HB 1349 -- District Police Officers

Sponsor:  Gray

This bill allows the board of directors of any ambulance, fire
protection, school, or other special purpose district to appoint
and employ as many district police officers as the board deems
necessary to protect persons and property and to preserve peace
and good order only in the public buildings and property and
other facilities and locations over which the board has charge or
control.

The district police officers will have the same authority to
maintain order, preserve peace, and make arrests as regular peace
officers and the power to expel persons from public buildings and
grounds for violating rules and regulations of the board.

Unless licensed as a peace officer under Chapter 590, RSMo,
district police officers must complete at least 320 hours of
training as prescribed by the Superintendent of the State Highway
Patrol before their appointment or before beginning their duties.
The board can continue to appoint guards and watchmen who are not
given district police officer powers.

Any person violating a board regulation or a peace preservation
ordinance will be guilty of a class B misdemeanor, prosecutable
in the associate circuit court by the special purpose district's
legal officer, district attorney, or the county or city attorney.
The board also may impose a fine for breach of the peace of up to
$500.

The bill contains an emergency clause.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:10 pm