(A) The General Assembly finds that the public interest requires the safeguarding and protection of facilities owned by special purpose districts, such as water treatment plants, water storage tanks, wastewater treatment plants, pumping stations, and natural gas storage facilities. The health, safety, and protection of human life is dependent, in part, upon these facilities being properly protected from attack by terrorists or others seeking to disrupt the proper operation of facilities.

(B) For purposes of this section, "special purpose district" means a special purpose district charged with the operation and maintenance of natural gas distribution facilities, wastewater plants or treatment facilities, or water treatment facilities, or with the operation and management of any water distribution system.

(C) Each special purpose district is authorized to establish a public safety department to protect and police the facilities owned by the district under such reasonable rules and regulations as the district may from time to time promulgate. The district may appoint and commission as many public safety officers as necessary for the proper security, general welfare, and convenience of the facilities. The public safety officers must be vested with all powers and duties conferred by law upon constables in addition to duties imposed upon them by the governing body of the district. The jurisdiction of these public safety officers is limited to the property of the special purpose district and the streets and roads through and contiguous to the property, except that these officers may not make an incidental arrest of a person for, or issue a ticket for, a traffic violation.

(D) The public safety officers appointed and commissioned by a special purpose district must be law enforcement officers trained and certified pursuant to Chapter 23, Title 23 in accordance with the training and certification standards established for officers performing similar duties. The expense of the training must be paid by the special purpose district by which that person is employed and the Criminal Justice Academy is authorized to establish and collect a fee for this training.

HISTORY: 2002 Act No. 339, Section 6; 2006 Act No. 317, Section 2, eff May 30, 2006; 2008 Act No. 335, Section 1, eff June 16, 2008.

Effect of Amendment

The 2006 amendment, in subsection (D), in the second sentence substituted "Law Enforcement Training Council" for "South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy Division of the Department of Public Safety".

The 2008 amendment, in subsection (D), in the first sentence substituted "Chapter 23, Title 23" for "Article 9, Chapter 6, Title 23".