WARD COUNTY, ND ( KXNET ) — Law officials say after a legislative change in 2021, Reserve Deputies must be licensed with the North Dakota Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST.

After this change, the Ward County Sheriff’s Office had the first ND POST Reserve Training Academy and on Wednesday, four people graduated from the program.

While Reserve Deputies can’t make an arrest while off duty, only full-time Deputies can, the Reserve Deputies can now do so while on the clock.

Reserve Deputy Sheriffs Sharhonda Salazar and Ian Snodgrass say graduating from the training academy is very fulfilling and it means a lot to them.

“The challenge that this was, it is a lot to take in, it’s 17 pages of information, eight weeks of information, that is condensed down into a singular test,” said Snodgrass.

“Oh it means a lot kind of something again just to further my career and to assist with making my family proud,” said Salazar.

Throughout the course of the training, the graduates learned techniques such as use of force, criminal and traffic law, search and seizure, defensive tactics, and much more.

Salazar says she learned that people in corrections and even the average person aren’t familiar with traffic law and what actually needs to be done in order to execute an arrest.

Both graduating Reserve Deputies share what they learned in the reserve academy and what they are looking forward to now that they’ve graduated.

“Better ways to communicate with the community so you can help not escalate the situation you can deescalate the situation,” said Snodgrass.

“I think getting out on the road observing other deputies and how they work the day to day,” said Salazar.

Ward County Sheriff’s Department Captain Jason Kraft says having these recently sworn-in Reserve Deputies will help fill the staffing needs in the department and in the community.

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