In addition to any other authority conferred by law, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to designate, pursuant to standards prescribed in regulations by the Secretary, certain officers or employees of the Department of the Interior who shall maintain law and order and protect persons and property within areas of the National Park System. In the performance of such duties, the officers or employees, so designated, may—
(1) carry firearms and make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in his presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if he has reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony, provided such arrests occur within that system or the person to be arrested is fleeing therefrom to avoid arrest;
(2) execute any warrant or other process issued by a court or officer of competent jurisdiction for the enforcement of the provisions of any Federal law or regulation issued pursuant to law arising out of an offense committed in that system or, where the person subject to the warrant or process is in that system, in connection with any Federal offense; and
(3) conduct investigations of offenses against the United States committed in that system in the absence of investigation thereof by any other Federal law enforcement agency having investigative jurisdiction over the offense committed or with the concurrence of such other agency.
The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to—
(1) designate officers and employees of any other Federal agency or law enforcement personnel of any State or political subdivision thereof, when deemed economical and in the public interest and with the concurrence of that agency or that State or subdivision, to act as special policemen in areas of the National Park System when supplemental law enforcement personnel may be needed, and to exercise the powers and authority provided by paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (b) of this section;
(2) cooperate, within the National Park System, with any State or political subdivision thereof in the enforcement of supervision of the laws or ordinances of that State or subdivision;
(3) mutually waive, in any agreement pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection or pursuant to subsection (b)(1) of this section with any State or political subdivision thereof where State law requires such waiver and indemnification, any and all civil claims against all the other parties thereto and, subject to available appropriations, indemnify and save harmless the other parties to such agreement from all claims by third parties for property damage or personal injury, which may arise out of the parties' activities outside their respective jurisdictions under such agreement; and
(4) provide limited reimbursement, to a State or its political subdivisions, in accordance with such regulations as he may prescribe, where the State has ceded concurrent legislative jurisdiction over the affected area of the system, for expenditures incurred in connection with its activities within that system which were rendered pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection.
The authorities provided by this subsection shall supplement the law enforcement responsibilities of the National Park Service, and shall not authorize the delegation of law enforcement responsibilities of the agency to State and local governments.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a law enforcement officer of any State or political subdivision thereof designated to act as a special policeman under subsection (c) of this section shall not be deemed a Federal employee and shall not be subject to the provisions of law relating to Federal employment, including, but not limited to, those relating to hours of work, rates of compensation, leave, unemployment compensation, and Federal benefits.
(2) For purposes of the tort claim provisions of title 28, a law enforcement officer of any State or political subdivision thereof shall, when acting as a special policeman under subsection (c) of this section, be considered a Federal employee.
(3) For purposes of subchapter I of chapter 81 of title 5, relating to compensation to Federal employees for work injuries, a law enforcement officer of any State or political subdivision thereof shall, when acting as a special policeman under subsection (c) of this section be deemed a civil service employee of the United States within the meaning of the term "employee" as defined in section 8101 of title 5, and the provisions of that subchapter shall apply.
Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed or applied to limit or restrict the investigative jurisdiction of any Federal law enforcement agency other than the National Park Service, and nothing shall be construed or applied to affect any right of a State or a political subdivision thereof to exercise civil and criminal jurisdiction within the National Park System.
(Pub. L. 91–383, §10, as added Pub. L. 94–458, §2, Oct. 7, 1976, 90 Stat. 1941; amended Pub. L. 106–437, §2, Nov. 6, 2000, 114 Stat. 1920; Pub. L. 108–352, §11, Oct. 21, 2004, 118 Stat. 1397.)
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Last modified: October 26, 2015