You asked about the powers of sheriffs that were not transferred to state marshals.

SUMMARY

PA 00-99 gave state marshals most of the powers and duties of sheriffs and deputy sheriffs. It amended various service of process and execution statutes to allow state marshals to carry out the duties of sheriffs and deputy sheriffs. Qualified deputy sheriffs serving on June 30, 2000, and certain former deputies became state marshals. The act made state marshals independent contractors, compensated on a fee-for-service basis. It also created the State Marshal Commission to oversee the state marshals.

While the act eliminated most statutory references to sheriffs and deputy sheriffs, it did not transfer all of their functions to the state marshals. Specifically, the act:

1. eliminated a number of specific powers of sheriffs and deputy sheriffs, such as the authority to arrest habitual truants, and did not give any similar power to state marshals;

2. limited a state marshal's peace officer status by making him a peace officer only when exercising his statutory duties (under prior law, sheriffs and deputies were peace officers all the time); and

3. removed exceptions in the gun permit laws for sheriffs and did not give these same exceptions to state marshals.

The act also eliminated the power of sheriffs to appoint deputies and supervise the sheriffs' system and it gave courthouse security functions to the newly created judicial marshals. Under prior law, deputy sheriffs could perform courthouse security and those who did so could choose to become a state marshal or judicial marshal under the act.

The act also repealed the statute granting sheriffs the power to suppress riots, unlawful assemblies, and breaches of the peace and to command people to assist them (§ 153, repealing former CGS § 6-31). By repealing this provision, the act eliminated any powers that deputies derived from the sheriffs under this statute. By eliminating the sheriffs' system in general, the act eliminated any other powers that the deputies may have derived from the sheriffs.

Attached is OLR Report 2000-R-0534 that broadly summarizes the changes made to the sheriffs' system in the 2000 session.

SPECIFIC POWERS ELIMINATED

The act removed sheriffs and deputy sheriffs from a number of statutes and did not replace them with state marshals. It eliminated:

1. specific responsibilities of sheriffs related to stolen or recovered motor vehicles (§ 50);

2. the requirement that sheriffs take custody of and store abandoned aircraft (§ 52);

3. the sheriff's duty to assist agricultural authorities when called upon for the eradication of bovine and avian diseases (§ 61, § 62);

4. the sheriff's duty to submit fingerprints and information of arrested people to the State Police (§ 75);

5. the power of sheriffs to inspect the stock of machine gun manufacturers (§ 118);

6. the duty of sheriffs and deputies to attend and assist state referees and Superior Court judges at an inquiry into campaign finance violations or to procure the attendance of witnesses (§ 37);

7. the authority of sheriffs and deputies to arrest habitual truants (§ 38);

8. the authority of sheriffs and deputies to remove cancelled registration plates from motor vehicles in parking areas and return them to the Department of Motor Vehicles (§ 45, § 46);

9. the requirement that the Hartford County sheriff attend Board of Pardons sessions and collect a fee (§ 57);

10. the power of sheriffs and deputies to enter the premises of a liquor permittee to ascertain how he is conducting the business and to preserve order (§ 80);

11. the ability of sheriffs and deputies to assist the insurance commissioner, at his request, when seizing a domestic insurance company or corporation under his supervision (§ 83); and

12. the power of sheriffs and deputies to arrest people escaping from Long Lane, Connecticut School for Boys, Connecticut Juvenile Training School, or Southbury Training School (§117, § 124).

It also required:

1. the chief court administrator or his designee, rather than the sheriff, to execute a mittimus to commit convicts to the Connecticut Correctional Institution, Somers (§ 121) and

2. a court-issued mittimus to go to the Department of Correction rather than the Tolland County sheriff or his deputies when transferring to a state hospital a person awaiting execution at Somers who is insane (§ 122).

The act also removed sheriffs and deputy sheriffs from the list of those to whom a driver involved in an accident is prohibited from giving false information or refusing to give information (§ 51). It eliminated the duty of deputy sheriffs to go anywhere in the state as required by the public safety commissioner and to have the powers of state policemen when acting under this directive (§ 74).

PEACE OFFICER STATUS

The act also limited a state marshal's status as a peace officer. Under prior law, sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, and special deputy sheriffs were considered peace officers. Under the act, state marshals are considered peace officers only while they are exercising their statutory authority (§ 5). The act also made this change to a statute relating to duties under certain gambling statutes (§ 4).

Peace officer status confers certain powers. For example, a peace officer can arrest a person during the commission of an offense within his jurisdiction without a warrant, or on speedy information of others, within his precinct. The act defined the precinct or jurisdiction of a state marshal or judicial marshal as wherever he is required to perform his duties, the same definition that applied under prior law to deputy sheriffs and special deputy sheriffs (§ 6).

Under the act, state marshals certified by the Police Officer Standards and Training Council who perform criminal law enforcement duties can, if they are in immediate pursuit, pursue an offender outside their precincts and arrest him. This same provision previously applied to sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, and special deputy sheriffs (§ 6).

GUN PERMITS

The act also eliminated exceptions in the laws on purchase or receipt of pistols and revolvers for sheriffs and did not give state marshals these same exceptions. The statutes previously gave sheriffs exceptions to the requirements for permits to carry a pistol or revolver, buying or receiving a pistol or revolver without a permit, and the waiting period for buying a firearm other than a pistol or revolver (§ 77, § 78, § 136). Thus, state marshals are subject to the same permit requirements as the general public.

COURTHOUSE SECURITY

Under prior law, deputy sheriffs could perform courthouse security, although special deputy sheriffs primarily performed this function. The act transferred the responsibility for courthouse security to the Judicial Department and allowed special deputy sheriffs to continue to perform these functions as judicial marshals. The act required judicial marshals to attend sessions of the Superior Court and family support magistrates, rather than sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, and special deputy sheriffs (§ 104). It allowed a judge trial referee to have judicial marshals attend a hearing and eliminated this provision for sheriffs and deputy sheriffs (§ 115).

The act allowed a deputy sheriff who performed court security or prisoner custody or transportation to choose whether to become a state marshal and serve process or a judicial marshal and perform courthouse security (§ 142(b)(2)).

The act also transferred to judicial marshals the power of the Hartford County sheriff or his deputy to adjourn a term or session of the Supreme Court in certain circumstances (§ 106).

OTHER PROVISIONS

The act also added provisions prohibiting a state marshal from (1) being a state employee at the same time (§ 8(h)) and (2) knowingly billing or receiving fees for work he did not actually perform (§ 150).

It also explicitly gave state marshals the right to enter private property for execution or service of process and exempted them from personal liability for damage or injury in discharging these functions unless their conduct is wanton, reckless, or malicious (§ 7(b)).

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