Marion Military Institute; program to grant APOSTC certification to graduates, established

SB 302 establishes a program at Marion Military Institute (MMI) that grants an associate's degree and provides the required training for Alabama law enforcement officer certification. Graduates receive provisional certification as Alabama law enforcement officers immediately upon completing the program, but this provisional status becomes permanent only if they are hired full-time by an Alabama law enforcement agency within six months. The bill requires the Alabama Peace Officers' Standards and Training Commission to recognize MMI as a training academy and adopt rules for the program. This directly affects MMI students who complete the program and Alabama law enforcement agencies that hire them.