Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 9, September 1, 2024
(1) Definitions.
For the purposes of this rule:
(a)
"Instructor" means an individual, including volunteer or loaned personnel, who
is employed or utilized by DPSST or the Department of Corrections for the
instruction of any portion of a Board-approved curriculum for a mandated
training course, including the following:
(A)
The DPSST basic police, corrections, parole and probation, regulatory
specialist, telecommunications or emergency medical dispatcher courses,
excluding field training;
(B) The
Department of Corrections basic corrections course, excluding field
training;
(C) The career officer
development courses, excluding field training;
(D) A DPSST instructor development course;
or
(E) The DPSST supervision
leadership academy or organizational leadership management course.
(b) "Employer" means DPSST or the
Department of Corrections.
(2) These instructor employment and
certification requirements do not apply to individuals assigned by a public or
private safety agency to instruct non-mandated training, training required to
maintain DPSST-issued public safety professional certifications or a field
training manual.
(3) Instructors
must be certified prior to being assigned primary responsibility for the
instruction of any portion of a Board-approved curriculum for a mandated
training course.
(a) Primary responsibility
for instruction means that the instructor is the certified instructor of record
for the course completion documentation identified in OAR
259-008-0085.
(b) The employer
delivering the mandated training course is responsible for ensuring that
certified instructors are assigned to the topics that they are qualified to
instruct.
(4) When an
employer hires or separates an instructor, the employer must report the
personnel action to the Department, on a form provided by the Department,
within 10 business days of the employment or utilization status
change.
(5) Pursuant to OAR
259-008-0015, the employer must conduct a background investigation on each
individual being considered for employment or utilization as an
instructor.
(6) DPSST Instructor
Certification. To be eligible for certification as an instructor, an individual
must:
(a) Be currently employed or utilized as
an instructor;
(b) Have experience
that meets the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the duties
of an instructor as determined by the employer;
(c) Successfully complete employer specific
instructor development training:
(A)
Instructors employed or utilized by the Department must successfully complete
the Board-approved Adult Learning Core Course as defined in OAR
259-008-0085.
(B) Instructors
employed or utilized by another employer must successfully complete instructor
development training or possess, as determined by the employer, the knowledge
and skills needed to instruct the mandated course.
(d) Never have had a public safety
professional certification denied, suspended or revoked by the Department under
OAR 259-008-0300;
(e) Not have any
convictions, criminal dispositions, or a history of conduct that would
constitute a mandatory disqualifier as defined by section (9) of this
rule;
(f) As determined by the
employer, not have any convictions, criminal dispositions, or a history of
conduct that would adversely impact the instructor's position as a role model,
a leader within the public safety profession and a source of expertise for
critical learning components; and
(g) Submit an application for certification
on a form provided by the Department.
(7) Notification of Arrest or Criminal
Citation to Appear. A certified instructor who is arrested, or receives a
criminal citation to appear or its equivalent, for any offense punishable as a
crime must notify the Department within five business days. Notification must
be in writing and include the date of the arrest or citation, the location of
the arrest or citation, the reason for the arrest or citation and the arresting
or citing agency.
(8) Expiration
and Reactivation of DPSST Instructor Certification.
(a) Notwithstanding subsection (d) below, an
instructor's certification will expire upon separation from a certifiable
instructor position.
(b) In order
to become recertified as an instructor, an individual with an expired
instructor certification must meet the instructor certification requirements as
defined in section (6) and submit a new application for
certification.
(c) When an
individual's instructor certification has been expired for more than three
years, the instructor must successfully recomplete or satisfy the applicable
instructor certification training requirement found in subsection (6)(c) prior
to the reissuance of certification.
(d) The Department will stay the expiration
of instructor certification for an instructor whose separation from a
certifiable instructor position occurs while the individual's public safety
professional certification is under review pursuant to OAR 259-008-0300 or the
individual's instructor certification is under review pursuant to section (9)
of this rule until a final determination has been made regarding the
individual's fitness for certification as an instructor or public safety
professional.
(9)
Grounds to Deny or Revoke Instructor Certification. The Board has determined
that the following conduct constitutes mandatory grounds for denial or
revocation of instructor certification because such conduct violates public
trust in the public safety profession, and violates the trust that students and
their employers place in instructors as professional leaders and role models in
public safety. The Department must deny or revoke an instructor's certification
upon a finding that:
(a) The instructor
intentionally falsified any information submitted on the application for
instructor certification or on any documents submitted to the Board or the
Department;
(b) The instructor does
not meet the applicable minimum standards, minimum training or the terms and
conditions for instructors established under ORS
181A.410 as defined in OAR
chapter 259 division 8;
(c) The
instructor's public safety professional certifications have been denied,
suspended or revoked pursuant to OAR 259-008-0300;
(d) The instructor engaged in intentional
conduct while performing the duties of an instructor that constitutes
Instructor Misconduct and the conduct resulted in or coincided with any
non-voluntary or voluntary separation of employment. Instructor Misconduct
includes dishonesty or deception, harassment, discrimination, assisting a
student to cheat, or falsifying documentation related to training, testing or
certification; or
(e) The
instructor has a disqualifying criminal offense. Disqualifying criminal
offenses are:
(A) A conviction for any offense
designated under the law of the jurisdiction where the conviction occurred as
being punishable as a felony or as a crime for which a maximum term of
imprisonment of more than one year may be imposed;
(B) A conviction in any jurisdiction for any
offense involving the unlawful use, possession, delivery or manufacture of a
controlled substance, narcotic or dangerous drug;
(C) A conviction in any jurisdiction for a
bias or hate crime;
(D) A
conviction in any jurisdiction for any offense involving domestic violence. For
the purposes of this rule, domestic violence includes abuse of a child, and the
term "domestic violence" has the meaning given by ORS
135.230, the term "abuse" has
the meaning given by ORS
107.705, and the term "child"
means a child who is under 18 years of age and is a natural child, adopted
child, stepchild, a child under the guardianship of, or a child who regularly
resides or formerly resided in the same household as the instructor;
or
(E) The person is a sex offender
pursuant to ORS 163A.005(6).
(10) Denial and
Revocation Processes.
(a) Upon receipt or
discovery of information that would lead an objectively reasonable person to
conclude that an instructor engaged in conduct that is mandatory grounds for
denial or revocation, as defined in section (9) of this rule, the Department
will prepare and serve a Notice of Intent on the instructor.
(b) Notice of Intent. The Department's denial
or revocation of an instructor's certification will be administered in
accordance with the applicable provisions of the Attorney General's Model Rules
of Procedure, adopted under OAR 259-005-0015, for Notice of Intent, Request for
Hearing and Contested Case Procedure.
(c) Scope. The Department's denial or
revocation of an instructor's or applicant's certification for subsection
(9)(d) of this rule will only apply to the instructor certification. However,
the application of this rule does not preclude the Department from denying,
suspending or revoking any other certification or license in accordance with
the rules established for denial, suspension or revocation for the other
certification or license.
(d)
Ineligibility. An instructor whose certification is revoked pursuant to this
rule is permanently ineligible for instructor certification. Any application
for instructor certification submitted by an individual who has been denied or
revoked pursuant to this rule will be denied in accordance with the applicable
provisions of the Attorney General's Model Rules of Procedure, adopted under
OAR 259-005-0015, for Notice of Intent, Request for Hearing and Contested Case
Procedure.
Form referenced is available from the
agency.
Statutory/Other Authority: ORS
181A.410
Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS
181A.410 & ORS
181A.590
