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Pre-Emplyment Reviews

Pre-Employment Moral Fitness Reviews

Jordan James-Largent
jorda.james-largent@state.or.us

DPSST's Criminal Justice Professional Standards Unit exists to ensure individuals applying for and holding DPSST certification are above reproach.  Professional Standards is responsible for the denial or revocation of certifications held by public safety professionals who do not meet, or fall below the Board’s standards.

All individuals applying for certification in a criminal justice discipline are subject to the Board’s pre-employment moral fitness standards.  This includes police, corrections, parole & probation, OLCC regulatory specialists, Telecommunicators and Emergency Medical Dispatchers. All professional standards cases are unique and handled on a case by case basis.


When an officer or dispatcher goes through the background process and is hired, the officer must report all criminal conduct that resulted in any form of a plea of guilt (no contest, civil compromise, etc.) a conviction or adjudication to DPSST on the F28 Criminal History Reporting Form. It is the agencies responsibility to review the F28 Criminal History Reporting Form to ensure the conduct reported was criminal in nature.  

Upon reciept of the F28 Criminal History Reporting Form and the F5 Application for Training or F7 Application for Certification, DPSST will open an inquiry into the criminal conduct to determine if the crime itself or the individual's conduct at the time violates the Board's Pre-Employment Moral Fitness Standards defined in OAR 259-008-0029(2).

​Agency Responsibilities

DPSST will request incident reports and court documents from the hiring agency. Please do not send in any information until it is requested. Agencies are required to submit the requested information to DPSST in order for the review to be conducted.

DPSST will review police reports and court records to make a determination if the officer/dispatcher's conduct violates the Board's pre-employment moral fitness standard.  There are three possible outcomes to the DPSST review: 

Inquiry Closure

DPSST will close inquiries based on the following criteria:

  • ​The crime itself or the individuals conduct did not violate the pre-employment moral fitness standards.
  • If the incident reports could not be located due to records retention or other issues.
  • If there were confirmed moral fitness violations; however the crimes occurred beyond the ineligibility period allowed in rule.
  • If the officer/dispatcher separated from employment prior to the review being conducted​.

Mandatory Cases

​​Mandatory cases are cases that require immediate denial of a public safety professional's application for training and subsequent certification and includes items such as offenses that can be punishable as a felony or carry a term of imprisonment of more than one year. You can view a full list of mandatory revocation criteria​ in Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) 259-008-0300 (2)There is no committee review for mandatory cases, the officer/dispatcher will receive a notice of DPSST’s intent to deny their application for training and subsequent certification and, unless a hearing is requested, the officer/dispatcher's application will be permanently denied 20 days after issuance of the notice.​


Discretionary Cases

Discretionary cases require review by the Applicant Review Committee.  OAR 259-008-0290(3)​ details the elements that require discretionary review. Prior to the committee meeting, members will receive a staff report that summarizes the moral fitness violation(s) along with the documentation used by DPSST staff to make the determination tha​​t moral fitness violation(s) exist along with any written mitigation received by the officer/dispatcher. Please visit our Board and Policy Committee Page​ for more information about the Applicant Review Committee members along with agendas and ​meeting minutes.​​​​​​​​​​​​

DPSST will open a professional standards case when the inquiry determined the officer/dispatcher's conduct violated the pre-employment moral fitness standards.  

DPSST will prepare a staff report and provide the officer/dispatcher the opportunity to submit written mititagation and/or provide a verbal statement at the committee meeting.

The Applicant Review Committee (ARC) consists of 2 members from each of the policy committees (Police, Corrections and Telecommunications) and a public member from the Board. The Board has granted the ARC the authority to determine whether action is to be taken on an officers/dispatchers application for training and subsequent certification without Board review.

ARC meetings are public meetings. You can sign up to receive committee agendas by subscribing to the professional standards group via our GovDelivery notification system. All records provided to the committee can be requested according to Oregon’s public records laws. Please visit our Public Records page to learn more about our public records​​ process.   

​Officers/dispatchers will be provided the opportunity to provide a verbal statement to the committee​, attend the committee meeting as a member of the public, or view the meeting​ live on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@DPSST/​​. Officers wishing to attend in person or provide a verbal statement will be provided a document ​that explains the committee process.  ​​​​​​​​​​​

DPSST staff will present the case to the co​mmittee, which may include the officer/dispatcher's 5 minute verbal statement. The committee will proceed with the discussion of the case, considering the officers conduct, as well as any aggravating or mitigating circumstances.​  The ARC must always recognize the fact the conduct occurred prior to public safety employment and that the officer/dispatcher was hired by a public safety agencies regardless of the conduct.  

​After discussion, the following votes will occur: 

  1. ​The committee will vote to adopt the staff report or ask staff for additional information. There is a possibility that the case could be held over to another committee meeting if the verbal statement or information contained in the staff report requires further fact checking.
  2. The committee will then vote on whether​ action should be taken against the officers/dispatchers application for training/certification.
    • ​​​If the decision is to not take action, DPSST will close the case and the officer/dispatcher can continue moving forward in their career. 
    • ​If the decision is to ​deny, the committee will discuss and vote on the length of time the officer will be ineligible to reapply for public safety certification in Oregon. This ineligibility period can range from 3 Years to a 10 years depending on the specific circumstances of the case. DPSST will prepare a Notice of Intent to Deny Application for Training and Subsequent Certification which includes the officers contested case rights for due process.