The chief of the division of mineral resources management shall designate certain employees of the division as mineral resources inspectors for the purpose of enforcing the coal mining laws and the surface mining laws. Those inspectors may enter upon and inspect any coal or surface mining operation at any time, and, upon entering the permit area , an inspector shall notify the operator and shall furnish proper identification. After the final maps have been approved, the inspector shall notify the nearest mine office of the operator and advise of the inspection. Inspectors may serve and execute warrants and other processes of law issued in the enforcement of this chapter and Chapter 1514. of the Revised Code and the rules adopted under them.

The inspectors, while in the normal, lawful, and peaceful pursuit of their duties, may enter upon, cross over, and remain upon privately owned lands for such purposes, and shall not be subject to arrest for trespass while so engaged or for such cause thereafter.

Before a person, other than a person who was an inspector of coal or surface mining operations or oil and gas operations on July 1, 1999, is eligible for appointment as a mineral resources inspector, the person shall pass an examination prepared and administered by the department of administrative services and shall serve for a probationary period of six months to the satisfaction of the chief. The chief may hire , pending the administration of a civil service examination and establishment of a civil service eligibility list, a person as a mineral resources inspector, who shall have the same authority as an inspector hired from an eligible list. This section does not affect the status of any person employed as an inspector of coal or surface mining operations or oil and gas operations prior to July 1, 1999.

Effective Date: 06-14-2000; 07-01-2007.