AZ SB1384

Federal employees who are not certified Arizona peace officers must obtain written permission from the county sheriff before conducting arrests, searches, or seizures in the state, except for federal enclaves, witnessing crimes requiring immediate arrest, close pursuit situations, or federal border/immigration officers.

The sheriff or sheriff's designee may refuse permission for any reason they consider sufficient; permission requests must include the subject's name, probable cause statement, description of assets to be seized, and date/time/location of the intended action.

Permission from the sheriff must be countersigned to be valid and expires 48 hours after signing; if the federal employee targets a sheriff's employee or elected county/state officer, written permission from the attorney general is required instead.

County attorneys are mandated to prosecute federal employees who violate these requirements for kidnapping (arrests), trespass (searches), theft (seizures), homicide, or other applicable crimes; county attorneys cannot refuse prosecution or face voter recall and prosecution for official misconduct.

The legislature declares that any federal law authorizing federal employees to exercise county sheriff authority in Arizona is null, void, and of no effect in the state.