House Bill 1389/AP
To amend Chapter 8 of Title 35 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,known as the “Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Act,”so as to change the time at which a candidate is required to complete thebasic training course; to provide for the effect of failure to completethe basic training course requirements; to change the provisions relatingto the applicability and effect of certification requirements generally;to provide for the training and certification of communications officersand related purposes; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
Section 2.1. Said chapter is further amended by adding a new Code Section35-8-23 to read as follows: “35-8-23. (a) as used in this Code section,the term “communications officer” means and includes any personemployed by a local governmental agency to receive, process, or transmitpublic safety information and dispatch law enforcement officers, firefighters,medical personnel, or emergency management personnel. (b) Any person employedon or after July 1, 1995, as a communications officer shall satisfactorilycomplete a basic training course approved by the council. Persons who areemployed on July 1, 1994, shall register with the council and may be certifiedby voluntarily complying with the certification process. Any person whofails to comply with the registration or certification process of the councilshall not perform any duties of a communications officer and may have hisor her certificate sanctioned or revoked. (c) The council shall administerand coordinate the training for communications officers and conduct administrativecompliance reviews. The council shall be authorized to promulgate rulesand regulations to facilitate the administration and coordination of training,standards, certification, and compliance reviews consistent with the provisionsof this Code section. The costs of the training shall be paid from fundsappropriated to the council.”