Request By:
Sen. Brandon D. Smith
Opinion
Opinion By: JACK CONWAY,ATTORNEY GENERAL;Matt James,Assistant Attorney General
Opinion of the Attorney General
Sen. Brandon D. Smith has requested an opinion of this office on three issues: (1) whether an applicant may be certified as a police officer if that applicant has a diploma from a private high school that is not certified by the Kentucky Department of Education ("KDE"), (2) whether the Department of Criminal Justice Training ("DOCJT") may change its interpretation of regulations, and (3) when a police agency is liable under KRS 15.396 for employing an officer whose certification is revoked. We advise that: (1) an applicant may be certified as a police officer if the applicant has a diploma from a private high school that is not certified by the KDE if that private high school complies with all provisions relating to private secondary education; (2) DOCJT may depart from its prior interpretations if it provides a reasoned analysis for the departure; and (3) an agency is liable under KRS 15.396 if an officer's certification is revoked only from the time the agency became aware that the certification was revoked.
In a letter dated Oct. 8, 2014, DOCJT notified the Hazard Police Department that its Compliance Board met on Oct. 7, 2014 and found that two current police officers and one former police officer were not in compliance with the regulatory requirements for certification for police officers. Specifically, all three were graduates of Hazard Christian Academy, a private school that is not certified by KDE. DOCJT found that these police officers did not meet the high school graduate requirement to be a police officer. At issue is whether DOCJT properly determined that the graduates of Hazard Christian Academy did not meet the high school graduate requirement for eligibility as a police officer.
KRS 15.380(1) requires that police officers shall be certified. KRS 15.382 provides that "a person certified . . . shall, at the time of becoming certified, meet the following minimum qualifications . . . (3) Be a high school graduate or have successfully completed a General Education Development (G.E.D.) examination." 503 KAR 1:140 § 4(9)(a) provides:
The high school graduate requirement of KRS 15.382(3) . . . shall be met by:
503 KAR 1:140 § 4(9)(a) requires that the high school graduate requirement shall be met by a diploma from a public school, a private school that is certified by the Kentucky Department for Education ("KDE"), or a private school that has complied with Kentucky law relating to private secondary schools. An applicant from a private school that is not certified by the KDE is required to submit proof that the private high school complies with Kentucky law if the Kentucky Law Enforcement Commission ("KLEC") requests it.
In this case, Hazard Christian Academy is not certified by the KDE. That lack of certification by itself does not render its graduates ineligible for certification as police officers. 1 An applicant for certification as a police officer may still submit a diploma from a private school that has complied with the laws relating to private secondary schools. The Kentucky Law Enforcement Commission then may request the applicant to submit proof that the private high school has complied with the laws relating to private secondary schools in its discretion. Applicants who graduate from non-certified schools, such as Hazard Christian Academy, may submit their diplomas as part of their application for certification, and the KLEC may request additional information as it sees fit.
Regarding DOCJT's prior determinations that the officers were eligible for certification, although we defer to the determinations of the DOCJT in the determinations of particular cases, 2 we offer the following general guidelines. "An administrative agency either must conform with its own precedents or explain its departure from them . . . . An agency changing its course must supply a reasoned analysis indicating that prior policies and standards are being deliberately changed, not casually ignored . . . ." In re Hughes & Coleman, 60 S.W.3d 540, 543 (Ky. 2001). DOCJT is generally required to conform to its own prior interpretations, and although it may deviate from those interpretations, it must do so by supplying a reasoned analysis.
Regarding an agency's liability for employing a person who fails to achieve certification, KRS 15.396(1) provides that an agency may be liable for the training costs of a person "if the agency knowingly employs or appoints a person to be an officer of any type as enumerated in KRS 15.380 and if that person fails to achieve certified status as required by KRS 15.380 to 15.404." KRS 15.396(2) similarly denies participation in the Kentucky Law Enforcement Foundation Program Fund "if the agency knowingly employs or appoints a person to be an officer of any type as enumerated in KRS 15.380 and if that person . . . (b) Fails to achieve certified status as required by KRS 15.380 to 15.404." KRS 15.396(3) provides that "an agency that is in violation of subsection (1) or (2) of this section may be relieved of the associated penalty upon: (a) Termination of the officer who is the source of the violation; or (b) Correction of the officer's deficiency." KRS 15.396(1) and (2) make an agency liable for knowingly employing a person to be an officer if that person fails to achieve certified status, although KRS 15.396(3) relieves the agency of those penalties if it terminates the officer or corrects the deficiency.
In the Kentucky Penal Code, "a person acts knowingly with respect to conduct or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense when he is aware that his conduct is of that nature or that the circumstance exists." KRS 501.020(2). An agency is thus liable under KRS 15.396 for employing an officer if the agency is aware that the officer has failed to achieve certified status. If the agency is not aware at the time of employment that the officer has failed to achieve certified status, then it is not liable under KRS 15.396. If an officer is certified, but that certification is subsequently revoked, the agency is liable under KRS 15.396 only from the time that the agency becomes aware that the certification has been revoked. "A statute has no retroactive application unless it is specified in the statute expressly." Gould v. O'Bannon, 770 S.W.2d 220, 221 (Ky. 1989). Accordingly, if an officer is certified, but that certification is subsequently revoked, an agency is liable for employing the officer only from the time that the agency becomes aware that the certification of the officer has been revoked.
In summary, an applicant for certification as a police officer who has a diploma from a private high school that is not certified by the KDE may still be certified if that private high school complies with all applicable secondary school provisions. The KLEC may require the applicant to provide additional information in its discretion. An agency must either follow its precedents or provide a reasoned analysis for its departure from them. A police agency is liable under KRS 15.396 for employing a police officer whose certification is subsequently revoked only from the time that the police agency becomes aware that the officer's certification has been revoked.
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