HF4700

Purpose

• Increase funding for peace officer training reimbursement and create a dedicated fund named after Philando Castile to support and strengthen law enforcement training and the adoption of best practices.
• Establish and enforce specific training topics and quality measures for approved courses.

Main Provisions

• Peace Officer Training Reimbursements: The bill increases funding to reimburse local governments for peace officer training costs. Amounts stated are $2,949,000 in the first year and $6,042,000 in the second year.
• Philando Castile Memorial Training Fund: The bill creates the Philando Castile Memorial Training Fund, providing $4,942,000 each year to support and strengthen law enforcement training and implement best practices. Funds may only be used to reimburse costs for training courses that qualify under the referenced statutes.
• Training Topics and Qualifications: Training courses eligible for reimbursement must cover crisis response, conflict management, cultural diversity, and autism training, as defined by the specified Minnesota Statutes (626.8469 and 626.8474, with related provisions in 626.8452).
• Course Approval and Reporting Requirements: For each approved course, sponsors must include:
  • goals and objectives
  • a course outline with timeline and teaching hours
  • instructor qualifications
  • a plan for learning assessments and how assessments will be documented to the board
  • after completion, instructors must provide student evaluations to the sponsor
  • the board will keep records of approved and denied courses
• Review and Oversight: All continuing education courses must be reviewed after the first year, with a timetable for recurring reviews. For each review, sponsors must submit learning assessments to demonstrate that approved learning outcomes are being taught.
• Licensee Records and Transparency: A list of licensees who complete each course must be maintained by the sponsor and transmitted to the board after the course and the instructor evaluations. Evaluations will be accessible to chief law enforcement officers. The board will establish a data retention schedule for all information collected under this section.
• Additional Training Funding (FY 2028 onward): After reimbursing all eligible requests for board-approved courses, the board may use remaining funds to reimburse other board-approved law enforcement training courses. The base funding for this activity is 878,000 (initially) and 3,878,000 beginning in fiscal year 2028 and thereafter.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Reallocation and increase of funding to reimburse local governments for peace officer training costs.
• Creation of a dedicated Philando Castile Memorial Training Fund with specified annual funding and a narrow use for qualifying training.
• Expansion of required training topics to crisis response, conflict management, cultural diversity, and autism training, with formalized approval, documentation, and evaluation processes.
• Introduction of a structured, ongoing evaluation and data-keeping regime for continuing education courses, including making evaluations accessible to chief law enforcement officers and establishing a data retention schedule.
• Provision for additional, remaining funds to reimburse other board-approved training beginning in FY 2028, with defined baseline funding.

Practical Implications

• Local governments will receive more funds to train peace officers, potentially improving readiness in crisis situations and in working with diverse communities.
• Training quality and accountability will increase, due to required course goals, outlines, assessments, and post-course evaluations.
• There will be a formal mechanism to recognize and memorialize training improvements related to Philando Castile’s legacy, tying funding to best practices in law enforcement training.

Relevant Terms - Peace Officer Training Reimbursements - Philando Castile Memorial Training Fund - crisis response - conflict management - cultural diversity - autism training - Minnesota Statutes sections 626.8452, 626.8469, 626.8474 - POST Board (Peace Officer Standards and Training) - course sponsor - continuing education courses - learning assessments - course evaluations - licensees - data retention - chief law enforcement officers - board-approved law enforcement training - fiscal years (FY 2028 onward)