§ 4199. Reciprocal assistance agreements

(a) In this section "officer" means a game warden, a conservation law enforcement officer, or a person in another state charged with enforcing the fish and wildlife laws of that state.

(b) The Commissioner may enter into a reciprocal assistance agreement with his or her counterpart in any other state. An agreement made under this section shall be for the purpose of cooperating and assisting each other in detecting and apprehending people violating the fish and wildlife or environmental laws of the State, subject to the limitations of section 4193 of this title.

(c) Pursuant to an agreement under this section, the Commissioner may send fish and wildlife wardens into another state for the purpose of assisting the officers of that state and may accept officers of another state into Vermont for the purpose of assisting Vermont wardens.

(d) Under an agreement pursuant to this section:

(1) When a Vermont game warden or an officer of one state enters another state for the purposes of assistance, he or she shall be under the operational control of the chief officer of the host state and shall have the same duties, rights, privileges, and immunities as officers of the host state. An officer of another state operating in Vermont under this section shall have the same powers as a Vermont game warden provided the officer is certified by the Executive Director of the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council as meeting the standards established in 20 V.S.A. § 2358 for Vermont law enforcement officers. This subsection does not nullify subsection 4193(b) of this title.

(2) When an officer is serving in another state under this section, the host state shall assume liability to third persons for actions of that officer taken on account of or in connection with a request for assistance hereunder but only to the extent that the host state would be liable for actions of one of its own officers. The home state of the officer shall be responsible for payment of salary, expenses, and injury and death benefits of the officer while on duty in another state.

(e) A reciprocal assistance agreement shall be executed in writing, shall set forth the terms and conditions under which assistance may be requested or rendered and shall remain in full force and effect until terminated by mutual consent of the parties to the agreement, or until 10 days after one of the parties has given notification to another party of intention to terminate the agreement. (Added 1991, No. 171 (Adj. Sess.).)