducted under this section shall 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 2418
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not be subject to disclosure. 1
(3) An agency that provides CJIS data using a CJIS terminal to law enforcement 2
agencies and is seeking to hire a telecommunicator after the effective date of this 3
section, shall certify the applicant through the CJIS online training program 4
before the applicant can deliver CJIS data to law enforcement. 5
(4) An agency that does not have a CJIS terminal but receives CJIS data from an 6
agency holding its originating agency identifier, shall complete the CJIS security 7
and privacy training before the applicant can deliver CJIS data to law 8
enforcement. 9
(5) If a public safety telecommunicator's only function is a call-taker at an agency 10
that has a CJIS terminal, the telecommunicator shall not be required to complete 11
the CJIS online program but shall complete the CJIS security and privacy 12
training. 13
Section 3. KRS 15.530 is amended to read as follows: 14
For the purposes of KRS 15.530 to 15.590: 15
(1) "CJIS" means the Criminal Justice Information System; 16
(2) "CJIS-full access course" means an online training program administered and 17
approved by the Kentucky State Police CJIS Services Agency[a training program 18
of forty (40) hours approved by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council]; 19
(3) ["CJIS telecommunicator" means any public employee, sworn or civilian, whose 20
primary responsibility is to dispatch law enforcement units by means of radio 21
communications for an agency that utilizes the Criminal Justice Information 22
System, and is part of or administered by the state or any political subdivision; 23
(4) ]"Commissioner" means the commissioner of the Department of Criminal Justice 24
Training; 25
(4)[(5)] "Public safety telecommunicator" or "telecommunicator" means any 26
public employee, sworn or civilian, who functions as a public safety dispatcher, 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 2418
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911 telecommunicator, or 911 call taker, whose duties and responsibilities 1
include the: 2
(a) Answering, receiving, transferring, and dispatching functions related to 911 3
calls, as the primary or secondary public service answering point or 4
emergency communication center; 5
(b) Dispatching law enforcement officers, fire rescue services, emergency 6
medical services, emergency management, and other public safety services 7
to the scene of an emergency; or 8
(c) Providing real-time information from federal, state, and local crime 9
databases; and 10
(5) "Public safety telecommunicator academy" means a training course of one 11
hundred sixty (160) hours approved by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council 12
and delivered by one (1) of the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council-approved 13
academies in the state["Non-CJIS telecommunicator" means any full-time public 14
employee, sworn or civilian, whose primary responsibility is to dispatch law 15
enforcement units by means of radio communications for an agency that does not 16
utilize the Criminal Justice Information System and is part of or administered by the 17
state or any political subdivision; 18
(6) "Non-CJIS telecommunicator academy" means a training course of one hundred 19
twenty (120) hours approved by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council; and 20
(7) "Telecommunications academy" means a training course of one hundred sixty (160) 21
hours approved by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council]. 22
Section 4. KRS 15.560 is amended to read as follows: 23
(1) All public safety telecommunicators shall complete the public safety 24
telecommunicator academy within six (6) months from the date of hire[No person 25
shall receive an official appointment on a permanent basis as a law enforcement 26
telecommunicator unless the person has previously been awarded a certificate by 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 2418
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the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council attesting to such person's satisfactory 1
completion of a non-CJIS telecommunications academy. Every person who is 2
employed after June 24, 2003, as a law enforcement telecommunicator by any law 3
enforcement agency in this state, regardless of prior experience as a non-CJIS 4
telecommunicator, shall forfeit his or her position as such unless, within twelve (12) 5
months from the date of his or her employment, he or she satisfactorily completes 6
the non-CJIS telecommunications academy and is awarded a certificate attesting 7
thereto. The council shall waive the training requirements listed in this section for 8
all law enforcement telecommunicators who are serving on July 15, 2006, and 9
possess a certificate of completion of an approved law enforcement 10
telecommunicator basic training program]. 11
(2) All[ non-CJIS] telecommunicators[, whether originally employed before or after 12
July 15, 2006,] shall successfully complete each calendar year an in-service training 13
course, appropriate to their job assignment and responsibility, of eight (8) hours' 14
duration at a school certified or recognized by the Kentucky Law Enforcement 15
Council. Each in-service training course shall include a mental health component 16
which highlights post-traumatic stress disorder and work-induced stress, including 17
symptom recognition, treatment, and available resources. 18
(3) In the event of extenuating circumstances beyond the control of a[ non-CJIS] 19
telecommunicator that prevent completion of training within the time specified, the 20
commissioner or the commissioner's designee may grant the[ non-CJIS] 21
telecommunicator an extension of time, not to exceed one hundred eighty (180) 22
days, in which to complete the training. 23
(4) A[ non-CJIS] telecommunicator who fails to complete the training within a period 24
of six (6)[twelve (12)] months and any extension of time granted under this section 25
shall be terminated by the employing agency and shall not be permitted to serve as 26
a telecommunicator with any governmental agency in the Commonwealth for a 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 2418
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period of one (1) year. 1
Section 5. KRS 15.565 is amended to read as follows: 2
(1) [No person shall receive an official appointment on a permanent basis as a CJIS 3
telecommunicator unless that person has previously been awarded a certificate by 4
the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council attesting to that person's satisfactory 5
completion of the CJIS telecommunications academy. Every person who is 6
employed after July 15, 2006, as a CJIS telecommunicator shall forfeit his or her 7
position as such unless, within six (6) months from the date of employment, that 8
person satisfactorily completes the CJIS telecommunications academy and is 9
awarded a certificate attesting thereto. The council shall waive the training 10
requirements listed in this section and award a CJIS telecommunicator certificate 11
for all CJIS telecommunicators who are serving on July 15, 2006, and have 12
successfully completed the CJIS-full access course. 13
(2) A non-CJIS telecommunicator who gains employment as a CJIS telecommunicator 14
shall successfully complete the CJIS-full access course within six (6) months from 15
the date of his or her employment. A non-CJIS telecommunicator whose employing 16
agency initiates the use of CJIS shall successfully complete the CJIS-full access 17
course within six (6) months from the date that the agency initiates the use of CJIS. 18
(3) All CJIS telecommunicators, whether originally employed before or after July 15, 19
2006, shall successfully complete each calendar year an in-service training course, 20
appropriate to their job assignment and responsibility, of eight (8) hours' duration, 21
of which the number of hours shall not be changed by the Kentucky Law 22
Enforcement Council, at a school certified or recognized by the council. Each in-23
service training course shall include a mental health component which highlights 24
post-traumatic stress disorder and work-induced stress, including symptom 25
recognition, treatment, and available resources. 26
(4) ]All[ CJIS] telecommunicators who have access to CJIS[, whether originally 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 2418
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employed before or after July 15, 2006,] shall successfully complete eight (8) hours 1
of CJIS in-service training every year[two (2) years] at a school certified or 2
recognized by the Kentucky State Police CJIS Services Agency[Kentucky Law 3
Enforcement Council]. 4
(2)[(5)] Extensions of time in which to complete the training specified in this section 5
may be granted by the commissioner of the Department of Kentucky State Police or 6
the commissioner's designee. 7
(3)[(6)] A[ CJIS] telecommunicator who has access to CJIS and fails to complete the 8
training within a period of six (6) months and any extension of time granted under 9
this section shall be terminated by the employing agency and shall not be permitted 10
to serve as a telecommunicator with any governmental agency in the 11
Commonwealth for a period of one (1) year. 12
Section 6. KRS 15.590 is amended to read as follows: 13
(1) KRS 15.530 to 15.590 shall be administered by the Kentucky Law Enforcement 14
Council, which shall promulgate administrative regulations as necessary regarding 15
training, in-service training, and telecommunications practices. 16
(2) The Kentucky Law Enforcement Council may, by administrative regulations 17
promulgated in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A, explicitly set the exact number 18
at a different number of hours from that established in KRS 15.530 required for 19
completion of the public safety telecommunicators academy[: 20
(a) Non-CJIS telecommunicators academy; and 21
(b) Telecommunications academy]. 22
If the council sets an exact number of hours at a different number from that 23
established in KRS 15.530 in an administrative regulation as set out in this 24
subsection, it shall not further change the number of hours without promulgating 25
administrative regulations in accordance with the provisions of KRS Chapter 13A 26
to set the exact number of hours required for each of the academies. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 2418
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(3) Nothing in KRS 15.530 to 15.590 shall be interpreted to permit the Kentucky Law 1
Enforcement Council to increase or decrease the eight (8) hours required to be 2
completed by telecommunicators for in-service training as established in KRS 3
15.560(2) and 15.565(1)[(3) and (4)]. 4
(4) The Kentucky Law Enforcement Council shall include mental health training and 5
resources for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and work-induced stress during 6
each in-service training for all telecommunicators. 7
(5) At the conclusion of each in-service training, a guideline for recognizing the 8
symptoms of and available treatment resources for PTSD or work-induced stress 9
shall be provided to all supervisors of telecommunicators. 10
(6) All telecommunicators shall have access to the Law Enforcement Professional 11
Development and Wellness Program established in KRS 15.158. 12
Section 7. Sections 3 to 6 of this Act take effect July 1, 2026. 13