5.
(a)The board may revoke, suspend,
modify, or restrict a diploma, certificate, or document showing
compliance and qualification issued by the board, or any authority to
act as a law enforcement officer in the state, for any of the following
reasons:
(1)The officer has been convicted of:
(B)a misdemeanor that would cause a reasonable person to
believe that the officer:
(i)is dangerous or violent; or
(ii)has a demonstrated propensity to violate the law.
(2)The officer has been found not guilty of a felony by reason of
mental disease or defect.
(3)The officer's diploma, certificate, or document showing
compliance and qualification issued by the board, or by another
person, was issued in error or was issued on the basis of
information later determined to be false.
Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI
5. (a) The board may revoke, suspend,
modify, or restrict a diploma, certificate, or document showing
compliance and qualification issued by the board, or any authority to
act as a law enforcement officer in the state, for any of the following
reasons:
(1) The officer has been convicted of:
(A) a felony; or
(B) a misdemeanor that would cause a reasonable person to
believe that the officer:
(i) is dangerous or violent; or
(ii) has a demonstrated propensity to violate the law.
(2) The officer has been found not guilty of a felony by reason of
mental disease or defect.
(3) The officer's diploma, certificate, or document showing
compliance and qualification issued by the board, or by another
person, was issued in error or was issued on the basis of
information later determined to be false.
(4) The officer has engaged in conduct that would be a criminal
offense described in subdivision (1)(A) through (1)(B), even if the
officer was not charged with the criminal offense.
(b) If, after affording the law enforcement officer all due process
rights, the chief executive officer or the hiring or appointing authority
disciplines a law enforcement officer for a violation described in
subsection (a), the chief executive officer or hiring or appointing
authority shall report the discipline to the executive director to
determine whether proceedings under this section are warranted. The
chief executive officer or the hiring or appointing authority shall report
the discipline within thirty (30) days of the imposition of the discipline.
(c) If a law enforcement officer resigns or retires from the
department or agency before a finding and order has been issued
concerning a violation of subsection (a), the chief executive officer or
the hiring or appointing authority shall report the resignation to the
executive director to determine whether proceedings under this section
are warranted. A report under this subsection must be made within
thirty (30) days of the resignation or retirement of the law enforcement
officer.
(d) A person who knows of cause for the revocation of an officer's
diploma, certificate, or document showing compliance and
qualification shall inform the officer's hiring or appointing authority or
the executive director. A person who makes a good faith report of
cause for revocation of an officer's diploma, certificate, or document
showing compliance and qualification is immune from civil liability.
(e) If the chief executive officer or hiring or appointing authority
receives a report of cause for revocation concerning an officer within
the chief executive officer's agency, the chief executive officer shall:
(1) cause the internal affairs division (or a similar unit) of the
agency to investigate the report without unnecessary delay; or
(2) request that the investigation be conducted by a law
enforcement agency other than the law enforcement agency to
which the subject of the investigation belongs.
The chief executive officer or hiring or appointing authority shall report
any finding and order for discipline for a cause described in subsection
(a) to the executive director.
(f) If a hiring or appointing authority receives a report of cause for
revocation concerning the chief executive officer, the hiring or
appointing authority shall cause an appropriate investigative agency to
investigate without unnecessary delay.
(g) If the executive director receives a report or otherwise learns of
cause for revocation concerning a law enforcement officer or chief
executive officer, the board shall consider the report and direct the
subject officer's chief executive officer or hiring or appointing authority
to conduct an investigation. The chief executive officer or hiring or
appointing authority shall cause an investigation to be conducted by an
appropriate investigative agency without unnecessary delay.
(h) When a chief executive officer or hiring or appointing authority
completes an investigation of cause for revocation, the chief executive
officer or hiring or appointing authority shall forward a complete report
of its investigation, findings, and recommendations, if any, to the
executive director. The chief executive officer or hiring or appointing
authority shall also forward to the executive director a description of
any administrative or disciplinary action taken as a result of the
investigation not later than sixty (60) days after the chief executive
officer or hiring or appointing authority takes administrative or
disciplinary action.
(i) Upon receipt of a final report of an investigation under this
section, the executive director shall review and make recommendations
to the board. If the recommendation is to revoke or suspend the law
enforcement officer's authority to act as a law enforcement officer, then
all of the following apply:
(1) The executive director shall cause written charges to be
prepared and served upon the law enforcement officer by personal
service, certified mail, or other delivery service for which a
receipt for delivery is generated.
(2) The law enforcement officer may:
(A) voluntarily relinquish the officer's diploma, certificate, or
document showing compliance and qualification issued by the
board, or any authority to act as a law enforcement officer, by
completing, before a notary public, a relinquishment form
provided by the board; or
(B) demand an evidentiary hearing on the allegations.
(3) The:
(A) law enforcement officer has the right to be represented by
an attorney at the sole expense of the law enforcement officer;
and
(B) board may be represented by the general counsel for the
Indiana law enforcement academy (or a designee), the attorney
general, or a private attorney.
All attorneys shall file an appearance with the board.
(4) If the law enforcement officer demands an evidentiary
hearing, the board chairperson shall appoint a subcommittee to
conduct the evidentiary hearing. The subcommittee shall be
composed of three (3) law enforcement officers who are members
of the board and two (2) members of the board who are not
currently law enforcement officers. The subcommittee shall
provide findings of fact and conclusions of law, and the board
shall render the final decision and impose the revocation or
suspension, if warranted.
(5) Not later than ten (10) days after its appointment, the
subcommittee shall conduct a prehearing conference with the
parties. The prehearing conference may be conducted
electronically if every party may fully participate. The prehearing
conference shall address:
(A) the narrowing of issues and defenses;
(B) discovery matters;
(C) stipulations that may be reached;
(D) names and subject matter of all witnesses;
(E) whether summary judgment may be requested;
(F) the need for legal briefs on any issue;
(G) the date, time, location, and probable length of the
evidentiary hearing; and
(H) any other pertinent issues.
The subcommittee shall issue an order summarizing the
proceedings and its ruling on the issues.
(6) Each party is entitled to engage in reasonable discovery as
approved by the subcommittee and consistent with the Indiana
Rules of Trial Procedure.
(7) The evidentiary hearing shall permit opening statements by
each party, direct and cross-examination of witnesses,
introduction of evidence, and closing arguments.
(8) The evidentiary hearing shall be recorded.
(9) The subcommittee may request each party to submit proposed
findings of fact and conclusions of law, and shall render a
determination of the issues not later than thirty (30) days from
receipt of the last submission of proposed findings of fact and
conclusions of law.
(j) When the subcommittee makes its findings of fact and
conclusions of law, it shall serve a copy on the law enforcement officer
by personal service, certified mail, or other delivery service for which
a receipt for delivery is generated, and shall further notify the law
enforcement officer of the date, time, and location of the board
meeting. At the meeting the board shall determine whether to accept
the recommendation of the subcommittee.
(k) A law enforcement officer may seek judicial review of an
adverse determination of the board under IC 4-21.5-5.
(l) The fact that the law enforcement officer:
(1) has been disciplined; or
(2) may be disciplined;
by the hiring or appointing authority for the same conduct is not a bar
to any action by the board under this section.
(m) The board shall include the name of any law enforcement
officer who has been decertified on the website of the Indiana law
enforcement academy, and shall transmit the officer's name for
inclusion on the decertification index maintained by the International
Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training.
(n) A law enforcement officer who has been decertified may apply
to the board for reinstatement. The application for reinstatement must:
(1) be in writing and signed by the law enforcement officer
subject to the penalties for perjury; and
(2) demonstrate that reinstatement is appropriate, that the
applicant poses no danger to the public, and that the applicant can
perform as a law enforcement officer according to the board's
standards.
By filing a petition for reinstatement the applicant agrees to submit to
any investigation, testing, analysis, or other procedure or protocol
determined by the board or the executive director. The board may
direct the executive director to investigate the application for
reinstatement and make a recommendation to the board. The executive
director shall review the application for reinstatement and all
supporting evidence, including expunged criminal convictions, and
shall make a recommendation to the board. The board shall consider
the application and recommendation of the executive director and shall
notify the applicant of its determination in person or by certified mail
or other delivery service for which a receipt for delivery is generated.
(o) The board shall adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 to implement this
section.