After successfully completing an approved academy course and passing the state certification exam, each law enforcement officer is issued a certificate and certificate number reflecting this status. This certificate is required to serve as a law enforcement officer in Illinois. Even after an officer leaves his or her original appointment, they remain a certified officer. In certain instances, a waiver of this requirement may be issued to an officer who was trained in a different state and has completed the reciprocity process.
Nevertheless, under Section 6.1 of the Illinois Police Training Act, an officer’s certificate is automatically revoked upon the conviction, or plea of guilt, of a felony or certain misdemeanors (see the list below). For this reason, it is the duty of each officer and the employing agency to notify the Board as soon as an officer is arrested for a decertifiable offense. Each employing agency must also notify the Board of any case developments that lead to conviction, plea of guilt or, dismissal.
Decertifiable Misdemeanors
| Aggravated Assault | Aiding Escape | Criminal Sexual Abuse |
| Deceptive Practices | Delivery of Cannabis on School Grounds | Domestic Battery |
| Escape | Failure to Report a Bribe | Failure to Report Sex Abuse of a Child |
| False Personation, Solicitation | Harassment by Telephone | Harassment of Representatives for the Child, Jurors, Witnesses and Others |
| Harassment of Witnesses | Harassment Through Electronic Communication | Indecent Solicitation of a Child |
| Indecent Solicitation of an Adult | Interfering with the Reporting of Domestic Violence | Keeping a Gambling Place |
| Manufacture or Deliver Cannabis | Obstructing an Emergency Management Worker | Obstructing ID |
| Obstructing Service of Process | Offering a Bribe | Payment of Jurors by Parties Prohibited |
| Possession of Another’s Identification Card | Prostitution | Public Indecency |
| Resisting/Obstructing of a Police Officer | Retaliating Against a Judge by False Claim | Sexual Exploitation of a Child |
| Simulating Legal Process | Solicitation Misconduct Local Government | Solicitation Misconduct State Government |
| Solicitation of a Sexual Act | Solicitation to Meet a Child | Tampering with a Certification by a Public Official |
| Theft | Transmission of Obscene Messages | Unlawful Clouding of Title |
| Violation of Bail Bond | Violations of Order of Protection |
Upon conclusion of the underlying case indicating a conviction or plea of guilt, the officer’s identification will added to the Board’s decertification list which is shared with the National Decertification Index maintained by the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Training Standards and the federal Bureau of Justice Administration. Decertification occurs as a matter of law and defers to the conclusions made through the judicial process.
Any chief, sheriff, or chief administrator of a law enforcement agency may report an officer who has been arrested or convicted of a decertifiable offense, or submit a request to review the National Decertification Index by contacting PTB.Complaints@Illinois.gov.