(1) Safety and security officers so appointed shall be peace officers and conservators of the peace. They shall have general police powers to arrest, without process, all persons who within their view commit any crime or misdemeanor. They shall possess all of the common law and statutory powers, privileges, and immunities of sheriffs, except that they shall be empowered to serve civil process to the extent authorized by the employing airport board. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, such safety and security officers are hereby specifically authorized and empowered, and it shall be their duty:
(a) To preserve the peace, maintain order and prevent unlawful use of force or violence or other unlawful conduct on the airport facility of their respective airport board, and to protect all persons and property located thereon from injury, harm, and damage; and
(b) To enforce, and to assist officials of their respective airport boards in the enforcement of the lawful rules and regulations of said airport board, and to assist and cooperate with the law enforcement agencies and officers.
Provided, however, that such safety and security officers shall exercise the powers herein granted upon any real property owned or occupied by their respective airport boards, including the streets passing through and adjacent thereto. Said powers may be exercised in any county of the Commonwealth where the airport board owns, uses, or occupies property. Additional jurisdiction may be established by agreement with the chief of police of the municipality or sheriff of the county or the appropriate law enforcement agency in which such property is located, dependent upon the jurisdiction involved.
(2) Safety and security officers may exercise their powers away from the locations described in subsection (1) of this section only upon the following conditions:
(a) When in hot pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law;
(b) When authorized to do so pursuant to the agreement authorized by subsection
(1) of this section;
(c) When requested to act by the chief of police of the city or county in which the airport board’s property is located;
(d) When requested to act by the sheriff of the county in which the airport board’s property is located;
(e) When requested to act by the commissioner of the Department of Kentucky
State Police;
(f) When requested to act by the authorized delegates of those persons or agencies listed in paragraph (c), (d), or (e) of this subsection;
(g) When requested to assist a state, county, or municipal police officer, sheriff, or other peace officer in the performance of his or her lawful duties; or
(h) When operating under an interlocal cooperation agreement pursuant to KRS Chapter 65.
(3) Safety and security officers appointed pursuant to KRS § 183.110 and KRS § 183.880 to
183.886 shall have, in addition to the other powers enumerated herein, the power to conduct investigations anywhere in this Commonwealth, provided such investigation relates to criminal offenses which occurred on property owned, leased, or controlled by the airport board. Where desirable and at the discretion of the airport board’s police officials, the airport board’s safety and security department may coordinate said investigations with any law enforcement agency of this Commonwealth or with agencies of the federal government.
(4) Safety and security departments created and operated by the airport boards shall, for all purposes, be deemed public police departments and the sworn safety and security officers thereof are, for all purposes, deemed public police officers.
(5) Nothing in KRS § 183.110 and KRS § 183.880 to 183.886 shall be construed as a diminution or modification of the authority or responsibility of any city or county police department, the Department of Kentucky State Police, sheriff, constable granted police powers, or other peace officer either on the property of an airport board or otherwise. Nor shall anything in KRS § 183.110 and KRS § 183.880 to 183.886 be construed as a diminution or modification of the authority or responsibility of any constable.
(6) (a) Public airport boards may, as a condition of employment, require a newly appointed safety and security officer who will participate in the Kentucky Law Enforcement Foundation Program Fund, authorized by KRS § 15.410 to
15.510, to enter into an employment contract for a period of no longer than five (5) years from the date of graduation from the Department of Criminal Justice Training or other training approved by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council.
(b) If a safety and security officer who entered into a contract authorized under this subsection accepts employment as a peace officer with another law enforcement agency, that law enforcement agency, including a local school board that has established a police department under KRS § 158.471, shall reimburse the law enforcement agency that initially hired the safety and security officer for the actual costs incurred and expended by the law enforcement agency that initially hired the safety and security officer that are associated with the initial hiring of that officer, including but not limited to the application process, training costs, equipment costs, salary, and fringe benefits. The law enforcement agency that initially hired the safety and security officer shall be reimbursed for the costs from the time of the safety and security officer’s initial application until graduation from the Department of Criminal Justice Training.
Effective: June 29, 2023
History: Amended 2023 Ky. Acts ch. 69, sec. 5, effective June 29, 2023. — Amended
2022 Ky. Acts ch. 90, sec. 20, effective January 1, 2023. — Amended 2007 Ky. Acts ch. 85, sec. 187, effective June 26, 2007. — Created 1976 Ky. Acts ch. 300, sec. 3.