On the Job 

Attorney General Yost’s commitment to ensuring that Ohio’s law enforcement officers are among the best trained in the nation has the full financial backing of the state legislature.

In the two-year operating budget that was recently passed, both houses of the General Assembly were on board with an $80 million allocation for continuing professional training, as recommended by Gov. Mike DeWine. The money would cover CPT for the next two fiscal years, beginning July 1 of this year.
“Ohio officers need advanced and ongoing training to keep up with the demands of the job and to stay ahead of the dangers that come with it,” Yost said. “I’m thankful for the legislature’s backing and hope that in the near future we can create a permanent, sustainable fund that pays for CPT and eliminates the need for lawmakers to make funding decisions every two years as part of the budget process.”

CPT is an investment by the state in the development and welfare of law enforcement officers, their agencies and the communities they serve. But funding has traditionally been unpredictable.

Even though 24 hours of CPT is technically mandated every year under state law, the same law says agencies can’t require CPT if the legislature doesn’t set aside money to pay for it. Consequently, in past years, when hard decisions about balancing the state budget had to be made, CPT funding was sometimes sacrificed.

After a nearly five-year lapse, CPT was resumed as a pilot program in calendar year 2022 under AG Yost, and the legislature extended funding through the first six months of 2023. Now, it appears that funding will be in place through June 2025.

According to requirements set by the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission, in 2023 the state’s 33,000+ sworn peace officers and troopers — full-time, part-time, reserve and auxiliary — must complete eight of the 24 required hours in the following three categories:

• School Threat and Safety Training (3 hours)
• Legal Updates (3 hours)
• Arrest, Search and Seizure (2 hours)

Each law enforcement agency will determine the coursework for the remaining 16 hours of required training, based on the jurisdiction’s specific needs.

Courses offered by the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy can be taken either online or in-person — at the OPOTA main academy in London or through OPOTA Close to Home, which consists of five regional provider educational centers, one each in Springfield, Cincinnati, Lorain, Warren and Nelsonville. A sixth site is expected to be added sometime this year.