§3. Authority of Department of Public Safety and Corrections

A. The Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall enforce the provisions of this Chapter and the commissioner's regulations adopted pursuant thereto on all highways of this state within its jurisdiction and shall exercise such other power and authority as is specifically set forth in this Chapter or other laws of this state.

B. All rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner relative to weight enforcement, payment, and collection of procedures shall be adopted in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. Such rules and regulations shall be referenced to the sections of law which they interpret or apply.

C. The Weights and Standards Police Force is hereby created within the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, public safety services. It may enforce the provisions of R.S. 32:380 through 388.1, R.S. 32:390, R.S. 47:718, Chapter 4 of Subtitle II of Title 47 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, the access laws and regulations relative to controlled access highways, and certain other specified statutes and regulations determined by the deputy secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, public safety services. Members of the Weights and Standards Police Force may be authorized to carry weapons and to make arrests in the enforcement of these laws and regulations and may have the same authority and powers conferred by law upon other law enforcement officers of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections upon being duly commissioned as a peace officer by the deputy secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, public safety services; however, no member of the Weights and Standards Police Force shall be authorized to carry a weapon until the member has received P.O.S.T. certification training and has been duly commissioned as a peace officer by the deputy secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, public safety services.

D. The secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall provide the personnel and equipment required to fully implement the provisions of R.S. 32:390.23 as it relates to the permit and licensing activities of the department.

Acts 1962, No. 310, §1; Acts 1997, No. 273, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1186, §1; Acts 2010, No. 320, §1, eff. July 1, 2010.