S.B. 323
- *SB323*
SENATE BILL NO. 323–SENATORS SEEVERS GANSERT; AND
HANSEN
MARCH 20, 2023
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Referred to Committee on Government Affairs
SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to peace officers.
(BDR 23-925)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State: Yes.
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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to peace officers; requiring the Peace Officers’
Standards and Training Commission to adopt certain
regulations concerning the recruitment and selection of
category III peace officers from other states or the Federal
Government; and providing other matters properly
relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Existing law creates the Peace Officers’ Standards and Training Commission 1
and requires the Commission to adopt regulations establishing minimum standards 2
for the certification and decertification, recruitment, selection and training of peace 3
officers. (NRS 289.500, 289.510) This bill requires the Commission to adopt 4
regulations to establish standards for the reciprocity of a person from another state 5
or the Federal Government with a certification or law enforcement training 6
equivalent to a category III peace officer. 7
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. NRS 289.510 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1
289.510 1. The Commission: 2
(a) Shall meet at the call of the Chair, who must be elected by a 3
majority vote of the members of the Commission. 4
(b) Shall provide for and encourage the training and education 5
of persons whose primary duty is law enforcement to ensure the 6
safety of the residents of and visitors to this State. 7
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(c) Shall adopt regulations establishing minimum standards for 1
the certification and decertification, recruitment, selection and 2
training of peace officers. The regulations must establish: 3
(1) Requirements for evaluations to be conducted during the 4
recruitment and selection of peace officers, which must identify 5
implicit bias on the part of a peace officer on the basis of race, color, 6
religion, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual 7
orientation or gender identity or expression; 8
(2) Requirements for basic training for category I, category II 9
and category III peace officers and reserve peace officers; 10
(3) Standards for programs for the continuing education of 11
peace officers, including minimum courses of study and 12
requirements concerning attendance, which must require that all 13
peace officers annually complete not less than 12 hours of 14
continuing education in courses that address: 15
(I) Racial profiling; 16
(II) Mental health, including, without limitation, crisis 17
intervention; 18
(III) The well being of officers; 19
(IV) Implicit bias recognition; 20
(V) De-escalation; 21
(VI) Human trafficking; and 22
(VII) Firearms. 23
(4) Qualifications for instructors of peace officers; 24
(5) Requirements for the certification of a course of training; 25
[and] 26
(6) Standards for an annual behavioral wellness visit for 27
peace officers to aid in preserving the emotional and mental health 28
of the peace officer and assessing conditions that may affect the 29
performance of duties by the peace officer [.] ; and 30
(7) Standards for the reciprocity of a person who has been 31
certified as a category III peace officer or its equivalent by the 32
certifying authority of another state or who has successfully 33
completed a federal law enforcement training program that is 34
equivalent to a category III peace officer in this State. 35
(d) Shall, when necessary, present courses of training and 36
continuing education courses for category I, category II and 37
category III peace officers and reserve peace officers. 38
(e) May make necessary inquiries to determine whether the 39
agencies of this State and of the local governments are complying 40
with standards set forth in its regulations. 41
(f) Shall carry out the duties required of the Commission 42
pursuant to NRS 432B.610 and 432B.620. 43
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(g) May perform any other acts that may be necessary and 1
appropriate to the functions of the Commission as set forth in NRS 2
289.450 to 289.680, inclusive. 3
(h) May enter into an interlocal agreement with an Indian tribe 4
to provide training to and certification of persons employed as 5
police officers by that Indian tribe. 6
(i) Shall develop and approve a standard curriculum of certified 7
training programs in crisis intervention, which may be made 8
available in an electronic format, and which address specialized 9
responses to persons with mental illness and train peace officers to 10
identify the signs and symptoms of mental illness, to de-escalate 11
situations involving persons who appear to be experiencing a 12
behavioral health crisis and, if appropriate, to connect such persons 13
to treatment. A peace officer who completes any program developed 14
pursuant to this paragraph must be issued a certificate of 15
completion. 16
2. Regulations adopted by the Commission: 17
(a) Apply to all agencies of this State and of local governments 18
in this State that employ persons as peace officers; 19
(b) Must require that all peace officers receive training in the 20
handling of cases involving abuse or neglect of children or missing 21
children; 22
(c) Must require that all peace officers receive training in the 23
handling of cases involving abuse, neglect, exploitation, isolation 24
and abandonment of older persons or vulnerable persons; and 25
(d) May require that training be carried on at institutions which 26
it approves in those regulations. 27
Sec. 2. 1. This section becomes effective upon passage and 28
approval. 29
2. Section 1 of this act becomes effective: 30
(a) Upon passage and approval for the purpose of adopting any 31
regulations and performing any other preparatory administrative 32
tasks that are necessary to carry out the provisions of this act; and 33
(b) On January 1, 2024, for all other purposes. 34
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