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2011 SESSION

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HB 2332 Citizenship of arrestee; arresting officer to ascertain.

Introduced by: L. Scott Lingamfelter | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles | history

SUMMARY AS PASSED HOUSE:

Arresting officer to ascertain citizenship of arrestee.  Supplements the existing law that requires sheriffs to make a query into legal presence when a person is "taken into custody" at a jail. This bill expands such inquiries by requiring inquiries of everyone arrested, independent of whether they were taken into custody at a jail, and requires that an arresting officer inquire of every arrestee whether he (i) was born in a country other than the United States and (ii) is a citizen of a country other than the United States. The bill further provides that when a warrantless arrest is made and the law-enforcement officer finds probable cause to believe that the person is not legally present in the United States, he shall communicate to the judicial officer the facts and circumstances underlying his belief. If the judicial officer concurs in the determination of the officer and finds probable cause to believe that the person will not appear for trial or hearing, the judicial officer may refuse to admit the person to bail.

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Arresting officer to ascertain citizenship of arrestee.  Supplements the existing law that requires sheriffs to make a query into legal presence when a person is "taken into custody" at a jail. This bill expands such inquiries by requiring inquiries of everyone arrested, independent of whether they were taken into custody at a jail, and requires that an arresting officer inquire of every arrestee whether he (i) was born in a country other than the United States and (ii) is a citizen of a country other than the United States, and that if the person responds he was born in another country and is not a citizen of the United States, the officer shall make an immigration alien query to the Law Enforcement Support Center of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and shall communicate the results of any immigration alien query to the Central Criminal Records Exchange of the Department of State Police in a format approved by the Exchange. The bill further provides that when a warrantless arrest is made and the law-enforcement officer finds probable cause to believe that the person is not legally present in the United States, he shall communicate to the judicial officer the facts and circumstances underlying his belief. If the judicial officer concurs in the determination of the officer and makes the further determination that the person will not appear for trial or hearing, the judicial officer may refuse to admit the person to bail.