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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 3148
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE ANDERSON.
6925H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o repeal sections 84.120, 84.570, and 590.030, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof three new
sections relating to citizenship requirements for law enforcement of ficers.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 84.120, 84.570, and 590.030, RSMo, are repealed and three new
2 sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 84.120, 84.570, and 590.030, to read
3 as follows:
84.120. 1. (1) No person shall be appointed or employed as policeman, turnkey , or
2 of ficer of police who shall have been convicted of, or against whom any indictment may be
3 pending, for any of fense, the punishment of which may be confinement in the penitentiary[ ;
4 nor ] . No person shall [ any person ] be so appointed who is not of good character , [ or who is
5 not a citizen of the United States, ] or who is not able to read and write the English language,
6 or who does not possess ordinary physical strength and courage. The patrolmen and turnkeys
7 hereafter appointed shall serve while they shall faithfully perform their duties and possess
8 mental and physical ability and be subject to removal only for cause after a hearing by the
9 boards, who are hereby invested with the jurisdiction in the premises.
10 (2) Any person appointed or employed as a policeman, turnkey , or officer of
11 police shall be a citizen of the United States or shall be a lawful permanent res ident of
12 the United States who has been honorably discharged fr om the Armed For ces of the
13 United States.
14 2. The board shall have the sole discretion whether to delegate portions of its
15 jurisdiction to hearing of ficers. The board shall retain final and ultimate authority over such
16 matters and over the person to whom the delegation may be made. In any hearing before the
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.
17 board under this section, the member involved may make application to the board to waive a
18 hearing before the board and request that a hearing be held before a hearing of ficer .
19 3. Nothing in this section or chapter shall be construed to prohibit the board of police
20 commissioners from delegating any task related to disciplinary matters, disciplinary hearings,
21 or any other hearing or proceeding which could otherwise be heard by the board or
22 concerning any determination related to whether an officer is able to perform the necessary
23 functions of the position. T asks related to the preceding matter may be delegated by the board
24 to a hearing officer under the provisions of subsection 4 of this section.
25 4. (1) The hearing of ficer to whom a delegation has been made by the board may , at
26 the sole discretion of the board, perform certain functions, including but not limited to the
27 following:
28 (a) Presiding over a disciplinary matter from its inception through to the final hearing;
29 (b) Preparing a report to the board of police commissioners; and
30 (c) Making recommendations to the board of police commissioners as to the
31 allegations and the appropriateness of the recommended discipline.
32 (2) The board shall promulgate rules, which may be changed from time to time as
33 determined by the board, and shall make such rules known to the hearing of ficer or others.
34 (3) The board shall at all times retain the authority to render the final decision after a
35 review of the relevant documents, evidence, transcripts, videotaped testimony , or report
36 prepared by the hearing of ficer .
37 5. Hearing of ficers shall be selected in the following manner:
38 (1) The board shall establish a panel of not less than five persons, all who are to be
39 licensed attorneys in good standing with the Missouri Bar . The composition of the panel may
40 change from time to time at the board's discretion;
41 (2) From the panel, the relevant member or of ficer and a police department
42 representative shall alternatively and independently strike names from the list with the last
43 remaining name being the designated hearing of ficer . The board shall establish a process to
44 be utilized for each hearing which will determine which party makes the first strike and the
45 process may change from time to time;
46 (3) After the hearing of ficer is chosen and presides over a matter , such hearing of ficer
47 shall become ineligible until all hearing of ficers listed have been utilized, at which time the
48 list shall renew , subject to of ficers' availability .
49 6. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the board of police
50 commissioners to remove or dischar ge any chief, as that term is defined in section 106.273.
84.570. 1. (1) No person shall be appointed policeman or of ficer of police who shall
2 have been convicted of any of fense, the punishment of which may be confinement in the state
3 penitentiary[ ; nor ] . No person shall [ any person ] be appointed who is not proven to be of
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4 good character , [ or who is not proven to be a bona fide citizen of the United States, ] or who
5 cannot read and write the English language and who does not possess ordinary physical
6 strength and courage, nor shall any person be originally appointed to said police force who is
7 less than twenty-one years of age. Notwithstanding any other provision of law , the board
8 shall have the sole authority to determine conditions of employment for police of ficers
9 pursuant to section 84.460.
10 (2) Any person appointed as a policeman or officer of police shall be a citizen of
11 the United States or shall be a lawful permanent res ident of the United States who has
12 been honorably discharged fr om the Armed For ces of the United States.
13 2. In the interest of efficien cy and public safety , law enforcement of ficers, as such
14 term is defined in 29 U.S.C. Section 630 or any successor statute, shall be separated from
15 service on the last day of the month in which the employee becomes sixty-five years of age or
16 reaches thirty-five years of creditable service, as such term is defined in subdivision (8) of
17 section 86.900, whichever occurs later .
18 3. The board shall from time to time require open competitive examinations or tests
19 for determining the qualifications and fitness of all applicants for appointment to positions on
20 the police force. Such examinations and tests shall be practical and shall relate to matters
21 which fairly measure the relative fitness of the candidates to dischar ge the duties of the
22 positions to which they seek to be appointed. Notice of such examinations and tests shall be
23 given not less than ten days in advance thereof by public advertisement in at least one
24 newspaper of general circulation in such city , and by posting notice in the police headquarters
25 building. A list of those qualifying in such examinations shall be established, listing those
26 qualified in order of rank. When an appointment is to be made, the appointment shall be
27 made from such eligible list.
28 4. The board shall also establish rules for:
29 (1) T emporary employment for not exceeding sixty days in the absence of any
30 eligible list;
31 (2) Hours of work of police employees and of ficers subject to the provisions of
32 section 84.510; and
33 (3) Attendance regulations and leaves of absence.
590.030. 1. The POST commission shall establish minimum standards for the basic
2 training of peace of ficers. Such standards may vary for each class of license established
3 pursuant to subsection 2 of section 590.020.
4 2. The director shall establish minimum age, citizenship, and general education
5 requirements and may require a qualifying score on a certification examination as conditions
6 of eligibility for a peace of ficer license. Such general education requirements shall require
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7 completion of a high school program of education under chapter 167 or obtainment of a
8 General Educational Development (GED) certificate.
9 3. The director shall provide for the licensure, with or without additional basic
10 training, of peace of ficers possessing credentials by other states or jurisdictions, including
11 federal and military law enforcement of ficers.
12 4. The director shall establish a procedure for obtaining a peace of ficer license and
13 shall issue the proper license when the requirements of this chapter have been met.
14 5. As conditions of licensure, all licensed peace of ficers shall:
15 (1) Obtain continuing law enforcement education pursuant to rules to be promulgated
16 by the POST commission;
17 (2) Maintain a current address of record on file with the director; and
18 (3) Submit to being fingerprinted on or before January 1, 2022, and at any time a
19 peace officer is commissioned with a dif ferent law enforcement agency , for the purposes of a
20 criminal history background check and enrollment in the state and federal Rap Back
21 programs, pursuant to section 43.540. The criminal history background check shall include
22 the records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The resulting report shall be forwarded to
23 the of ficer's commissioning law enforcement agency at the time of enrollment and Rap Back
24 enrollment shall be for the purpose of the requirements of subsection 3 of section 590.070 and
25 subsection 2 of section 590.1 18. An of ficer shall take all necessary steps to maintain
26 enrollment in Rap Back at all law enforcement agencies where the of ficer is commissioned
27 for as long as the of ficer is commissioned with a law enforcement agency or that agency .
28 6. A peace of ficer license shall automatically expire if the licensee fails to hold a
29 commission as a peace of ficer for a period of five consecutive years, provided that the POST
30 commission shall provide for the relicensure of such persons and may require retraining as a
31 condition of eligibility for relicensure, and provided that the director may provide for the
32 continuing licensure, subject to restrictions, of persons who hold and exercise a law
33 enforcement commission requiring a peace of ficer license but not meeting the definition of a
34 peace of ficer pursuant to this chapter .
35 7. All law enforcement agencies shall enroll in the state and federal Rap Back
36 programs on or before January 1, 2022, and continue to remain enrolled. The law
37 enforcement agency shall take all necessary steps to maintain of ficer enrollment for all
38 of ficers commissioned with that agency in the Rap Back programs. An of ficer shall submit to
39 being fingerprinted at any law enforcement agency upon commissioning and for as long as
40 the of ficer is commissioned with that agency .
41 8. Notwithstanding any other pr ovision of law to the contrary , any citizenship
42 r equir ements established by the POST commission as a condition of eligibility for a
43 peace officer license shall allow a person to serve as a law enforcem ent officer if he or
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44 she is a lawful permanent re sident of the United States who has been honorably
45 discharged fr om the Armed For ces of the United States.
✔
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