(a) Those employees of the department of correction as the commissioner shall designate who have been trained in the use of firearms are vested with the powers and authority of law enforcement officers, including the authority to carry weapons, and may exercise such powers and authority while performing special details and assignments in the course of their duties as authorized by the commissioner. These instances may include the search for and apprehension of escapees, transporting inmates, assisting other law enforcement agencies, and other functions while on duty and under the supervision of the department.

(b)

(1) Those employees of the department of correction appointed as special agents or as director of internal affairs and who have successfully completed law enforcement training in accordance with internal standards, including firearms training and successful completion of the Tennessee bureau of investigation's basic agent training, shall be fully vested and sworn by the commissioner as full-time law enforcement officers. The department's internal standards shall include, at a minimum, forty (40) hours initial training and eight (8) hours annual in-service training in firearms qualification administered by an instructor with certification from the Tennessee Correction Academy's firearms instructor program or from a police firearms instructor training program conducted or sanctioned by the federal bureau of investigation or the National Rifle Association. These agents and director shall have full authority to investigate and enforce the laws of the state and their mission shall focus on matters relative to the department of correction as well as those matters assisting other local, state, and federal agencies. These agents and director shall be so commissioned to carry weapons in the course of their duties and as is consistent with applicable standards for law enforcement personnel.

(2) Persons employed by the department of correction as internal affairs special agents or as an internal affairs director shall have the full power to administer oaths and take oral and written statements.

(c) The commissioner shall also establish internal procedures concerning appropriate exercise of the powers and authority vested by this section.