1. An individual who is not a certified law enforcement officer may apply for attendance at a short course of study at an approved law enforcement training program if such individual is sponsored by a law enforcement agency. Such individual may be sponsored by a law enforcement agency that either intends to hire or has hired the individual as a law enforcement officer.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 80B.11D

  • Academy: means the Iowa law enforcement academy. See Iowa Code 80B.3
  • Law enforcement officer: means an officer appointed by the director of the department of natural resources, a member of a police force or other agency or department of the state, county, city, or tribal government regularly employed as such and who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the criminal laws of this state and all individuals, as determined by the council, who by the nature of their duties may be required to perform the duties of a peace officer. See Iowa Code 80B.3
  • Rule: includes "regulation". See Iowa Code 4.1
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. An individual who submits an application pursuant to subsection 1 shall, at a minimum, meet all minimum hiring standards as established by academy rules, including the successful completion of certain psychological and physical testing examinations. In addition, such individual shall be of good moral character as determined by a thorough background investigation by the hiring law enforcement agency. The academy shall conduct the requisite testing and background investigation for a fee if the law enforcement agency does not do so, and for such purposes, the academy shall be defined as a law enforcement agency and shall have the authority to conduct a background investigation including a fingerprint search of local, state, and national fingerprint files.
 3. An individual who submits an application pursuant to subsection 1 shall, at a minimum, submit proof of successful completion of a two-year or four-year police science or criminal justice program at an accredited educational institution in this state approved by the academy.
 4. An individual shall not be granted permission to attend an approved law enforcement training program pursuant to subsection 1 if such acceptance would result in the nonacceptance of another qualifying applicant who is a law enforcement officer.
 5. This section applies only to individuals who apply for certification through a short course of study as established by rule.
 6. An individual who has not been hired by a law enforcement agency must be hired by a law enforcement agency within eighteen months of completing the short course of study in order to obtain certification pursuant to this section.