16 hours
6
3
This is one of the required courses for the Texas Intermediate Peace Officer Certificate and is awarded 16 TCOLE credit hours (TCOLE #2108).
COURSE OBJECTIVES: This 2026 edition covers the law of arrest, search and seizure as Texas peace officers apply it today. Participants work through the Fourth Amendment and probable cause; consensual encounters, reasonable suspicion and investigative detentions; lawful arrest, custody and the use of force to arrest; search warrants, including the affidavit, the warrant and the return; the warrantless-search exceptions of exigency and hot pursuit, search incident to arrest, vehicle and inventory searches, consent, plain view and open fields; suppression hearings and civil liability; and juvenile justice procedures. A capstone unit ties the course together around documenting a warrantless search so it survives the suppression hearing. Statutes and case law are current through the 89th Texas Legislature (2025), and superseded rules are flagged so an officer who took the earlier edition can see exactly what changed.
HOW THIS COURSE WORKS: The course is online and self-paced and is not meant to be finished in one sitting. Complete the short Demographics form, then work through the ten units in order. Each unit ends with an ungraded knowledge check. The course ends with a 20-question final examination; a score of 80% or higher is required, and you may retake the examination if you fall short. Complete the End of Course Evaluation after the examination. Your certificate issues and TCOLE credit is reported once every module shows complete. One person per account: only the registered learner may log in and submit coursework.
LENGTH OF COURSE: 16 Hours
TARGET AUDIENCE: Texas peace officers working toward the Intermediate Proficiency Certificate, and any officer who wants a current, practical grounding in arrest, search and seizure law.
PREPARED BY: Janice Washington