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100 Op. Md. Att'y Gen. 3 (2015)

handle is hein.sag/sagmd0104 and id is 1 raw text is: NATURAL RESOURCES LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS - AUTHORITY TO INSPECT VESSELS FOR AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES February 27, 2015 The Honorable Wendell R. Beitzel The House of Delegates of Maryland The Honorable George C. Edwards The Senate of Maryland You have asked whether Maryland law authorizes the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to inspect vessels, and prevent their use on State waters, in an effort to control the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS). We understand your inquiry to be primarily directed at whether members of the Department's Natural Resources Police Force (NRP or NRP officers) may conduct warrantless on-shore inspections of vessels that are brought to the lake. Minnesota has recently enacted legislation that specifically authorizes those actions, and you seek our opinion as to whether similar legislation is needed here in Maryland. We conclude that Maryland law already gives NRP officers the authority to combat the introduction of AIS through vessel inspections and, when necessary, prevent a vessel from launching into the lake. The NRP's existing statutory authority, however, must be exercised in a manner that comports with the Fourth Amendment's proscription on unreasonable searches and seizures and the similar proscription in Article 26 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. The real question here, then, is not whether vessels may be inspected for AIS, but rather how those inspections may be conducted within the restrictions of the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment ordinarily prohibits searches and seizures carried out without a warrant issued on probable cause, which we expect would be difficult for NRP officers to obtain in the context of vessel inspections for AIS. There are, however, several specific types of warrantless inspections that NRP officers could carry out consistent with constitutional limitations. For example, we believe that DNR could condition the use of the lake on a person's consent to the inspection of vessels and equipment that might contain AIS. DNR could also authorize its officers to conduct checkpoint inspections for AIS, so long as DNR establishes procedures that clearly define the circumstances under

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