(a) Any person employed or appointed as a municipal probation officer on or after January 1, 1999, shall not be authorized to serve as a municipal probation officer unless such person has successfully completed a training course and received certification for municipal probation officers approved by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council.

(b) Persons applying for certification and persons certified by the council under this Code section shall be subject to the powers and authority of the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council applicable to peace officers as defined in this chapter and shall be required to fulfill all of the requirements of a peace officer, except peace officer training requirements applicable to peace officers only. Such persons shall be required to register with the council. Such registration shall remain in effect for the period of time such person is employed as a municipal probation officer.

(c) Any person who registers with the council pursuant to this Code section shall not have such registration invalidated upon termination of employment or appointment as a municipal probation officer if subsequent employment or appointment as a municipal probation officer is commenced within 12 months of such prior termination of employment or appointment as a municipal probation officer.

(d) Any municipal probation officer exempted from mandatory compliance with this Code section may choose to be certified under this Code section. If so, the council shall have the authority to recognize instruction received by such municipal probation officer as equivalent to all or part of the instruction required for certification under this Code section.

(e) The term "municipal probation officer" as used in this Code section means only municipal probation officers employed directly by a municipality or consolidated government and shall not include employees of private probation providers which contract with municipalities or consolidated governments in accordance with the provisions of Article 6 of Chapter 8 of Title 42; provided, however, that the term "municipal probation officer" shall not include probation officers of any municipal corporation which conducts a training course for such officers if such training course is approved by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council.

(f) Any person who has completed the peace officer basic training course and is certified as a peace officer by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council may serve as a municipal probation officer without obtaining the municipal probation officer training and certification required by this Code section.