§ 55-21-110 — Volunteer enforcement of disabled parking laws and ordinances

(a) A law enforcement agency authorized to enforce parking laws may appoint a volunteer to issue a citation for violations of § 55-21-108 or an ordinance dealing with parking privileges for persons with disabilities, pursuant to the following provisions: (1) A volunteer appointed under this section shall be a resident of the city, county or metropolitan government in which the volunteer program operates. The volunteer program shall be open to any person twenty-one (21) years of age and older, regardless of the person's disability status; provided, that preference shall be given to an applicant with a disability; (2) Any agency appointing a volunteer shall provide training before authorizing a volunteer to issue citations; and (3) A citation issued by a volunteer appointed under this section shall have the same force and effect as a citation issued by a law enforcement officer for the same offense. (b) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, any county, municipality or metropolitan government may establish a special enforcement unit for the sole purpose of providing adequate enforcement of § 55-21-108 and local ordinances and resolutions relative to disabled parking, pursuant to the following provisions: (1) A city, county, or metropolitan government may establish recruitment and employment guidelines that encourage and enable employment of qualified persons with disabilities in these special enforcement units; (2) A member of the special enforcement unit may issue a notice of a parking violation under § 55-21-108 , or local ordinances relative to disabled parking. A member of the special enforcement unit shall not be considered to be a law enforcement officer and shall not make an arrest in the course of the member's official duties, but shall wear a distinctive piece of clothing such as a jacket, shirt, vest and/or hat with a law enforcement insignia together with a badge while on duty. The local authority or administrating agency may issue a communication device such as a police radio, citizens band radio, or cellular telephone to each member of the special enforcement unit for use while on duty; (3) A city, county, or metropolitan government may pay the cost of uniforms and badges for the special enforcement unit, and may provide daily cleaning of the uniforms. Additionally, the city, county, or metropolitan government may provide motorized wheelchairs for use by members of the special unit while on duty, including batteries and necessary recharging thereof. Any motorized wheelchair used by a member of the special enforcement unit while on duty shall be equipped with a single head lamp in the front and a single stop lamp in the rear; (4) A member of the special enforcement unit may be paid an hourly wage without the benefits provided other permanent and temporary employees, but is entitled to applicable workers' compensation benefits as provided by law. Insurance provided by the city, county, or metropolitan government for disability or liability of a member of the special enforcement unit shall be the same as for other employees performing similar duties; and (5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude a city, county, or metropolitan government from using regular full-time employees to enforce ordinances or resolutions adopted pursuant to these ordinances or resolutions. (c) This section shall only apply in a county, municipality or metropolitan government that adopts this section by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the legislative body of the county, municipality or metropolitan government.

Legislative History

Acts 1995, ch. 417, §§ 1, 2; 1997, ch. 315, §§ 1-4; 2011, ch. 47, § 62.