States with legal codes that govern law enforcement

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This page contains information from a Ballotpedia analysis about which states have legal codes that govern law enforcement. It is part of an analysis of police union collective bargaining agreements and related arrangements with police unions concerning hiring, training, and disciplinary requirements in the 50 states and top 100 cities by population.

According to the analysis, 45 states have legal codes that govern law enforcement as of December 2021.

This page features the following sections:

Maps[edit]

Map showing which states have legal codes that govern law enforcement[edit]

Background[edit]

Through the lens of 40 research questions related to police hiring, training, and discipline, Ballotpedia examined the collective bargaining agreements, statutes, and regulatory codes governing the 50 states and the top 100 US cities by population.

Some of the hiring, training, and discipline standards for police officers not established by statutes or regulations arise from negotiations with police unions. Those negotiations are often codified in collective bargaining agreements. Those agreements are the contracts that states and cities sign following negotiations with police unions. Some states and cities restrict collective bargaining, but may still negotiate with police unions using other methods. After negotiating with the unions, those jurisdictions sometimes establish police standards through documents including memoranda of understanding or meet and confer agreements.

You can find lists of all the collective bargaining agreements and other documents used by Ballotpedia for this survey here for states and here for cities.

Summary of findings[edit]

Ballotpedia's analysis of state and city union policies produced the following key takeaways (as of December 2021):

  • 45 states have legal codes that govern law enforcement
  • 5 states did not have legal codes that govern law enforcement

Results[edit]

The table below includes each state in alphabetical order and indicates those that have legal codes that govern law enforcement. To see the provisions Ballotpedia used to support these results, click here.

  • Done means that the jurisdiction has legal codes that govern law enforcement
  • DefeatedA means that the jurisdiction does not have legal codes that govern law enforcement
  • NO CBA means that the jurisdiction does not have a collective bargaining agreement
  • UNKNOWN means that Ballotpedia could not verify whether the jurisdiction had a collective bargaining agreement
  • FOIA DENIED means that the jurisdiction rejected Ballotpedia's request to review any collective bargaining agreements

See also[edit]

Footnotes[edit]


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