ORS 423.076 Director’s authority to grant peace officer power to corrections officer

The Director of the Department of Corrections may grant to an individual corrections officer or classification of corrections officer all the powers and authority of a peace officer over adults in custody.

A corrections officer granted the authority of a peace officer under subsection (1) of this section shall have the authority to:

Prevent an escape from the grounds of a correctional facility by an adult in custody; and

Go beyond the grounds of a correctional facility to:

Pursue an adult in custody if the adult in custody is in the act of escaping from a correctional facility;

Search for an adult in custody if the adult in custody is in the act of escaping from a correctional facility; and

Recapture an adult in custody if the adult in custody is in the act of escaping from a correctional facility.

A corrections officer who has been granted the authority of a peace officer under subsection (1) of this section shall retain the authority until the law enforcement agency having general jurisdiction over the area in which the escape or attempted escape of the adult in custody took place assumes responsibility for recapture of the adult in custody.

The Department of Corrections shall inform the appropriate law enforcement agency of an escape or attempted escape of an adult in custody as soon as is reasonably practicable.

As used in this section, “adult in custody” means a person sentenced to a period of incarceration in a prison or other correctional facility until such time as a lawful release authority authorizes the release of the person.