Bill
SB 5224
CJTC updates certification/commissioning; cross-agency background checks for moves between peace and corrections roles; streamlines hearings; clarifies railroad-police commissioning; 24-month auto-lapse.
SB 5224 Summary: Officer Certification Definitions, Processes, and Commissioning
Overview
- Purpose: Update how the Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) defines certification and commissioning, streamline the hearing process for denials/suspensions/revocations, and ensure background investigations when officers move between agencies or positions.
- Effective date: 90 days after adjournment of the 2025 session (the bill becoming law is associated with an effective date around July 2025; status shows an effective date of 7/27/2025).
- Status: Passed the Legislature and signed into law in May 2025 (Chapter 349, 2025 Laws).
What the bill does (core provisions)
- Certifications and commissioning defined
- Certified: An individual who has met background check requirements, completed required training (Basic Law Enforcement Academy, Corrections Officers Academy, or equivalent), satisfied CJTC rules, and been granted a CJTC license to serve as an officer.
- Commissioned: The appointing entity’s authority to act as a peace officer or corrections officer; CJTC’s authority to commission railroad police officers is clarified (language shifting from “appointing” to “commissioning” railroad police officers).
- Movement between agencies or positions
- When a peace officer or corrections officer moves from one Washington agency to another, or moves between certified peace officer positions and certified corrections officer positions (including moves within the same agency), background investigations are required.
- The background-investigation requirement also applies to those moving between the two roles (peace officer <-> corrections officer) within the same agency.
- Temporary reassignments within the same agency are exempt from these background-investigation requirements.
- Certification lapse
- Certification lapses automatically after a break of more than 24 consecutive months in law enforcement service (full-time or part-time), regardless of the break’s cause.
- Hearing process changes
- The bill eliminates the requirement that an administrative law judge (ALJ) issue a proposed recommendation before the five-member panel issues a final decision in hearings on denial, suspension, or revocation of certification. The ALJ still presides and rules on evidentiary matters, but the proposed-recommendation step is removed to speed final rulings.
Procedural and fiscal notes
- Appropriation: None.
- Fiscal note: Not requested.
- Implementation: No new CJTC rulemaking authority; changes focus on timing and clarity within existing processes.
Who is affected
- Peace officers, reserve officers, corrections officers, and limited authority peace officers who
- move between agencies or between the certified peace officer and certified corrections officer roles, including intra-agency moves, and
- are subject to background checks under the new cross-move provisions.
- Railroad police officers, with CJTC’s commission authority clarified for those officers.
Timeline and legislative history
- Introduced: January 10, 2025
- Passed House: February–April 2025 (Committee on Community Safety; Third Reading pass on Feb 12, 2025; completed April 15, 2025)
- Senate action: Passed 2025 Regular Session; final adoption dates shown in the Senate and House action logs
- Governor signed: May 19, 2025 (Chapter 349, 2025 Laws)
- Effective: 90 days after adjournment (July 2025), aligning with the stated effective date of 7/27/2025
Impact and considerations
- Aims to keep qualified personnel certified when flexibly deployed across agencies and roles.
- Streamlines hearing timelines to reduce delay in final certification decisions.
- Expands clarity around railroad police commissioning and cross-agency background checks.
- No new funding required; changes are administrative and procedural.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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