§ 17E-4.  Powers and duties of the Commission.

(a) The Commission shall have the following powers, duties, and responsibilities, which are enforceable through its rules and regulations, certification procedures, or the provisions of G.S. 17E-8 and G.S. 17E-9:

(1) Promulgate rules and regulations for the administration of this Chapter, which rules may require (i) the submission by any agency of information with respect to the employment, education, and training of its justice officers, and (ii) the submission by any training school of information with respect to its programs that are required by this Chapter.

(2) Establish minimum educational and training standards that may be met in order to qualify for entry level employment as an officer in temporary or probationary status or in a permanent position. The standards for entry level employment of officers shall include all of the following:

a. Training in response to, and investigation of, domestic violence cases, as well as training in investigation for evidence-based prosecutions. For purposes of the domestic violence training requirement, the term "officers" shall include justice officers as defined in G.S. 17E-2(3)a., except that the term shall not include "special deputy sheriffs" as defined in G.S. 17E-2(3)a.

b. Training on juvenile justice issues, including (i) the handling and processing of juvenile matters for referrals, diversion, arrests, and detention; (ii) best practices for handling incidents involving juveniles; (iii) adolescent development and psychology; and (iv) promoting relationship building with youth as a key to delinquency prevention.

c. Education and training to develop knowledge and increase awareness of effective mental health and wellness strategies for justice officers.

(3) Certify, recertify, suspend, revoke, or deny, pursuant to the standards that it may establish for the purpose, persons as qualified under the provisions of this Chapter who may be employed at entry level as officers.

(4) Establish minimum standards for the certification of training schools and programs or courses of instruction that are required by this Chapter.

(5) Certify, recertify, suspend, revoke, or deny, pursuant to the standards that it has established for the purpose, training schools and programs or courses of instruction that are required by this Chapter.

(6) Establish standards and levels of education or equivalent experience for criminal justice school instructors, including instructors with probationary or limited teaching privileges, qualified assistants, in-service training coordinators, executive officers, and school directors, who participate in programs or courses of instruction that are required by this Chapter.

(7) Certify, recertify, suspend, revoke, or deny, pursuant to the standards that it has established for the purpose, criminal justice school instructors, including instructors with probationary or limited teaching privileges, qualified assistants, in-service training coordinators, executive officers, and school directors, who participate in programs or courses of instruction that are required by this Chapter or are required and approved by the instructor's agency, including programs or courses of instruction certified under Chapter 17C of the General Statutes or offered by an educational institution accredited by the Commission.

(8) Investigate and make such evaluations as may be necessary to determine if agencies, criminal justice school instructors, including instructors with probationary or limited teaching privileges, qualified assistants, in-service training coordinators, executive officers, and school directors, are complying with the provision[s] of this Chapter.

(9) Adopt and amend bylaws, consistent with law, for its internal management and control.

(10) Enter into contracts incident to the administration of its authority pursuant to this Chapter.

(11) Establish minimum standards for in-service training for justice officers. In-service training standards for sworn law enforcement officers shall include all of the following training topics:

a. Response to, and investigation of, domestic violence cases, as well as training in investigation for evidence-based prosecutions. For purposes of the domestic violence training requirement, the term "justice officer" shall include those defined in G.S. 17E-2(3)a., except that the term shall not include "special deputy sheriffs" as defined in G.S. 17E-2(3)a.

b. Juvenile justice issues, including (i) the handling and processing of juvenile matters for referrals, diversion, arrests, and detention; (ii) best practices for handling incidents involving juveniles; (iii) adolescent development and psychology; and (iv) promoting relationship building with youth as a key to delinquency prevention.

c. Training to develop knowledge and increase awareness of effective mental health and wellness strategies for justice officers. The standards established shall include two hours of training on this issue every three years.

d. Ethics.

e. Mental health for justice officers.

f. Community policing.

g. Minority sensitivity.

h. Use of force.

i. The duty to intervene and report.

(12) Establish minimum standards and levels of training for certification of instructors for the domestic violence training and juvenile justice training required by subdivisions (2) and (11) of this subsection.

(13) Establish minimum educational and training standards for employment and continuing education for officers concerning:

a. Recognizing and appropriately interacting with persons who are deaf or hard of hearing.

b. Drivers license and vehicle registration identifiers of persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, as authorized by G.S. 20-7(q2), including that those identifiers are optional.

(14) Monitor compliance with G.S. 20-185.1(d).

(15) Establish minimum standards and levels of training for certification of diversion investigators and diversion supervisors, as defined in G.S. 90-113.74(i). As part of these minimum standards, the Commission shall require that certified diversion investigators receive training in the following:

a. Definition of drug diversion.

b. Categories of drugs most subject to diversion and misuse.

c. Methods used to divert drugs.

d. Proper investigation of drug diversion cases.

e. Appropriate use of the controlled substances reporting system to investigate drug diversion cases.

f. Requests of prescriptions and records related to prescriptions pursuant to G.S. 90-107.1, including best practices for working with pharmacies in a manner that minimizes disruption of customer service and pharmacy operations.

g. Data privacy and security provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and other pertinent federal and State laws governing privacy and security of confidential data and records.

h. Proper handling of confidential data and records from any source.

i. Criminal and civil penalties under federal and State law for improperly accessing, handling, or disclosing confidential prescription data or other confidential data or records.

(16) Certify and recertify at least once every three years, suspend, revoke, or deny, pursuant to the standards that it has established for the purpose, persons as qualified to be employed at entry level and retained as diversion investigators and diversion supervisors, as defined in G.S. 90-113.74(i).

(17) Search the National Decertification Index (NDI) maintained by the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) using the name of every applicant for certification or applicant for lateral transfer, and any other personal identifying information necessary to complete the search, and shall utilize any record of conviction of a criminal offense received as a result of the search during the application and lateral transfer process to determine if the applicant has any record that would disqualify the applicant for certification.

The Commission may certify, and no additional certification shall be required from it, programs, courses and teachers certified by the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission. Where the Commission determines that a program, course, instructor or teacher is required for an area which is unique to the office of sheriff, the Commission may certify such program, course, instructor, or teacher under such standards and procedures as it may establish.

(b) [Recodified as G.S. 17E-4.1.] (1983, c. 558, s. 1; 1991, c. 265, s. 2; 1995, c. 103, ss. 4, 5; 2004-186, ss. 2.7, 2.9, 2.10, 2.12; 2017-57, s. 16D.4(cc); 2017-191, s. 3; 2018-5, s. 35.25(e); 2018-44, s. 14(b); 2018-142, s. 23(b); 2021-107, s. 3(a), (c); 2021-136, s. 1(b); 2021-137, s. 2(b); 2021-138, ss. 7(b), 11(b), 15(b); 2023-56, s. 2.)