SB761: Law-enforcement officers; training, reimbursement of costs.

SENATE BILL NO. 761

Offered January 10, 2018
Prefiled January 10, 2018
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 9.1 a chapter numbered 14, consisting of sections numbered 9.1-1400 and 9.1-1401, relating to the recruitment of certain law-enforcement officers; reimbursement of costs.
Patron-- Newman

Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Title 9.1 a chapter numbered 14, consisting of sections numbered 9.1-1400 and 9.1-1401, as follows:

CHAPTER 14.
LAW ENFORCEMENT RETENTION ACT.

§ 9.1-1400. Definitions.

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:

"Law-enforcement agency" means (i) a police department or sheriff's office of a political subdivision of the Commonwealth or (ii) an agency of the Commonwealth that hires a law-enforcement officer in a law-enforcement capacity.

"Law-enforcement officer" has the same meaning as set forth in § 9.1-101.

§ 9.1-1401. Reimbursement for certain law-enforcement expenses.

If a law-enforcement officer who has completed basic law-enforcement training at an academy certified by the Department of Criminal Justice Services leaves the law-enforcement agency that funded such training within five years of completion of the training to take a job at another law-enforcement agency in the Commonwealth, the hiring law-enforcement agency shall reimburse the agency that funded the training for the costs of the training of such law-enforcement officer. The amount owed shall be reduced by one-fifth of the total cost of the training for each year that the officer worked for the agency that funded the cost of the training. Each fiscal year, each law-enforcement agency in the Commonwealth shall calculate the cost of training an officer in basic law-enforcement training, and such figure shall be the basis for calculating the amount of an agency's liability for hiring an officer from another law-enforcement agency who completed basic training during that fiscal year.