Require training on emotional intelligence for peace officers

As Introduced

136th
General Assembly

Regular
Session
S. B. No. 169

2025-2026

Senator Ingram

Cosponsor: Senator Craig

To
amend sections 109.71 and 109.79 and to enact section
109.7413

of the Revised Code
to
require training on emotional intelligence for peace officers.

BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section
1.
That
sections 109.71 and 109.79 be amended and section
109.7413

of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec.
109.71.
There
is hereby created in the office of the attorney general the Ohio
peace officer training commission. The commission shall consist of
ten members appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of
the senate and selected as follows: one member representing the
public; one member who represents a fraternal organization
representing law enforcement officers; two members who are incumbent
sheriffs; two members who are incumbent chiefs of police; one member
from the bureau of criminal identification and investigation; one
member from the state highway patrol; one member who is the special
agent in charge of a field office of the federal bureau of
investigation in this state; and one member from the department of
education and workforce, trade and industrial education services, law
enforcement training.

This
section does not confer any arrest authority or any ability or
authority to detain a person, write or issue any citation, or provide
any disposition alternative, as granted under Chapter 2935. of the
Revised Code.

Pursuant
to division (A)(9) of section 101.82 of the Revised Code, the
commission is exempt from the requirements of sections 101.82 to
101.87 of the Revised Code.

As
used in sections 109.71 to 109.801 of the Revised Code:

(A)
"Peace officer" means:

(1)
A deputy sheriff, marshal, deputy marshal, member of the organized
police department of a township or municipal corporation, member of a
township police district or joint police district police force,
member of a police force employed by a metropolitan housing authority
under division (D) of section 3735.31 of the Revised Code, or
township constable, who is commissioned and employed as a peace
officer by a political subdivision of this state or by a metropolitan
housing authority, and whose primary duties are to preserve the
peace, to protect life and property, and to enforce the laws of this
state, ordinances of a municipal corporation, resolutions of a
township, or regulations of a board of county commissioners or board
of township trustees, or any of those laws, ordinances, resolutions,
or regulations;

(2)
A police officer who is employed by a railroad company and appointed
and commissioned by the secretary of state pursuant to sections
4973.17 to 4973.22 of the Revised Code;

(3)
Employees of the department of taxation engaged in the enforcement of
Chapter 5743. of the Revised Code and designated by the tax
commissioner for peace officer training for purposes of the
delegation of investigation powers under section 5743.45 of the
Revised Code;

(4)
An undercover drug agent;

(5)
Enforcement agents of the department of public safety whom the
director of public safety designates under section 5502.14 of the
Revised Code;

(6)
An employee of the department of natural resources who is a natural
resources law enforcement staff officer designated pursuant to
section 1501.013, a natural resources officer appointed pursuant to
section 1501.24, a forest-fire investigator appointed pursuant to
section 1503.09, or a wildlife officer designated pursuant to section
1531.13 of the Revised Code;

(7)
An employee of a park district who is designated pursuant to section
511.232 or 1545.13 of the Revised Code;

(8)
An employee of a conservancy district who is designated pursuant to
section 6101.75 of the Revised Code;

(9)
A police officer who is employed by a hospital that employs and
maintains its own proprietary police department or security
department, and who is appointed and commissioned by the secretary of
state pursuant to sections 4973.17 to 4973.22 of the Revised Code;

(10)
Veterans' homes police officers designated under section 5907.02 of
the Revised Code;

(11)
A police officer who is employed by a qualified nonprofit corporation
police department pursuant to section 1702.80 of the Revised Code;

(12)
A state university law enforcement officer appointed under section
3345.04 of the Revised Code or a person serving as a state university
law enforcement officer on a permanent basis on June 19, 1978, who
has been awarded a certificate by the executive director of the Ohio
peace officer training commission attesting to the person's
satisfactory completion of an approved state, county, municipal, or
department of natural resources peace officer basic training program;

(13)
A special police officer employed by the department of mental health
and addiction services pursuant to section 5119.08 of the Revised
Code or the department of developmental disabilities pursuant to
section 5123.13 of the Revised Code;

(14)
A member of a campus police department appointed under section
1713.50 of the Revised Code;

(15)
A member of a police force employed by a regional transit authority
under division (Y) of section 306.35 of the Revised Code;

(16)
Investigators appointed by the auditor of state pursuant to section
117.091 of the Revised Code and engaged in the enforcement of Chapter
117. of the Revised Code;

(17)
A special police officer designated by the superintendent of the
state highway patrol pursuant to section 5503.09 of the Revised Code
or a person who was serving as a special police officer pursuant to
that section on a permanent basis on October 21, 1997, and who has
been awarded a certificate by the executive director of the Ohio
peace officer training commission attesting to the person's
satisfactory completion of an approved state, county, municipal, or
department of natural resources peace officer basic training program;

(18)
A special police officer employed by a port authority under section
4582.04 or 4582.28 of the Revised Code or a person serving as a
special police officer employed by a port authority on a permanent
basis on May 17, 2000, who has been awarded a certificate by the
executive director of the Ohio peace officer training commission
attesting to the person's satisfactory completion of an approved
state, county, municipal, or department of natural resources peace
officer basic training program;

(19)
A special police officer employed by a municipal corporation who has
been awarded a certificate by the executive director of the Ohio
peace officer training commission for satisfactory completion of an
approved peace officer basic training program and who is employed on
a permanent basis on or after March 19, 2003, at a municipal airport,
or other municipal air navigation facility, that has scheduled
operations, as defined in section 119.3 of Title 14 of the Code of
Federal Regulations, 14 C.F.R. 119.3, as amended, and that is
required to be under a security program and is governed by aviation
security rules of the transportation security administration of the
United States department of transportation as provided in Parts 1542.
and 1544. of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as amended;

(20)
A police officer who is employed by an owner or operator of an
amusement park that has an average yearly attendance in excess of six
hundred thousand guests and that employs and maintains its own
proprietary police department or security department, and who is
appointed and commissioned by a judge of the appropriate municipal
court or county court pursuant to section 4973.17 of the Revised
Code;

(21)
A police officer who is employed by a bank, savings and loan
association, savings bank, credit union, or association of banks,
savings and loan associations, savings banks, or credit unions, who
has been appointed and commissioned by the secretary of state
pursuant to sections 4973.17 to 4973.22 of the Revised Code, and who
has been awarded a certificate by the executive director of the Ohio
peace officer training commission attesting to the person's
satisfactory completion of a state, county, municipal, or department
of natural resources peace officer basic training program;

(22)
An investigator, as defined in section 109.541 of the Revised Code,
of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation who is
commissioned by the superintendent of the bureau as a special agent
for the purpose of assisting law enforcement officers or providing
emergency assistance to peace officers pursuant to authority granted
under that section;

(23)
A state fire marshal law enforcement officer appointed under section
3737.22 of the Revised Code or a person serving as a state fire
marshal law enforcement officer on a permanent basis on or after July
1, 1982, who has been awarded a certificate by the executive director
of the Ohio peace officer training commission attesting to the
person's satisfactory completion of an approved state, county,
municipal, or department of natural resources peace officer basic
training program;

(24)
A gaming agent employed under section 3772.03 of the Revised Code;

(25)
An employee of the state board of pharmacy designated by the
executive director of the board pursuant to section 4729.04 of the
Revised Code to investigate violations of Chapters 2925., 3715.,
3719., 3796., 4729., and 4752. of the Revised Code and rules adopted
thereunder.

(B)
"Undercover drug agent" has the same meaning as in division
(B)(2) of section 109.79 of the Revised Code.

(C)
"Crisis intervention training" means training in the use of
interpersonal and communication skills to most effectively and
sensitively interview victims of rape.

(D)
"Missing children" has the same meaning as in section
2901.30 of the Revised Code.

(E)
"Tactical medical professional" means an EMT, EMT-basic,
AEMT, EMT-I, paramedic, nurse, or physician who is trained and
certified in a nationally recognized tactical medical training
program that is equivalent to "tactical combat casualty care"
(TCCC) and "tactical emergency medical support" (TEMS) and
who functions in the tactical or austere environment while attached
to a law enforcement agency of either this state or a political
subdivision of this state.

(F)
"EMT-basic," "EMT-I," and "paramedic"
have the same meanings as in section 4765.01 of the Revised Code and
"EMT" and "AEMT" have the same meanings as in
section 4765.011 of the Revised Code.

(G)
"Nurse" means any of the following:

(1)
Any person who is licensed to practice nursing as a registered nurse
by the board of nursing;

(2)
Any certified nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist,
certified registered nurse anesthetist, or certified nurse-midwife
who holds a certificate of authority issued by the board of nursing
under Chapter 4723. of the Revised Code;

(3)
Any person who is licensed to practice nursing as a licensed
practical nurse by the board of nursing pursuant to Chapter 4723. of
the Revised Code.

(H)
"Physician" means a person who is licensed pursuant to
Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code to practice medicine and surgery or
osteopathic medicine and surgery.

(I)
"County correctional officer" has the same meaning as in
section 341.41 of the Revised Code.

(J)(1)
"Fire investigator" means an employee of a fire department
charged with investigating fires and explosions who has been
authorized, in accordance with sections 737.27 and 3737.24 of the
Revised Code, to perform the duties of investigating the origin and
cause of fires and explosions using the scientific method to
investigate elements of the event including the circumstances,
actions, persons, means, and motives that resulted in the fire or
explosion or the report of a fire or explosion within this state.

(2)
"Fire investigator" does not include a person who is acting
as a fire investigator on behalf of an insurance company or any other
privately owned or operated enterprise.

(K)
"Fire department" means a fire department of the state or
an instrumentality of the state or of a municipal corporation,
township, joint fire district, or other political subdivision.

(L)
"At-risk youth" means an individual who is all of the
following:

(1)
Under twenty-one years of age;

(2)
One of the following:

(a)
At risk of becoming an abused, neglected, or dependent child,
delinquent or unruly child, or juvenile traffic offender;

(b)
An abused, neglected, or dependent child, delinquent or unruly child,
or juvenile traffic offender.

(3)
Residing in a state correctional institution, a department of youth
services institution, or a residential facility.

(M)
"Residential facility" has the same meaning as in section
2151.46 of the Revised Code.

(N)
"Emotional intelligence" means the ability to identify and
manage a person's own emotions, as well as the emotions of others,
and includes self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and
relationship management.

Sec.
109.7413.
The
attorney general shall adopt, in accordance with Chapter 119. or
pursuant to section 109.74 of the Revised Code, rules governing the
training of peace officers on emotional intelligence. The rules shall
specify the amount of training necessary for the satisfactory
completion of basic training programs at approved peace officer
training schools, other than the Ohio peace officer training academy
and the time within which a peace officer is required to receive that
training, if the peace officer is appointed as a peace officer before
receiving that training.

Sec.
109.79.
(A)
The Ohio peace officer training commission shall establish and
conduct a training school for law enforcement officers of any
political subdivision of the state or of the state public defender's
office. The school shall be known as the Ohio peace officer training
academy. No bailiff or deputy bailiff of a court of record of this
state and no criminal investigator employed by the state public
defender shall be permitted to attend the academy for training unless
the employing court of the bailiff or deputy bailiff or the state
public defender, whichever is applicable, has authorized the bailiff,
deputy bailiff, or investigator to attend the academy.

The
Ohio peace officer training commission shall develop the training
program, which shall include courses in both the civil and criminal
functions of law enforcement officers, a course in crisis
intervention with six or more hours of training, training in the
handling of missing children and child abuse and neglect cases,

training on emotional intelligence,

and training on companion animal encounters and companion animal
behavior, and shall establish rules governing qualifications for
admission to the academy. The commission may require competitive
examinations to determine fitness of prospective trainees, so long as
the examinations or other criteria for admission to the academy are
consistent with the provisions of Chapter 124. of the Revised Code.

The
Ohio peace officer training commission shall determine tuition costs
sufficient in the aggregate to pay the costs of operating the
academy. Tuition paid by a political subdivision of the state or by
the state public defender's office shall be deposited into the state
treasury to the credit of the peace officer training academy fee
fund, which is hereby established. The attorney general shall use
money in the fund to pay costs associated with operation of the
academy. The costs of acquiring and equipping the academy shall be
paid from appropriations made by the general assembly to the Ohio
peace officer training commission for that purpose, from gifts or
grants received for that purpose, or from fees for goods related to
the academy.

The
Ohio peace officer training commission shall create a gaming-related
curriculum for gaming agents. The Ohio peace officer training
commission shall use money distributed to the Ohio peace officer
training academy from the Ohio law enforcement training fund to first
support the academy's training programs for gaming agents and
gaming-related curriculum. The Ohio peace officer training commission
may utilize existing training programs in other states that
specialize in training gaming agents.

The
law enforcement officers, during the period of their training, shall
receive compensation as determined by the political subdivision that
sponsors them or, if the officer is a criminal investigator employed
by the state public defender, as determined by the state public
defender. The political subdivision may pay the tuition costs of the
law enforcement officers they sponsor and the state public defender
may pay the tuition costs of criminal investigators of that office
who attend the academy.

If
trainee vacancies exist, the academy may train and issue certificates
of satisfactory completion to peace officers who are employed by a
campus police department pursuant to section 1713.50 of the Revised
Code, by a qualified nonprofit corporation police department pursuant
to section 1702.80 of the Revised Code, or by a railroad company, who
are amusement park police officers appointed and commissioned by a
judge of the appropriate municipal court or county court pursuant to
section 4973.17 of the Revised Code, or who are bank, savings and
loan association, savings bank, credit union, or association of
banks, savings and loan associations, savings banks, or credit
unions, or hospital police officers appointed and commissioned by the
secretary of state pursuant to sections 4973.17 to 4973.22 of the
Revised Code, provided that no such officer shall be trained at the
academy unless the officer meets the qualifications established for
admission to the academy and the qualified nonprofit corporation
police department; bank, savings and loan association, savings bank,
credit union, or association of banks, savings and loan associations,
savings banks, or credit unions; railroad company; hospital; or
amusement park or the private college or university that established
the campus police department prepays the entire cost of the training.
A qualified nonprofit corporation police department; bank, savings
and loan association, savings bank, credit union, or association of
banks, savings and loan associations, savings banks, or credit
unions; railroad company; hospital; or amusement park or a private
college or university that has established a campus police department
is not entitled to reimbursement from the state for any amount paid
for the cost of training the bank, savings and loan association,
savings bank, credit union, or association of banks, savings and loan
associations, savings banks, or credit unions peace officers; the
railroad company's peace officers; or the peace officers of the
qualified nonprofit corporation police department, campus police
department, hospital, or amusement park.

The
academy shall permit investigators employed by the state medical
board to take selected courses that the board determines are
consistent with its responsibilities for initial and continuing
training of investigators as required under sections 4730.26 and
4731.05 of the Revised Code. The board shall pay the entire cost of
training that investigators receive at the academy.

The
academy shall permit tactical medical professionals and fire
investigators to attend training courses at the academy that are
designed to qualify the professionals and investigators to carry
firearms while on duty under sections 109.771 and 109.774 of the
Revised Code and that provide training comparable to training
mandated under the rules required by division (A) of section 109.748
and division (A) of section 109.7481 of the Revised Code. The
executive director of the Ohio peace officer training commission may
certify tactical medical professionals and fire investigators who
satisfactorily complete the training courses. The law enforcement
agency served by a tactical medical professional or the political
subdivision served by a fire investigator who attends the academy may
pay the tuition costs of the professional or investigator.

The
academy shall permit county correctional officers to attend training
courses at the academy that are designed to qualify the county
correctional officers to carry firearms while on duty under section
109.772 of the Revised Code and that provide training mandated under
the rules required by section 109.773 of the Revised Code. The
executive director of the Ohio peace officer training commission may
certify county correctional officers who satisfactorily complete the
training courses. The county jail, county workhouse, minimum security
jail, joint city and county workhouse, municipal-county correctional
center, multicounty-municipal correctional center, municipal-county
jail or workhouse, or multicounty-municipal jail or workhouse served
by the county correctional officer who attends the academy may pay
the tuition costs of the county correctional officer.

(B)
As used in this section:

(1)
"Law enforcement officers" include any undercover drug
agent, any bailiff or deputy bailiff of a court of record, and any
criminal investigator who is employed by the state public defender.

(2)
"Undercover drug agent" means any person who:

(a)
Is employed by a county, township, or municipal corporation for the
purposes set forth in division (B)(2)(b) of this section but who is
not an employee of a county sheriff's department, of a township
constable, or of the police department of a municipal corporation or
township;

(b)
In the course of the person's employment by a county, township, or
municipal corporation, investigates and gathers information
pertaining to persons who are suspected of violating Chapter 2925. or
3719. of the Revised Code, and generally does not wear a uniform in
the performance of the person's duties.

(3)
"Crisis intervention training" has the same meaning as in
section 109.71 of the Revised Code.

(4)
"Missing children" has the same meaning as in section
2901.30 of the Revised Code.

(5)
"Companion animal" has the same meaning as in section
959.131 of the Revised Code.

Section
2.
That
existing sections 109.71 and 109.79 of the Revised Code are hereby
repealed.