In-Service Training-Sheriffs

Every person who is elected or appointed to the office of sheriff after May 30, 1997 is annually required during the term of office to complete a 40-hour in-service training course appropriate for the rank and responsibilities of a sheriff. All such training must be approved by the POST Commission. Any sheriff who does not fulfill the obligations of this annual in-service training shall lose the power of arrest. T.C.A. § 8-8-102(c).

All sheriffs must complete annual in-service training as set forth in T.C.A. § 38-8-111. Sheriffs successfully completing annual in-service training receive a cash salary supplement in the same manner and under the same conditions as police officers except that the POST Commission makes the funds for sheriff’s salary supplements available to the appropriate counties for payment to sheriffs. In performing its duties, the commission recognizes that the sheriff is an elected official without any employing agency. The commission must issue to any sheriff successfully completing recruit training, or possessing its equivalency and completing continuing annual in-service training, a sheriff's certificate of compliance in the manner in which it issues police officers' certificates of compliance. A sheriff already holding any certificate of compliance from the commission may request the commission to recognize the sheriff's certification. A sheriff receiving a certificate of compliance has a continuing duty to meet all requirements as set forth in T.C.A. §§ 38-8-111 and 8-8-102. In the event a person holding a police officer's certificate of compliance assumes the office of sheriff, the commission must substitute a sheriff's certificate of compliance for the police officer certificate. T.C.A. § 38-8-111(f). See also Rules of the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, Rule 1110-2-.03 (2).

The failure of a sheriff to successfully complete the in-service training requirement will result in the sheriff's loss of eligibility for the pay supplement set forth in T.C.A. § 38-8-111. The failure of a sheriff to successfully complete another in-service training session within one year will result in loss of certification. T.C.A. § 38-8-107(b).