(1) The
P.O.S.T. board has the following duties:
(a) To approve and to revoke the approval of training programs and training
academies, and to establish reasonable standards pertaining to such approval and
revocation;
(b) To conduct periodic evaluations of training programs and inspections of
training academies;
(c) To establish procedures for determining whether or not an applicant has
met the standards which have been set;
(d) To certify qualified applicants and withhold, suspend, or revoke
certification;
(e) To certify inspectors of vehicle identification numbers, promulgate rules
deemed necessary by the board for certification of inspectors of vehicle
identification numbers, and approve related training courses;
(f) To require a background investigation of each applicant by means of
fingerprint checks through the Colorado bureau of investigation and the federal
bureau of investigation or such other means as the P.O.S.T. board deems necessary
for such investigation;
(g) To promulgate rules and regulations deemed necessary by such board
for the certification of applicants to serve as peace officers or reserve peace
officers in the state pursuant to the provisions of article 4 of this title;
(h) To establish standards for training in bail recovery practices;
(i) To promulgate rules and regulations that establish the criteria that shall
be applied in determining whether to recommend peace officer status for a group
or specific position as provided in section 16-2.5-201 (4), C.R.S.;
(j) To establish standards for training of school resource officers, as
described in section 24-31-312;
(k) To establish training standards to prepare law enforcement officers to
recognize and address incidents of abuse and exploitation of at-risk elders, as
described in sections 18-6.5-102 (1) and (10), C.R.S.;
(l) To promulgate rules deemed necessary by the board concerning annual
in-service training requirements for certified peace officers, including but not
limited to evaluation of the training program and processes to ensure substantial
compliance by law enforcement agencies, departments, and individual peace
officers;
(m) In addition to all other powers conferred and imposed upon the board in
this article, the board has the power and duty to adopt and promulgate, under the
provisions of section 24-4-103, rules as the board may deem necessary or proper to
carry out the provisions and purposes of this article, which rules must be fair,
impartial, and nondiscriminatory;
(n) To complete a review and evaluation of the basic academy curriculum,
including using community outreach as a review and evaluation component, by July
1, 2016, and every five years thereafter;
(o) (I) To establish, add, and remove, as necessary, subject matter expertise
committees to:
(A) Develop skills training programs, academic curriculums, and P.O.S.T.
board rules;
(B) Review documents for and approve or deny academy programs, lesson
plans, training sites, and skills instructors; and
(C) Assist P.O.S.T. board staff with academy inspections and skills test-outs;
(II) (A) In order to create diversified subject matter expertise committees, the
chair of the P.O.S.T. board shall consider an applicant's age, gender, race,
professional experience, and geographic location when making appointments to the
committees.
(B) If available, each subject matter committee shall include at least two
non-law enforcement members who have law enforcement expertise or expertise in
providing effective training through professional experience or subject matter
training.
(p) To develop a community outreach program that informs the public of the
role and duties of the P.O.S.T. board;
(q) To develop a recruitment program that creates a diversified applicant
pool for appointments to the P.O.S.T. board and the subject matter expertise
committees; and
(r) Subject to available appropriations, beginning on January 1, 2022, to
create and maintain a database related to a peace officer's conduct pursuant to the
provisions of section 24-31-321.
(s) To collaborate with the commission on improving first responder
interactions with persons with disabilities, in the manner described in part 10 of this
article 31.
(t) By January 1, 2022, to adopt procedures to allow a peace officer to seek
review of the peace officer's status in the database created pursuant to subsection
(1)(r) of this section based on the peace officer's presentation of new evidence to
show the peace officer's record may be removed from the database.
(u) To develop a live virtual training program for peace officers on the
implementation of section 19-2.5-203 (8) to ensure uniform enforcement of the law.
The state shall provide this training on at least ten different dates prior to February
28, 2024. The state shall cover any reasonable direct costs to local law
enforcement agencies associated with the training. Notwithstanding section 24-31-310 (3), the general assembly may appropriate money from the general fund to
carry out the purposes of this subsection (1)(u). The training must include, at a
minimum, education for peace officers on:
(I) Understanding juvenile development and culture and their impact on
interviews of juveniles and custodial interrogations of juveniles;
(II) Interpreting juvenile behavior during an interview or custodial
interrogation;
(III) Techniques for building and establishing rapport with juveniles;
(IV) Alternative communication methods for juveniles with intellectual and
developmental disabilities, as required by the federal Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. sec. 12101 et seq., as amended;
(V) Constructing age-appropriate statements and questions for interviews of
juveniles and custodial interrogations of juveniles; and
(VI) Cautions and considerations for interviewing and interrogating juveniles
in custody, including how to reduce the likelihood of false or coerced confessions.
(2) (a) The P.O.S.T. board may charge the following fees, the proceeds of
which may be used to support the certification of applicants pursuant to this part 3:
(I) For the manuals or other materials that the board may publish in
connection with its functions, an amount not to exceed twenty dollars per
publication; and
(II) For the administration of certification and skills examinations, an amount
not to exceed one hundred fifty dollars per examination per applicant.
(b) There is hereby created in the state treasury a P.O.S.T. board cash fund.
The fees collected pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (2) and pursuant to
section 42-3-304 (24), C.R.S., shall be transmitted to the state treasurer who shall
credit such revenue to the P.O.S.T. board cash fund. It is the intent of the general
assembly that the fees collected shall cover all direct and indirect costs incurred
pursuant to this section. In accordance with section 24-36-114, all interest derived
from the deposit and investment of moneys in the P.O.S.T. board cash fund shall be
credited to the general fund. All moneys in the P.O.S.T. board cash fund shall be
subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly and shall be used for the
purposes set forth in this subsection (2) and in section 24-31-310. At the end of any
fiscal year, all unexpended and unencumbered moneys in the P.O.S.T. board cash
fund shall remain in the fund and shall not revert to the general fund or any other
fund.
(3) The P.O.S.T. board may make grants to local governments, any college or
university, or any nonprofit for the purpose of funding the training programs
required by this section.
(4) (Deleted by amendment, L. 98, p. 749, �2, effective May 22, 1998.)
(5) It is unlawful for any person to serve as a peace officer, as described in
section 16-2.5-102, C.R.S., or a reserve peace officer as defined in section 16-2.5-110, C.R.S., in this state unless such person:
(a) Is certified pursuant to this part 3; and
(b) Has undergone both a physical and a psychological evaluation to
determine such person's fitness to serve as a peace officer or a reserve peace
officer. Such evaluations shall have been performed within one year prior to the
date of appointment by a physician and either a psychologist or psychiatrist
licensed by the state of Colorado.
(6) Repealed.
Source: L. 92: Entire part added, p. 1093, � 3, effective March 6. L. 94: (1) and
(2) amended, p. 1727, � 5, effective May 31. L. 96: (2)(a) and (3) amended and (4) and
(5) added, p. 1571, � 1, effective June 3. L. 98: (4) and IP(5) amended, p. 749, � 2,
effective May 22; (1)(h) added, p. 962, � 6, effective May 27. L. 2001: (2)(a)(II)
amended, p. 1449, � 1, effective July 1. L. 2002: (6) added, p. 840, � 3, effective May
30. L. 2003: (2)(b) amended, p. 2114, � 1, effective May 22; (1)(f) amended, p. 2184, �
2, effective June 3; IP(5) amended, p. 1622, � 39, effective August 6. L. 2004: (1)(i)
added, p. 1898, � 2, effective June 4. L. 2006: (2)(b) amended, p. 1500, � 34,
effective June 1. L. 2012: (1)(i) amended and (1)(j) added, (HB 12-1345), ch. 188, p.
746, � 31, effective May 19; (1)(h) amended, (HB 12-1266), ch. 280, p. 1530, � 49,
effective July 1. L. 2013: (1)(i) and (1)(j) amended and (1)(k) added, (SB 13-111), ch. 233,
p. 1125, � 8, effective May 16. L. 2014: (1)(e), (1)(j), (2)(a)(II), and (3) amended and (1)(l)
and (1)(m) added, (SB 14-123), ch. 246, p. 945, � 1, effective August 6. L. 2015: (1)(l)
amended and (1)(n), (1)(o), (1)(p), and (1)(q) added, (HB 15-1287), ch. 213, p. 778, � 2,
effective May 20. L. 2020: (1)(l), (1)(p), and (1)(q) amended and (1)(r) added, (SB 20-217), ch. 110, p. 457, � 10, effective June 19. L. 2021: (1)(s) added, (HB 21-1122), ch.
405, p. 2690, � 2, effective June 30; (1)(r) amended and (1)(t) added, (HB 21-1250), ch.
458, p. 3066, � 13, effective July 6; IP(1)(r), (1)(r)(III), and (1)(r)(IV) amended and
(1)(r)(V) added, (SB 21-174), ch. 420, p. 2787, � 2, effective September 7. L. 2023: (1)(u) added, (HB 23-1042), ch. 221, p. 1147, � 2, effective August 7. L. 2025: (1)(r)
amended, (HB 25-1136), ch. 333, p. 1723, � 1, effective May 31; (1)(r)(IV) repealed, (SB
25-300), ch. 428, p. 2449, � 31, effective August 6.