Minnesota Agencies

The Minnesota peace officer training board may recommend to the attorney general rules and regulations with respect to the approval or disapproval of peace officer training schools or courses, minimum courses of study, minimum qualifications for instructors, and other matters spelled out in Minn. Stat. 626.843 (1976).

Minnesota's first step toward regulating the practice of law enforcement came in 1967 when the Minnesota Peace Officer Training Board (MPOTB) was created by the legislature, and placed in the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General. Beginning in 1968, MPOTB's responsibilities included certification of agencies offering police academy training. The certification of training programs was an attempt to standardize police training in the state. 

In 1977 the Minnesota legislature debated the role of law enforcement in society and then passed several amendments to the original MPOTB legislation. These amendments abolished the MPOTB and replaced it with the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST Board). The mission of the new Minnesota POST Board was to create the first law enforcement occupational licensing system in the United States. This system established law enforcement licensing and training requirements and set standards for law enforcement agencies and officers.

The board is composed of:

• Two members to be appointed by the governor from among the county sheriffs in Minnesota;
• Two members to be appointed by the governor from among the chiefs of police of Minnesota municipalities;
• Two members to be appointed by the governor from among peace officers in Minnesota municipalities other than chiefs of police or county sheriffs;
• The chiefs of police of each city of the first class;
• The superintendent of the Minnesota bureau of criminal apprehension or his designee;
• The chief of the Minnesota highway patrol or his designee;
• The special-agent-in-charge of a field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in this state;
• The attorney general or his designee, and
• Two members to be appointed by the governor from among the general public.