A retired law enforcement officer with twenty years or more law enforcement experience who subsequently serves as a magistrate or municipal judge of this State and is or has been appointed chief of a municipal department by the governing body thereof shall be issued a certificate as a law enforcement officer pursuant to Section 23-6-440 if that person completes the legal course for class I certified officers taught by the Criminal Justice Academy Division of the Department of Public Safety. This provision shall also apply to a retired law enforcement officer of this State with twenty years or more law enforcement experience whose certificate has lapsed due to a three-year break in service who subsequently is appointed chief of a municipal department by the governing body thereof.