UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1084
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AN ACT relating to fish and wildlife law enforcement. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 15.519 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires: 4
(a) "Officer" means any local, state, or federal officer who is employed or 5
contracted by a governmental agency in Kentucky and includes: 6
1. Law enforcement officer as defined in KRS 15.310; 7
2. Peace officer as defined in KRS 446.010;[ and] 8
3. Police officer as defined in KRS 15.420; and 9
4. Game warden as defined in KRS 150.010; 10
(b) "Private open land" means land, including open fields, but excluding any 11
homes or buildings and the curtilage around them, that is owned, leased, used, 12
or lawfully occupied by a person or a nongovernmental entity; and 13
(c) "Search warrant" means a warrant that is supported by individualized 14
probable cause and issued by a court of competent jurisdiction. 15
(2) An officer shall not enter or access private open land for any covert surveillance or 16
installation of surveillance devices without a search warrant unless the officer: 17
(a) Has received the permission of the property owner, lessee, or lawful occupant; 18
(b) Upon probable cause, is responding to an exigent circumstance, including a 19
life-threatening emergency or another immediate threat to public safety that 20
was either reported to or personally observed by the officer; 21
(c) Is dispatching crippled, distressed, dangerous, or invasive wildlife that the 22
officer has personally observed; or 23
(d) Is unable to reasonably identify the unmarked and unfenced boundaries and 24
ownership of unimproved, uninhabited rural land. 25
(3) (a) Upon entering private open land, the officer shall immediately notify the 26
landowner, lessee, or lawful occupant, if notice can reasonably be made, 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1084
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unless the officer is in possession of a search warrant allowing surveillance or 1
surveillance-related activities. 2
(b) If an officer is equipped with a body-worn camera or other audio-visual or 3
audio recording device while entering private open land, the body-worn 4
camera or other audio-visual or audio recording device shall be activated and 5
recording in accordance with the standard policy of the officer's agency. 6
[(4) Subsections (2) and (3) of this section do not apply to a game warden executing 7
duties described in KRS 150.090, who shall have the authority to enter upon, cross 8
over, be upon, or access private open lands for the purpose of conducting 9
compliance checks or surveillance based upon a reasonable suspicion, and shall not 10
be required to notify the landowner, lessee, or lawful occupant.] 11
Section 2. KRS 150.090 is amended to read as follows: 12
(1) The commissioner shall appoint, promote, or take other employment actions to the 13
ranks, grades, and positions of the department game wardens who are considered by 14
the commissioner to be necessary for the efficient administration of the department. 15
(2) Game wardens appointed by the commissioner shall have full powers as peace 16
officers for the enforcement of all of the laws of the Commonwealth, including the 17
administrative regulations promulgated pursuant to KRS Chapters 150 and 235 and 18
to serve process. 19
(3) Each game warden is individually vested with the powers of a peace officer and 20
shall have in all parts of the state the same powers with respect to criminal matters 21
and enforcement of the laws relating thereto as sheriffs, constables, and police 22
officers in their respective jurisdictions, and shall possess all the immunities and 23
matters of defense now available or hereafter made available to sheriffs, constables, 24
and police officers in any suit brought against them in consequence of acts done in 25
the course of their employment and within the scope of their duties. Any warrant of 26
arrest may be executed by any officer of the department. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1084
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(4) Game wardens charged with the enforcement of this chapter and the administrative 1
regulations issued thereunder may[shall have the right to] go upon public[the] land 2
and, subject to the requirements of Section 1 of this Act, the private land of any 3
person or persons[ whether private or public] for the purpose of the enforcement of 4
laws or orders of the department relating to game or fish[, while in the normal, 5
lawful and peaceful pursuit of such investigation or work or enforcement, may enter 6
upon, cross over, be upon, and remain upon privately owned lands for such 7
purposes, and shall not be subject to arrest for trespass while so engaged or for such 8
cause thereafter]. They may arrest on sight, without warrant, any person detected by 9
them in the act of violating any of the provisions of this chapter. They shall have 10
the same rights as sheriffs to require aid in arresting with or without process any 11
person found by them violating any of the provisions of this chapter and may seize 12
without process anything declared by this chapter to be contraband. No liability 13
shall be incurred by any person charged or directed in the enforcement of this 14
chapter. 15
(5) Game wardens and other officers charged with the enforcement of this chapter, 16
shall have the authority to call for and inspect the license or tag, bag or creel of any 17
person engaged in any activity for the performance of which a license is required 18
under this chapter, and shall also have the authority to take proper identification of 19
any person, or hunter, or fisherman who is actually engaged in any of these 20
activities, and to call for and inspect any and all firearms and any other device that 21
may be used in taking wildlife and is in the possession of any person so engaged. 22
(6) No person shall resist, obstruct, interfere with or threaten or attempt to intimidate or 23
in any other manner interfere with any officer in the discharge of his duties under 24
the provisions of this chapter. This subsection shall not apply to a criminal 25
homicide or an assault upon such officer. An assault upon such officer shall be 26
deemed an offense under KRS Chapter 507 or 508, as appropriate. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1084
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(7) The commissioner may, as a condition of employment, require a newly appointed 1
department game warden to enter into an employment contract for a period of no 2
longer than five (5) years from the date of appointment. If a department game 3
warden who entered into a contract authorized under this subsection accepts 4
employment as a peace officer with another law enforcement agency, that law 5
enforcement agency shall reimburse the department for the actual costs incurred 6
and expended by the department that are associated with the initial hiring of that 7
department game warden, including but not limited to the application process, 8
training costs, equipment costs, salary, and fringe benefits. The department shall be 9
reimbursed for the costs from the time of department game warden initial 10
application until appointment. 11
Section 3. KRS 235.310 is amended to read as follows: 12
(1) The commissioner of the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources shall 13
designate officers and employees of the department to enforce the provisions of this 14
chapter, and these officers when duly authorized by the commissioner shall have 15
the general powers of a peace officer for the enforcement of other offenses against 16
the Commonwealth. In enforcing the provisions of this chapter, these officers and 17
all other peace officers of the Commonwealth and its subdivisions shall have the 18
right to enter upon all waters of this state, either private or public, for the purpose of 19
inspecting certificate of registration and boat numbering, but shall only have the 20
right to stop or enter upon boats on such waters if the officer has a reasonable and 21
articulable suspicion based upon specific and articulable facts which, taken together 22
with rational inferences from those facts, demonstrate that a violation of the 23
Kentucky Revised Statutes or an administrative regulation promulgated under this 24
chapter has occurred, with any subsequent search of the boat or persons on it being 25
authorized only if supported by probable cause. The provisions of this section shall 26
not apply to license inspections under KRS 150.090(5), but only as to those licenses 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1084
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and items specified in that section. They may arrest on sight, without warrant, any 1
person detected by them in the act of violating any of the provisions of this chapter. 2
They shall have the same rights as sheriffs to require aid in arresting, with or 3
without process, any person found by them violating any of the provisions of this 4
chapter or other offenses against the Commonwealth. 5
(2) The officers designated in subsection (1) of this section shall be authorized to 6
possess and use radio communication equipment capable of receiving and 7
transmitting on state police radio frequency. The Department of Kentucky State 8
Police shall cooperate with the department for the purpose of radio communication 9
of these officers when any assistance is necessary. 10
(3) The department may conduct periodic inspections of marine sanitation devices 11
according to a regular inspection schedule to be determined by the department. To 12
conduct the marine sanitation device inspection, the department officers and 13
employees may require a motorboat owner to flush a dye through the marine toilet 14
in the presence of the department officers or employees or use other appropriate 15
measures to inspect the device. 16
(4) An officer or employee of the department in the course of enforcing the 17
provisions of this chapter or the administrative regulations promulgated 18
thereunder shall only enter or access private open land in accordance with 19
Section 1 of this Act. 20