CA AB2197

Authorizes custodial officers employed by the Madera County Department of Corrections to perform arrests, conduct searches, and segregate and classify prisoners upon resolution by the Madera County Board of Supervisors.

Grants Madera custodial officers authority to arrest persons without a warrant for misdemeanors or felonies committed in their presence, search property and cells, conduct strip or body cavity searches, and perform warrant-based searches and seizures.

Limits Madera custodial officers' expanded duties to activities involving inmates or their visitors only, prohibiting law enforcement activity involving other persons.

Clarifies that custodial officers cannot carry or possess firearms when off duty, and establishes that the duties enumerated are those performed prior to 1999 under local rules and judicial decisions.

Makes legislative findings that a special statute is necessary for Madera County due to unique circumstances where the Department of Corrections, rather than the Sheriff's Office, has jurisdiction over the county jail.