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HB1719 • 2026

Requires law enforcement officers to receive training on officer-canine encounters and canine behaviors

Requires law enforcement officers to receive training on officer-canine encounters and canine behaviors

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
West, Richard (102)
Last action
2026-05-15
Official status
05/15/2026 - Referred: Emerging Issues(H)
Effective date
2026-08-28

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide details on whether the old rule about basic officer training hours is removed or if specific topics are included in the new training requirements.

Training Requirements for Police Officers on Canine Encounters

This law requires Missouri police officers to receive training about how to interact with dogs and understand dog behavior.

What This Bill Does

  • Adds a new rule that all police officers must get at least four hours of training on dealing with dogs and understanding canine behaviors.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Police officers who need to get licensed or re-licensed.
  • The POST commission which sets training requirements for police officers.

Terms To Know

POST Commission
A group that decides the minimum training hours and standards for becoming a police officer in Missouri.
Force Continuum Principles
Guidelines on how much force can be used in different situations, especially when dealing with dogs.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The law does not specify who will provide the training or how often officers need to take it.
  • It is unclear if this training applies only to new officers or also to those already working as police officers.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-15 Missouri House of Representatives and Missouri Senate

    Referred: Emerging Issues(H)

  2. 2026-01-08 Missouri House of Representatives and Missouri Senate

    Read Second Time (H)

  3. 2026-01-07 Missouri House of Representatives and Missouri Senate

    Read First Time (H)

  4. 2025-12-01 Missouri House of Representatives and Missouri Senate

    Prefiled (H)

Official Summary Text

Requires law enforcement officers to receive training on officer-canine encounters and canine behaviors

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 1719
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE WEST .
4922H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o repeal section 590.040, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to
peace of ficer training on canines.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 590.040, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu
2 thereof, to be known as section 590.040, to read as follows:
590.040. 1. The POST commission shall set the minimum number of hours of basic
2 training for licensure as a peace of ficer no lower than six hundred, with the following
3 exceptions:
4 (1) Up to one thousand hours may be mandated for any class of license required for
5 commission by a state law enforcement agency;
6 (2) As few as one hundred twenty hours may be mandated for any class of license
7 restricted to commission as a reserve peace of ficer with police powers limited to the
8 commissioning political subdivision;
9 (3) Persons validly licensed on August 28, 2001, may retain licensure without
10 additional basic training;
11 (4) Persons licensed and commissioned within a county of the third classification
12 before July 1, 2002, may retain licensure with one hundred twenty hours of basic training if
13 the commissioning political subdivision has adopted an order or ordinance to that effect;
14 (5) Persons serving as a reserve of ficer on August 27, 2001, within a county of the
15 first classification or a county with a charter form of government and with more than one
16 million inhabitants on August 27, 2001, having previously completed a minimum of one
17 hundred sixty hours of training, shall be granted a license necessary to function as a reserve
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
18 peace of ficer only within such county . For the purposes of this subdivision, the term "reserve
19 of ficer" shall mean any person who serves in a less than full-time law enforcement capacity ,
20 with or without pay and who, without certification, has no power of arrest and who, without
21 certification, must be under the direct and immediate accompaniment of a certified peace
22 of ficer of the same agency at all times while on duty; and
23 (6) The POST commission shall provide for the recognition of basic training received
24 at law enforcement training centers of other states, the military , the federal government and
25 territories of the United States regardless of the number of hours included in such training and
26 shall have authority to require supplemental training as a condition of eligibility for licensure.
27 2. The director shall have the authority to limit any exception provided in subsection
28 1 of this section to persons remaining in the same commission or transferring to a commission
29 in a similar jurisdiction.
30 3. The basic training of every peace of ficer , except agents of the conservation
31 commission, shall include at least thirty hours of training in the investigation and
32 management of cases involving domestic and family violence. Such training shall include
33 instruction, specific to domestic and family violence cases, regarding: report writing;
34 physical abuse, sexual abuse, child fatalities and child neglect; interviewing children and
35 alleged perpetrators; the nature, extent and causes of domestic and family violence; the safety
36 of victims, other family and household members and investigating of ficers; legal rights and
37 remedies available to victims, including rights to compensation and the enforcement of civil
38 and criminal remedies; services available to victims and their children; the effects of cultural,
39 racial and gender bias in law enforcement; and state statutes. Said curriculum shall be
40 developed and presented in consultation with the department of health and senior services, the
41 children's division, public and private providers of programs for victims of domestic and
42 family violence, persons who have demonstrated expertise in training and education
43 concerning domestic and family violence, and the Missouri coalition against domestic
44 violence.
45 4. The basic training of every peace of ficer first licensed on or after August 28, 2027,
46 shall include at least six hours of training concerning the prohibition against racial profiling
47 and such training shall promote understanding and respect for racial and cultural dif ferences
48 and the use of ef fective, noncombative methods for carrying out law enforcement duties in a
49 racially and culturally diverse environment. Such training shall include two hours of racial
50 profiling training, two hours of implicit bias training, and two hours of de-escalation training.
51 5. The basic training of every peace officer shall include at least four hours of
52 training on officer -canine encounters and canine behaviors. Such training shall include
53 instruction on the following:
54 (1) Understanding and anticipating canine behavior;
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55 (2) Handling canine-r elated calls and unplanned encounters with canines;
56 (3) The use of humane methods and tools in handling canine encounters;
57 (4) State laws rel ating to canines;
58 (5) The use of for ce continuum principles in rel ation to canines; and
59 (6) The use of nonlethal methods to avoid and defend against potential canine
60 attacks.
✔
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