§ 46-22-17.1. Enforcement power of employees of the department of environmental management. (a) Employees of the department of environmental management, authorized to make arrests under the provisions of chapter 1 of title 20, shall, in connection with the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter, be deemed officers within the meaning of § 11-32-1 and shall have the power:

(1) To enforce all laws, rules, and regulations relating to this chapter;

(2) To execute all warrants and search warrants for the violation of laws, rules, and regulations relating to this chapter;

(3) To serve subpoenas issued for the trial of all offenses hereunder;

(4) To carry firearms or other weapons, concealed or otherwise, in the course of and in performance of their duties under this chapter; and

(5) To arrest, without warrant and on view, any person found violating any law, rule, or regulation relating to this chapter; take that person before a court having jurisdiction for trial; detain that person in custody at the expense of the state until arraignment; and to make and execute complaints within any district to the justice or clerk of the court against any person for any of the offenses enumerated under this chapter, committed within that district.

(b) Employees of the department of environmental management authorized to make arrests under the provisions of § 2-12-8, shall, in connection with the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter and the rules and regulations made thereunder, have the power to arrest without a warrant any person found in the act of violating any provision of this chapter, and shall not be required to give surety for costs upon any complaint made by him or her.

History of Section. (P.L. 1965, ch. 134, § 8.)