New Hampshire

At a glance

Certifying body

New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Council (PSTC). It certifies police officers, state corrections officers, and state probation-parole officers, and since 2023 may run a court security officer certification program. The Law Enforcement Conduct Review Committee, attached to the Council, reviews misconduct complaints (RSA 106-L:3, 106-L:5, 106-L:17).

Statute

RSA chapter 106-L (Police Standards and Training Council), including 106-L:17 to 23 (conduct review committee, internal affairs, duty to report, investigations, confidentiality). Also RSA 105:13-b and 105:13-d (exculpatory evidence and the Exculpatory Evidence Schedule) and RSA 105:19 (duty to report observed misconduct). Rules: N.H. Admin. R. Pol 100 to 800.

Minimum standards

No one may be appointed, except temporarily or on probation, without completing Council-approved preparatory training, and probation may not exceed 2 years (RSA 106-L:6, I). Uncertified officers must pass a medical exam with drug screening and a psychological screening battery before assuming duties, and a physical fitness test before admission to training (106-L:6, IV to VI). Officers hired after January 1, 2001 must provide a medical certificate and pass a fitness test every 3 years. The Council sets other qualifications by rule, such as U.S. citizenship (Pol 301.03).

Decertification

The Council “may impose” a written warning, a suspension, or permanent revocation on a final finding by clear and convincing evidence of misconduct or a rule violation (RSA 106-L:5, XXV). The Director may impose an immediate temporary suspension on notice of an officer’s arrest (106-L:5, XXIV). “Misconduct” covers listed convictions, sustained findings of dishonesty, discrimination, racist conduct, conduct raising doubts about honesty and fairness, egregious dereliction, and excessive and illegal force (106-L:2, V). Agencies must report valid complaints, sustained findings, and resignations under investigation within 15 business days (106-L:20). The committee “shall not review” any complaint about conduct alleged to have occurred before January 1, 2023 (106-L:23, I). By rule, the Council “shall,” unless it has just cause not to, suspend or revoke on listed grounds, and must temporarily suspend on arrest for a felony or a crime of moral turpitude unless it finds otherwise (Pol 402.02).

Public decertification list

No named list was found. The Council must keep a public register of complaints reviewed by the committee, with date, nature, and disposition but not the officer’s or agency’s identity (RSA 106-L:22, III). PSTC publishes it as a complaint register; a May 2025 copy covers cases 2023-001 to 2024-146, with no officer names. Council misconduct hearings are public, and final decisions are public unless sealed (106-L:5, III; 106-L:22). Separately, the Department of Justice may keep the Exculpatory Evidence Schedule, a public list of officers whose personnel files contain potentially exculpatory evidence (RSA 105:13-d); its page could not be reached for this check.

National Decertification Index

None found. RSA 106-L, RSA 105, and the Pol 100 to 800 rules do not name the Index.

Continuing training

By rule, every certified police, corrections, or probation-parole officer must complete 2 hours each year in each of implicit bias and cultural response, ethics, and de-escalation. Additional in-service hours are also required: 4 in 2023, 6 in 2024, and 8 from 2025, excluding firearms, first aid, and defensive tactics. The rule states totals of 10, 16, and 24 hours, so each year’s additional hours build on the prior year’s total (6 plus 4 is 10, 10 plus 6 is 16, and 16 plus 8 is 24). Hiring authorities certify compliance within 30 days after each year ends (Pol 403.01).

Changes, 2023 to 2026

• Sep 7, 2023

  Annual in-service training changed from 8 hours to mandated topics plus a ramp of additional hours

  N.H. Admin. R. Pol 403.01, readopted with amendment (#13737)Effective September 7, 2023

  To keep certification, each police, corrections, and probation-parole officer must complete 2 hours each of implicit bias and cultural response, ethics, and de-escalation every year. Additional in-service hours are required: 4 in 2023, 6 in 2024, and 8 from 2025, excluding firearms, first aid, and defensive tactics. The rule states these as totals of 10, 16, and 24 hours, so each step adds to the prior year’s total; from 2025 the requirement is 24 hours a year. Training may be at PSTC, through outside vendors, in local agency classes, or online. The last valid prior rule required “at least 8 hours annually of refresher training.” A 2022 filing with the same ramp was voided because the wrong text was filed.

  For officers: Since 2025 you need 24 in-service hours a year, including 2 hours each of implicit bias, ethics, and de-escalation, not counting firearms, first aid, or defensive tactics.

  Pol 100 to 800 Pol filing history

• Aug 6, 2023

  Council may certify court security officers

  Laws 2023, ch. 71 (SB 130), adding RSA 106-L:2, II-a and 106-L:5, XXV-aEffective August 6, 2023 (60 days after passage)

  At the request and with the approval of the Chief Justice, the Council may develop a training and certification program for judicial-branch court security officers and enter agreements with the judicial branch to run it. The program is optional.

  For officers: Court security officers may be certified by the Council if the judicial branch asks for a program.

  RSA 106-L SB 130 text

Not yet in force and pending

Checked and unchanged