§ 7A — Chief park ranger; park rangers; violations of environmental regulations; non-criminal disposition

Section 7A. There is established within the department of environmental management, division of forest and parks, the position titles of chief park ranger and park ranger, provisions of the General Laws or any special law to the contrary notwithstanding. Said positions shall not be eligible for the provisions of Group (4) retirement benefits.The chief park ranger and park rangers appointed and employed by the department of environmental management, when appointed deputy environmental police officers, shall enforce all regulations promulgated pursuant to section four A of chapter twenty-one, and section seven of chapter one hundred and thirty-two A and section sixteen of chapter two hundred and seventy, shall search for lost or missing persons or department property, and shall assist the bureau of fire control in both suppression and detection of fires.A park ranger who has been appointed as a deputy environmental police officer who observes any violation of regulations promulgated pursuant to said section four A of said chapter twenty-one, and said section seven of said chapter one hundred and thirty-two A, may request the offender to state his name and address. Whoever upon such request refuses to state his name and address may be arrested without a warrant and shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars and not more than one hundred dollars. Said ranger may, as alternative to instituting criminal proceedings, give to the offender a written notice to appear before the clerk of the district court having jurisdiction at any time during office hours within twenty-one days after the date of such violation. Said notice shall contain the name and address of the offender, offense charged, signature of the officer and option of the offender acknowledging that the notice has been received. The clerk of courts shall maintain a separate docket of all such notices to appear.If any person notified to appear before the clerk of the district court fails to appear and pay the fine provided hereunder or, having appeared, desires not to avail himself of the procedure for the non-criminal disposition of the case, the clerk shall notify the ranger concerned, who shall forthwith make a criminal complaint.Any person notified to appear before the clerk of the district court for a violation of said section four A of said chapter twenty-one, and of said section seven of said chapter one hundred and thirty-two A, may so appear within the time specified and pay a fine of fifty dollars. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all fines and penalties recovered for violation of rules and regulations made under authority of this section shall be accounted for by the clerk of the court and forwarded to the department of environmental management to be deposited as revenue and shall be applicable to the department's retained revenue account.Park ranger may, through independent contractors, remove from any area or way subject to their jurisdiction or control and store in any convenient place any vehicle parked or standing thereon in violation of any law, or rule and regulation, except a vehicle owned by the commonwealth or a political subdivision or by the United States or an instrumentality thereof or registered by a member of a foreign diplomatic corps or by a foreign consular officer who is not a citizen of the United States and bearing a distinctive number plate or otherwise conspicuously marked as so owned or registered; provided however, that such removal and storage shall be at no expense to and without liability on the part of the commonwealth. Liability may be imposed for the reasonable cost of the removal, and for the storage charges, if any, resulting upon the owner of the vehicle.