§ 25-17-304 — Appointment and removal of institutional law enforcement officers

(a) The executive heads of each of the educational, charitable, correctional, penal, and other institutions owned and operated by the State of Arkansas, including the Secretary of the Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism and the executive head of the Arkansas Forestry Commission, are authorized to designate and appoint one (1) or more of the employees of the institutions and department, respectively, as an institutional law enforcement officer or officers for the institution or at a state park, or any separate portion of the institution or park, who shall exercise law enforcement officer authority under the laws of this state. (b) These institutional law enforcement officers shall: (1) Have all the powers provided by law for city police and county sheriffs to be exercised as required for the protection of the respective state institutions and state parks, together with any other duties which may be assigned by the employing institution or department; and (2) Meet the requirements for certification set out by the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training in addition to any institution or department requirements. (c) (1) The present jurisdictional powers or responsibility of the county sheriffs or city police over the land or property of institutions or persons on the land shall not be ceded to the law enforcement officers of state institutions. (2) The appointment or designation of institutional law enforcement officers does not supersede in any way the authority of the Division of Arkansas State Police or the county sheriffs or that of the law enforcement officers of the jurisdiction within which the institution or portions of it are located. (d) (1) Institutional law enforcement officers shall be identified by a shield or badge bearing the name of the state institution. (2) The institution shall issue an identification card bearing the photograph of the institutional law enforcement officer who shall carry it on his or her person at all times when on duty and display it upon request. (e) (1) An institutional law enforcement officer's authorization to have and to exercise the powers provided by law for law enforcement officers shall be further evidenced by a letter of appointment issued under the seal of the institution. (2) The executive head of the institution and the executive head of the department or their designees shall maintain a file containing each institutional law enforcement officer's authorization certificate, the certificate of appointment, and all other certificates and information consistent with the rules of the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training. (3) (A) The executive head of the state institution or the department shall have the authority to remove an employee from the execution of those designated duties, including the authority to revoke in writing the authorization to serve as an institutional law enforcement officer for the institution or department. (B) Upon termination of that authority, the person shall no longer possess or exercise the authority of an institutional law enforcement officer. (C) A copy of all revocations shall be placed in the file described in subdivision (e)(2) of this section. (D) The Division of Law Enforcement Standards and Training shall be notified of any change in an institutional law enforcement officer's status.

Legislative History

Amended by Act 2019, No. 315,§ 2926, eff. 7/24/2019. Amended by Act 2019, No. 910,§ 6037, eff. 7/1/2019. Amended by Act 2019, No. 910,§ 6036, eff. 7/1/2019. Acts 1967, No. 328, §§ 1, 8; 1971, No. 325, § 1; 1981, No. 805, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, §§ 7-112, 7-119; Acts 2007, No. 498, § 2; 2009, No. 549, § 4; 2009, No. 1198, § 1.