House Bill 1128 amends Tennessee law regarding the training and certification requirements for county constables. A new subsection is added to Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 38-8-107, which mandates that the commission issue a certificate of compliance to elected constables who meet police officer qualifications and complete an approved recruit training program. Additionally, constables must complete annual in-service training to retain their certification, although they are not required to be certified by the POST commission to perform their duties, nor are they required to work a specific number of hours for certification retention.

Furthermore, Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 8-10-104, is revised to require newly elected or appointed constables, starting July 1, 2025, to complete 128 hours of law enforcement training within their first year. They must also be paired with a trained constable or a POST-certified officer during their official duties unless they have recently served as a full-time, POST-certified officer. The training requirement can be waived if the constable completes a comparable basic law enforcement course within one year of their election or appointment.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 38-8-107, 8-10-104