§ 45-28-235 — Etowah County Punishment and Corrections Authority

(a) The Director of The Etowah County Punishment and Corrections Authority and employees of the authority shall be considered law enforcement officers of this state with power to make arrests and serve arrest and search warrants while performing their official duties to the same extent as police officers are authorized in their jurisdictions as long as they hold current certification from the Alabama Peace Officers’ Standards and Training Commission. The powers of arrest under this section shall be limited to investigations and arrests of criminal acts committed at the authority’s program facilities and acts committed by persons under the authority’s supervision that are a violation of supervision or are a criminal offense.
(b) The authority director or corrections employee with law enforcement authority may arrest any person under his or her supervision without a warrant if he or she has probable cause to believe the person has committed a criminal offense or violated the conditions of supervision. In case of a warrantless arrest, the director or employee shall prepare a written warrant stating that the offender, in his or her judgment, has committed a criminal offense or violated a condition of supervision, and the warrant shall suffice to immediately bring the offender before the court to determine probable cause for the act described in the warrant. The court may order detention of the offender pending a further hearing, after which the court may revoke probation or participation in the authority’s community corrections program, or both, pursuant to subdivision (d)(3) of Section 15-18-175.
(c) The director and employees of the authority given powers of arrest by this section shall be required to comply with the minimum standards for state law enforcement officers as certified by the Alabama Peace Officers’ Standards and Training Commission.

Legislative History

(Act 2023-550, §1.)