Bill Description: Senate Bill 1139 would provide the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Council greater latitude to consider the circumstances of an applicant's prior criminal history involving a felony rather than automatically denying the application. 

Rating: +1

Does it directly or indirectly create or increase penalties for victimless crimes or non-restorative penalties for non-violent crimes? Conversely, does it eliminate or decrease penalties for victimless crimes or non-restorative penalties for non-violent crimes?

Section 19-5109, Idaho Code, deals with certification by the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Council. Currently, subsection 10 of this law says, "The council may reject any applicant for certification who has been convicted of a misdemeanor, and the council shall reject an applicant for certification who has been convicted of a felony, the punishment for which could have been imprisonment in a federal or state penal institution." [Emphasis added.]

This law prevents the council from considering the circumstances of an applicant's prior criminal history involving a felony and determining if they are sufficient to warrant a denial of the application.

Senate Bill 1139 would amend this law to limit the automatic rejection to a smaller list of mostly violent felonies enumerated in section 18-310(2), Idaho Code, and to provide the council discretion when an applicant has a felony conviction not included on this list.

Automatically denying a POST application based on a prior conviction has the same fundamental problem as mandatory minimum sentencing laws. It is always possible for extenuating circumstances in a specific case to make an inflexible standard manifestly unjust. There must always be room for discretion and the consideration of mitigating factors. 

This bill would make a relatively small change and the list of automatically disqualifying felonies is still quite lengthy, but it does take a step in the right direction.

(+1)