9-1-708. Certificate required for permanent employment; temporary employment; waiver or modification of training requirements; wages during training; grandfather provisions.

(a) Notwithstanding any general, specific or local law or charter to the contrary, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, no person shall be employed as a dispatcher on a permanent or temporary basis unless the person has been awarded a certificate by the director of the peace officer standards and training commission attesting to his satisfactory completion of a commission approved dispatcher basic training program. No county, sheriff, mayor, municipality, state agency or any other person authorized by law to employ dispatchers in this state shall employ any person as a dispatcher who does not meet the employment standards established by commission rule.

(b) A person shall only be employed as a dispatcher on a permanent or temporary basis for two (2) years unless within two (2) years from the original date of employment he is awarded a certificate by the peace officer standards and training commission attesting that he satisfactorily completed a commission approved dispatcher basic training program. The commission may extend the two (2) year time requirement of this section upon the written application of the dispatcher and his employer. The application shall explain the circumstances which make the extension necessary. Factors which the commission may consider in granting or denying the extension include the illness of a dispatcher or a member of his immediate family or the absence of reasonable access to the basic course. The commission shall not grant an extension exceeding two hundred ten (210) days.

(c) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b) of this section, the commission may waive the basic dispatcher training program and certify those applicants who pass a written examination provided by the commission and an oral interview attesting to the applicant's ability in law enforcement, fire and ambulance dispatching. The applicant shall prove that he satisfactorily completed a basic dispatcher training program which in the commission's opinion is comparable to that required by this section before waiver is granted.

(d) Any dispatcher attending any school or training program authorized by the commission for the purpose of meeting the requirements of this section shall be paid his wages as a dispatcher by his employer. He shall also receive reimbursement for reasonable expenses as determined by his employer.

(e) Any person who has been employed on a permanent basis as a dispatcher for three (3) consecutive years prior to July 1, 1991, or who has attended and successfully completed the peace officer's standards and training commission "communications personnel basic course" offered within the state of Wyoming, and who is currently employed as a dispatcher, shall be certified as a dispatcher by the director without having complied with subsection (b) or (c) of this section.

(f) A person who is convicted of a felony after his employment as a dispatcher is ineligible for continued employment as a dispatcher. If the person has been certified under this section, his certification shall be automatically revoked on the date of his conviction. The director shall notify the person and the person's employing agency upon revocation of certification under this section.

(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to except any dispatcher from any civil service provision or requirement.