§ 9-1-710 — Qualifications for employment as a correctional officer; termination of employment; certification without compliance with the requirements of this section

(a) Within fifteen (15) days after the appointment,
termination, resignation or death of any correctional officer or
certified correctional officer, written notice thereof shall be
given to the commission by the employing agency.
(b) A state agency or any other person authorized by law
to appoint correctional officers in this state shall not appoint
any person as a correctional officer on or after July 1, 2005,
who does not meet the following qualifications. The person
shall:
(i) Be a United States citizen;
(ii) Be an adult;
(iii) Submit to fingerprinting and a search of local,
state and national fingerprint files to determine whether the
applicant has a criminal record, with a copy of the responses
sent to the commission;
(iv) Not have been convicted of any crime for which
the applicant could have been punished by imprisonment in a
federal or a state penitentiary, unless his conviction is
reversed or annulled or he receives a pardon;
(v) Hold a high school diploma or equivalent
achievement, with proof forwarded to the commission;
(vi) Be of good moral character as determined by a
background investigation. The hiring agency shall complete a
background investigation as defined by the commission of any new
applicant for employment as a correctional officer before the
applicant may be employed or begin training as a correctional
officer;
(vii) Be free of any physical, emotional or mental
conditions which might adversely affect the applicant’s
performance as a correctional officer. Physical condition shall
be evaluated by a person licensed to practice medicine and by
application of a standardized physical fitness performance test
as specified by the hiring agency. Emotional and mental
conditions shall be evaluated by a licensed psychologist or
psychiatrist;
(viii) Successfully pass an oral interview
examination and other preemployment examinations specified by
the hiring agency.
(c) A person shall not receive an original appointment as
a certified correctional officer or hold an appointment on a
permanent basis as a certified correctional officer unless the
person has been awarded a certificate by the director attesting
to his satisfactory completion of an approved correctional
officer basic training program and has demonstrated the core
competencies of a correctional officer as defined by the
employing agency in cooperation with the commission.
(d) A person shall not be appointed as a correctional
officer on a permanent basis on or after July 1, 2006 unless
within one (1) year from the date of his original appointment he
is awarded a certificate by the director attesting that he
satisfactorily completed a commission approved correctional
officer's basic training program and has demonstrated the core
competencies of a correctional officer as defined by the
employing agency in cooperation with the commission. The
commission may extend the one (1) year time requirement of this
section upon the written application of the correctional officer
and his employer. The application shall explain the
circumstances which make the extension necessary. Factors which
the commission may consider in granting or denying the extension
include the illness of a correctional officer or a member of his
immediate family or the absence of reasonable access to the
basic course. The commission shall not grant an extension
exceeding one hundred eighty (180) days.
(e) Every person who is appointed as a part-time
correctional officer on or after July 1, 2005, shall forfeit his
position unless within two (2) years from the date of his
appointment he is awarded a certificate by the director
attesting that he satisfactorily completed a commission approved
correctional officer basic training program and has
demonstrated the core competencies of a correctional officer as
defined by the employing agency in cooperation with the
commission.
(f) Notwithstanding subsections (b) through (e) of this
section, the commission may, upon the recommendation of the
employing agency, waive the basic correctional officer training
program and certify those applicants who can pass a written
examination provided by the commission and an oral interview
attesting to the applicant's ability and core competencies in
corrections. The applicant shall prove that he satisfactorily
completed a basic correctional officer training program which in
the commission's opinion is comparable to that required by this
section before waiver is granted.
(g) Any correctional officer attending any school or
training program authorized by the commission for the purpose of
meeting the requirements of this section shall be paid his wages
as a correctional officer by his employer. He shall also
receive reimbursement for reasonable expenses as determined by
his employer.
(h) A person who is convicted of a felony after his
appointment as a correctional officer is ineligible for
continued employment as a correctional officer. If the person
has been certified under this section, his certification shall
be automatically revoked on the date of his conviction. The
director shall notify the person and the person's employing
agency upon revocation of certification under this subsection as
defined by the commission.
(j) In the case of termination of a certified correctional
officer, the employing agency shall notify the commission and
the officer, in writing, of the termination, setting forth in
detail the facts and reasons for the termination. If the
officer is terminated for failure to comply with this act, or
rules promulgated under it, the notice shall so specify. Any
officer who has been terminated may present a written statement
to the commission responding to the claims made against him or
setting forth the facts and reasons for the termination as he
believes them to be, and that statement shall become a permanent
part of the file. A potential employer may contact the
commission to inquire as to the facts and reasons an officer was
terminated from any previous employing agency. Unless otherwise
prohibited by law, the commission shall, upon request, provide
to the potential employer all pertinent information which is in
its possession.
(k) Upon receipt from the department of family services of
a certified copy of an order from a court to withhold, suspend
or otherwise restrict a certificate issued by the commission,
the commission shall notify the party named in the court order
and the employing agency of the withholding, suspension or
restriction of the certificate in accordance with the terms of
the court order. No appeal under the Wyoming Administrative
Procedure Act shall be allowed for a certificate withheld,
suspended or restricted under this subsection.
(m) Any person who has been employed on a permanent basis
as a correctional officer for five (5) consecutive years, and
who is employed as a correctional officer by the Wyoming
department of corrections on July 6, 2006, shall be certified as
a certified correctional officer by the director without having
complied with subsections (b) through (e) of this section.
(n) The Wyoming department of corrections may establish
qualifications and standards for hiring and training that exceed
the minimum set by the commission.
(o) The portion of a personnel file that is specifically
related to a complaint and relevant to any of the qualifications
specified in subsection (b) of this section or established under
W.S. 9-1-702(k)(ii) and subsection (n) of this section for any
person employed as a certified correctional officer,
correctional officer or part-time correctional officer by the
department of corrections shall be made available to the
commission not later than thirty (30) days after the commission
makes a written request to the department of corrections for the
personnel file information. The commission shall request records
under this subsection only for purposes of investigating or
determining a correctional officer's initial certification,
continuing certification, suspension, revocation or termination.
The personnel file information received by the commission under
this subsection shall not be disclosed by the commission to any
other person except as otherwise required by law. If the
department of corrections fails to provide the personnel file
information within thirty (30) days of the commission's request,
the commission may file a petition with the district court for
the release of the personnel file information.