The Public Employees' Collective Bargaining Act (PECBA) provides employees of cities, counties, and other political subdivisions with collective bargaining of wages, hours, and working conditions.? The PECBA grants interest arbitration to resolve contract negotiation impasses between uniformed personnel and their employers.? Uniformed personnel include law enforcement officers in cities and towns with populations of 2,500 or more, and counties with populations of 10,000 or more.

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Under the procedures for interest arbitration, parties must attempt to mediate any unresolved mandatory subjects of bargaining.? If mediation is unsuccessful, the Director of the Public Employment Relations Commission will certify any unresolved issues for an arbitration panel to consider.

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Each party appoints a member of the arbitration panel.? The two panel members appointed by the parties then choose a third, neutral arbitrator to chair the panel.? If the party appointed arbitrators cannot agree on a chair, the PECBA provides procedures for appointing a chair.? The arbitration panel then holds a hearing about the issues in dispute.? After the hearing, the neutral chair makes a written determination on the issues in dispute.? This determination is binding on the parties but may be appealed to a superior court on the question of whether the panel's decision was arbitrary and capricious.

The definition of "uniformed personnel" is expanded to include law enforcement officers of cities and towns with populations of less than 2,500, and counties with populations of less than 10,000.? As uniformed personnel, these law enforcement officers have interest arbitration rights.