SECTION .0600 - PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATE PROGRAM
12 NCAC 09G .0601 STATE CORRECTIONS PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATE PROGRAM
(a) Applicants who meet the qualifications set forth in this Rule shall be eligible to receive a State Corrections Officer's Professional Certificate. Based on the applicant's qualifications, this Professional Certificate is defined as either an Intermediate or Advanced Certificate. Advanced Certificates shall be approved by Commission vote at regularly scheduled meetings prior to being awarded.
(b) To be eligible for either Intermediate or Advanced Certificates, applicants shall meet the following qualifications:
(1) The applicant shall be a full-time employee of the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction (DAC), and shall hold general correctional officer certification, pursuant to 12 NCAC 09G .0208, or probation/parole officer certification, pursuant to 12 NCAC 09G .0209; or
(2) The applicant shall have previously held one of the certifications listed in Subparagraph (b)(1) of this Rule and, by virtue of direct promotion or transfer from a certified position, currently serve in a permanent, full-time position not subject to certification.
(3) The applicant shall be in good standing with DAC at the date of application.
(c) An officer subject to suspension or revocation proceedings, probation subsequent to suspension or revocation proceedings, or under investigation for possible decertification action by the Commission pursuant to 12 NCAC 09A .0206, the Company and Campus Police Program pursuant to either 12 NCAC 02I .0214 or 12 NCAC 09J .0211, or the North Carolina Sheriffs' Education and Training Standards Commission pursuant to 12 NCAC 10B .0206, shall not be eligible for professional certificates for the pendency of the proceeding or the period of probation.
(d) Eligibility for Intermediate or Advanced Certificates shall be based upon a formula which combines formal education, correctional training, and service as a corrections pursuant to Subparagraph (d)(4) of the Rule. Eligibility shall be computed in the following manner:
(1) The applicant's highest educational degree will be given a point value. Graduate degrees will be worth 15 points, Bachelor's degrees will be worth 12 points, and Associate's degrees will be worth 7 points;
(2) Each semester hour of college or university credit earned in pursuit of an educational degree not yet completed by the applicant shall equal one-tenth of a point, and each quarter hour of college or university credit earned shall equal one-fifteenth of a point. The total points earned in this manner shall not equal or exceed the number of points that would be given for the degree upon completion;
(3) Twenty classroom or practical skills assessment hours of Commission-approved criminal justice training shall equal one point. No points will be awarded for the maintenance of specialized criminal justice training;
(4) Each full year of service as a full-time employee of the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, or equivalent service as determined by the Commission, shall fulfill a requisite year of creditable service. For the purposes of this Rule, "equivalent service" includes service in a permanent, full-time, paid position in a federal or out-of-state correctional or criminal justice institution.
(e) Applicants for the Intermediate State Corrections Officer Certificate shall have acquired a minimum of four years of full-time criminal justice service and a minimum of 30 total education and training points.
(f) Applicants for the Advanced State Corrections Officer Certificate shall have acquired a minimum of nine years of full-time criminal justice service and a minimum of 80 total education and training points.
(g) All applicants for either Intermediate or Advanced Certificates shall submit a completed Application for Award of Professional Certificate Form F-6 (DAC), pursuant to 12 NCAC 09I .0107, to the DAC training coordinator or agency head.
(h) Documentary evidence of college or university graduation shall be submitted with the application pursuant to 12 NCAC 09B .0106.
(i) Documentation of training submitted to the Division shall include training records, signed by the employing agency in-service training coordinator or agency head, that indicate the number of training contact hours.
(j) Replacement certificates may be requested by submitting a completed Request for Replacement of Professional Certificate Form F-7. An applicant shall have been previously awarded either an Intermediate or Advanced Certificate to be able to receive a replacement.
History Note: Authority G.S. 17C-6;
Temporary Adoption Eff. January 1, 2001;
Eff. August 1, 2002;
Pursuant to G.S. 150B-21.3A, rule is necessary without substantive public interest Eff. May 25, 2019;
Amended Eff. February 1, 2026.