HOUSE BILL No. 6404

September 5, 2006, Introduced by Reps. Moore, Schuitmaker, Casperson, Baxter, Emmons, Shaffer, Elsenheimer and Farhat and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

A bill to amend 1935 PA 59, entitled

"An act to provide for the public safety; to create the Michigan

state police, and provide for the organization thereof; to transfer

thereto the offices, duties and powers of the state fire marshal,

the state oil inspector, the department of the Michigan state

police as heretofore organized, and the department of public

safety; to create the office of commissioner of the Michigan state

police; to provide for an acting commissioner and for the

appointment of the officers and members of said department; to

prescribe their powers, duties, and immunities; to provide the

manner of fixing their compensation; to provide for their removal

from office; and to repeal Act No. 26 of the Public Acts of 1919,

being sections 556 to 562, inclusive, of the Compiled Laws of 1929,

and Act No. 123 of the Public Acts of 1921, as amended, being

sections 545 to 555, inclusive, of the Compiled Laws of 1929,"

by amending section 6 (MCL 28.6), as amended by 2000 PA 83.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

Sec. 6. (1) The commissioner and each officer of the

department are vested with the powers of a conservator of the

peace. They may also apply to any judicial officer of the state for

the issuance of search warrants, warrants of arrest or any other

criminal process, or orders necessary when the institution of

criminal proceedings for the discovery or punishment of a felony or

a misdemeanor of any degree is ordered in writing by the attorney

general in any case where the proper prosecuting attorney fails or

refuses to act or give his or her approval. The commissioner and

each officer of the department have all the immunities and matters

of defense available to conservators of the peace or sheriffs, or

both, in any action brought against them ~~by virtue~~ because of

acts done in the course of their employment.

(2) Any member of the department may serve and execute all

criminal and civil process, when directed to do so by the governor

or the attorney general, in actions and matters in which the state

is a party. The commissioner and the department are under the

immediate control and direction of the governor, and any member of

the department may be employed by the attorney general in any

investigation or matter under the jurisdiction of his or her

department.

(3) The commissioner may, upon the order of the governor, call

upon any sheriff or other police officer of any county, city,

township, or village, within the limits of their respective

jurisdictions, for aid and assistance in the performance of any

duty imposed by this act. Upon being notified or called upon for

aid and assistance, the officer concerned shall comply with the

order to the extent requested. Refusal or neglect to comply with

the order is misfeasance in office, and shall subject the officer

refusing or neglecting to comply with the order to removal from

office.

(4) The commissioner shall formulate and put into effect plans

and means of cooperating with the local police and peace officers

throughout the state for the purpose of the prevention and

discovery of crimes and the apprehension of criminals. Local police

and peace officers shall cooperate with the commissioner in those

plans and means. Every telegraph and telephone company operating

within this state shall grant priority of service to the police

agencies and to the state police when notified that the service is

urgent and in the interests of the public safety.

(5) The commissioner and all officers of the department have

all the powers of deputy sheriffs in the execution of the criminal

laws of the state and of all laws for the discovery and prevention

of crime, and have authority to make arrests without warrants for

all violations of the law committed in their presence, including

laws designed for the protection of the public in the use of the

highways of the state, and to serve and execute all criminal

process. The commissioner and all officers of the department also

have the authority to exercise the powers of deputy sheriffs in the

execution of civil bench warrants issued by a circuit court

pursuant to any domestic relations matter and to serve a personal

protection order or arrest an individual who is violating or has

violated a personal protection order issued under section 2950, or

2950a, or 2976 of the revised judicature act of 1961, 1961 PA 236,

MCL 600.2950, ~~and~~ 600.2950a, and 600.2976. The commissioner and

all officers of the department shall cooperate with other state

authorities and local authorities in detecting crime, apprehending

criminals, and preserving law and order throughout the state.