Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 9, September 1, 2024
(1) When the
Department receives information from any source that a certifiable public
safety professional or an applicant may not meet the established standards for
public safety professionals, the Department will review the information to
determine if substantial evidence exists to support denial, revocation or
emergency suspension of certifications under the statutory and administrative
rule requirements for public safety professional certification.
(2) In professional standards cases where the
Department has determined that the conduct being reviewed violates the moral
fitness standards established by the Board as mandatory grounds for denial or
revocation as defined in OAR 259-008-0300(2), the Department will
administratively process the denial or revocation.
(3) The Department will defer review of
professional standards cases for individuals who have not been certified and
are not currently employed as a public safety professional until the individual
is re-employed as a certifiable public safety professional except when the
Department has the authority to proceed pursuant to ORS
181A.640(9).
(4) The Department will administratively
close discretionary professional standards cases for deferred adjudications in
which the only charge is for ORS
813.010 (Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants) upon confirmation of
dismissal.
(5) The Department may
recommend administrative closure of a discretionary professional standards case
to a Policy Committee when the Department determines that the conduct being
reviewed does not meet the statutory and administrative rule requirements for
denial or revocation.
(6) When the
Department recommends administrative closure of a discretionary professional
standards case to a Policy Committee, the Policy Committee must either approve
or overturn the Department's recommendation.
(a) When the Policy Committee approves the
recommendation for administrative closure, the Department will administratively
close the professional standards case.
(b) When the Policy Committee overturns the
recommendation for administrative closure, the Department will prepare the case
for a complete review by the Policy Committee pursuant to sections (9) and (10)
of this rule.
(7) In
professional standards cases where the Department has determined that the
conduct being reviewed may meet the statutory and administrative rule
requirements for denial or revocation but is not supported by adequate factual
information, the Department may request further information from the employer
pursuant to ORS
181A.670 or conduct its own investigation of the matter.
(8) In professional standards cases where
there has been an arbitrator's opinion related to the public safety
professional's employment, the Department will proceed as follows:
(a) If the arbitrator's opinion finds that
underlying facts supported the allegations of misconduct, the Department will
proceed with review of the professional standards case pursuant to this
rule.
(b) If the arbitrator has
ordered employment reinstatement after a separation of employment without a
finding related to whether the misconduct occurred, the Department will proceed
with review of the professional standards case pursuant to this rule.
(c) If the arbitrator's opinion finds that
underlying facts did not support the allegations of misconduct, the Department
will recommend administrative closure of the professional standards case to a
Policy Committee, unless the Department receives or discovers additional
information that would lead an objectively reasonable person to conclude that
the public safety professional has violated Board established employment,
training, or certification standards for Oregon public safety
professionals.
(9) When
the Department submits a discretionary professional standards case to a Policy
Committee, the Department will notify the public safety professional. The
notification will include the deadlines for the public safety professional to
provide evidence of factors that may support mitigation. A public safety
professional may provide mitigation evidence by one or both of the following:
(a) Submitting documents or written
statements as supporting evidence for mitigation of the conduct under review to
the Department for Policy Committee and Board consideration.
(b) Arranging with the Department to attend a
Policy Committee meeting and present a verbal statement. The verbal statement
is limited to a maximum of five minutes and must be presented in person by the
public safety professional or their representative.
(10) Policy Committee Review of Discretionary
Professional Standards Cases.
(a) In
professional standards cases where the Department has determined that the
conduct being reviewed violates the moral fitness standards established by the
Board as discretionary grounds for denial or revocation as defined in OAR
259-008-0300(3), the Department will submit its findings to a Policy Committee
for disposition. The Policy Committee's disposition will be submitted as a
recommendation to the Board for approval.
(b) The Policy Committee will review the
professional standards case to:
(A) Affirm,
modify or negate the Department-identified moral fitness violations;
(B) Identify aggravating and mitigating
circumstances unique to the professional standards case;
(C) Determine how the moral fitness
violations and aggravating or mitigating circumstances impact the public safety
professional's fitness for certification; and
(D) When recommending denial or revocation of
public safety professional certifications, determine how long the individual
should be ineligible for certification.
(c) Aggravating and mitigating circumstances
are conditions, factors or actions that increase or decrease the total impact
that the identified moral fitness violation has on the public safety
professional's fitness for certification.
(A)
Aggravating circumstances generally increase the severity of the impact the
moral fitness violation has on fitness for certification and may, in addition
to the moral fitness violation, be grounds to deny or revoke certification.
Aggravating circumstances may increase the recommended ineligibility period.
Circumstances that may be considered aggravating include, but are not limited
to, the degree of the criminal disposition, prior criminal dispositions or
misconduct, lack of accountability, number of persons involved in the
underlying conduct, number of separate incidents, passage of time from date of
incident or incidents, or any other circumstance the Department or the Policy
Committee consider aggravating given the specific issues in the case.
(B) Mitigating circumstances do not excuse or
justify the conduct, but generally decrease the severity of the impact the
moral fitness violation has on fitness for certification and may decrease the
recommended ineligibility period. Circumstances that may be considered
mitigating include, but are not limited to, written letters of support,
truthfulness, cooperation during the incident or investigation, or any other
circumstance the Department or the Policy Committee consider mitigating given
the specific issues in the case.
(d) The ineligibility period is the timeframe
that the public safety professional or applicant is ineligible for public
safety certifications and prohibited from performing the duties of a
certifiable public safety professional as the result of the total impact of the
moral fitness violations and the aggravating and mitigating circumstances on
the public safety professional's fitness for certification.
(A) When the identified moral fitness
violations include Dishonesty or Misconduct that is discriminatory as defined
in OAR 259-008-0300(3), the Policy Committee may recommend an ineligibility
period from three years to lifetime.
(B) When the identified moral fitness
violations do not include Dishonesty or Misconduct that is discriminatory as
defined in OAR 259-008-0300(3), the Policy Committee may recommend an
ineligibility period from three years to ten years.
(11) Board Review of a
Professional Standards Case. The Board will review the professional standards
case, aggravation and mitigation, and the Policy Committee's recommendations to
determine whether or not to approve all or part of the Policy Committee's
recommendations.
(a) Upon initial
consideration, the Board may either approve the recommendation in its entirety
or defer a decision and return the recommendation to the Policy
Committee.
(b) The Board may
approve the Policy Committee recommendation by a majority vote of the members
present.
(c) The Board, by a
majority vote of the members present, may defer its decision and return the
recommendation with instructions to the Policy Committee to reconsider the
recommendation. The Board may also instruct the Department to obtain further
information and revise the case for a second review and recommendation by the
Policy Committee. The Board may return a recommendation only once.
(A) The Policy Committee must reconsider its
recommendation, along with the Board's instructions and any new information the
Department submits to the Policy Committee.
(B) The Policy Committee will submit a
revised or renewed recommendation to the Board.
(d) The Board will review the revised or
renewed recommendation to decide whether to approve all or part of the
recommendation. The Board may approve the recommendation by a majority vote of
the members present and may disapprove the recommendation by a two-thirds vote
of the total voting members. A failure to achieve a two-thirds vote to
disapprove a recommendation will result in the approval of the recommendation.
(A) When the Board disapproves a
recommendation that proposes no action be taken to deny or revoke
certification, the Board must make its own determination as to whether the
public safety professional has engaged in conduct that violates the
discretionary grounds for denial or revocation of certifications. The Board's
review of the case must follow the process for Policy Committee review as
outlined in section (10) of this rule.
(B) The Board may identify their own findings
or adopt all or any part of the Policy Committee's findings as the basis for
the determination.
(C) If the Board
review results in a determination to deny or revoke public safety professional
certifications, the Department will issue a Notice of Intent pursuant to OAR
259-008-0340. Where the Board review results in no action to deny or revoke
public safety professional certifications, the issued Notice of Intent will be
withdrawn and the professional standards case will be closed.
Statutory/Other Authority: ORS
181A.410,
ORS
181A.640 & ORS
183.341
Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS
181A.410,
ORS
181A.640,
ORS
181A.630,
ORS
181A.650 & ORS
183.341
