POST flags funding shortfalls and enrollment shifts; working group to propose training plan within a year

Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) officials told the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee on Wednesday that the agency’s dedicated revenues have declined over several years, that training costs have risen and that the Post Council has a working group developing a statewide basic‑training plan.

Noah Peterson, legislative budget analyst, explained POST’s revenue mix and recent trends. POST’s revenues come from court fines and fees, fingerprinting and education fees, dormitory receipts and a liquor‑fund transfer established in 2022. Peterson said the liquor fund transfer (1.5% of annual liquor revenue) began flowing in FY2023 and provided $620,000 that year and $804,300 in FY2024.

Brad Johnson, POST administrator, described three core functions: (1) the academy and basic training programs, (2) certification and decertification of officers across nine disciplines, and (3) regional training support and instructor development. “Each student that attends the academy signs a 2 year agreement in which they agree that if they leave the law enforcement profession, and leave their certified position within that 2 years, that they agree that they will pay back, all or some of a portion of the training that the state has paid for,” Johnson said. He said POST has begun using a collection agency to recover uncollected repayment agreements, which explained a recent rise in “miscellaneous revenue” from repayment collections.

Johnson and Peterson said POST’s dedicated fund required one‑time general‑fund transfers during recent budget cycles to cover spikes in operating costs (for example, cafeteria contract increases and inflationary pressures on a small dedicated fund). Peterson said FY2026 requests include converting a current part‑time technical record specialist to 0.33 FTP at $20,800 and replacement of a 2001, 15‑passenger van (van reported with about 47,000 miles) and IT replacements recommended by OITS (estimated $61,600).

Committee members pressed for more detail on academy tuition and enrollment trends. Johnson said the patrol academy tuition is approximately $12,000 and that POST trains officers sent to it by agencies, community colleges and other providers; POST does not itself recruit or hire. He described a recent job‑task analysis and curriculum rewrite for patrol and said the Post Council’s working group aims to present a strategy for how basic training is delivered statewide within about a year.

Enrollment at POST programs dipped during the COVID period and a patrol academy was canceled in 2023 for cost reasons; attendance has begun to recover. Johnson told the committee the agency will provide the committee with updated tuition and cost figures and work with the legislature on longer‑term options about the balance of state versus local funding for basic training.

No formal committee action was taken on POST requests during the session; members asked for additional fiscal detail and for the working group’s eventual report.