81-1410. Training academies; admission; criteria.

(1) The council shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations governing the minimum admission requirements for all training academies. Until the rules and regulations become effective, the admission requirements existing on July 13, 2000, pertaining to the training center shall be applicable to all training academies, except the Nebraska State Patrol. The rules and regulations shall establish admission criteria which shall include, but not be limited to, (a) physical, mental, and emotional fitness and (b) disclosure of any criminal history. The council may also adopt a priority system for admission to the training center and the other training academies conducting certification training for officers not employed by that training academy's agency.

(2) The council may admit an applicant to any training academy for entry-level law enforcement certification when the applicant meets the following minimum criteria:

(a) The applicant is or will be a citizen of the United States prior to the completion of certification;

(b) The applicant will reach the age of twenty-one years prior to the completion of the training;

(c) The applicant has been fingerprinted and a search has been made of local, state, and national fingerprint files for disclosure of any criminal record and the results furnished to the training center;

(d) The applicant has a valid motor vehicle operator's or chauffeur's license;

(e) The applicant has vision correctable to 20/30 and has no evidence of an irreversible disease which will affect the person's sight;

(f) The applicant has been pardoned or has never been convicted by any state or the United States of a crime punishable by imprisonment in a penitentiary for a term of one year or more or by any foreign government of a crime which would be punishable by imprisonment for a term of one year or more if committed in Nebraska or has had a conviction for such an offense overturned or reversed by a court of competent jurisdiction;

(g) The applicant possesses good character as determined by a thorough background investigation;

(h) The applicant (i)(A) is a high school graduate or (B) possesses a general educational development certificate and (ii) is able to read, write, and understand the English language at the eleventh grade level;

(i) The applicant has not been convicted of driving while intoxicated in the two years immediately preceding admission; and

(j) The applicant has been examined by a licensed physician one year or less prior to admission and has been certified by the physician to have met the physical requirements, as determined by the council, necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of a law enforcement officer and successfully complete the requirements for training.

(3) In all cases in which it is necessary to acquire documents or other information to determine whether or not an applicant meets any of the requirements of subsection (2) of this section, such copies or other information shall be supplied by the applicant at his or her own expense.

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