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The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us) STATE OF MICHIGAN FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL Opinion No. 6314 August 22, 1985 POLICE: Railroad police--authority to arrest persons RAILROADS: Authority of railroad police officers to arrest persons A railroad police officer has the powers of sheriffs, marshals, constables, and municipal police officers only in those instances when the officer is engaged in the discharge of his or her duties as a special police officer for the railroad company. Honorable Richard D. Fessler State Senator Capitol Building Lansing, MI 48909 You have requested my opinion on the following question: 'Do railroad police officers have unlimited arrest ability or is their arrest authority limited to those instances where they are engaged in the discharge of their duties as a police officer for the railroad company?' MCL 470.51; MSA 22.1260(1), authorizes the Director of the Department of State Police to appoint and commission a person to act as a railroad police officer for the company by whom the person is employed, upon the premises of the company, or elsewhere within the state, when in the discharge of the person's duties as a railroad police officer for the company. MCL 470.55; MSA 22.1260(5), sets forth the powers of a railroad police officer and provides: 'Every railroad police officer, who is appointed and commissioned as provided in this act, shall have, exercise, and possess, throughout the state, while in the discharge of his or her duties as a police officer, the powers of sheriffs, marshals, constables, and municipal police officers, except in the service of civil process; and a police officer shall enforce and compel obedience to the laws of this state and to the ordinances of the cities, villages, and towns of this state, when engaged in the discharge of his or her duties as a police officer for the company.' (Emphasis added.) A cardinal rule of statutory construction is that every word in a statute is presumed to have some force or meaning and no portion of a statute should be rendered nugatory. Melia v Employment Security Commission, 346 Mich 544; 78 NW2d 273 (1956). The phrases 'while in the discharge of his or her duties as a police officer' and 'when engaged in the discharge of his or her duties as a police officer for the company,' as used in MCL 470.55; MSA 22.1260(5), clearly reveal a legislative intent to limit the times during which a railroad police officer possesses and may exercise the powers of sheriffs, marshals, constables, and municipal police officers. Additionally, the court in People v Van Wasshenova, 121 Mich App 672; 329 NW2d 452 (1982), recognized this limitation on a railroad police officer's authority. In that case, a railroad police officer for the Detroit-Toledo Shoreline Railroad, while on duty to protect an expected Detroit-Toledo Shoreline Railroad train against stoning, observed a group of persons on parallel Contail property throwing stones at a passing Conrail train. He told the group to leave. Defendant argued with the officer, struck him on the chest three times, and was thereafter arrested. He was charged with and convicted of resisting and obstructing a police officer. Defendant argued that a railroad police officer may enforce laws only when engaged in the discharge of duties on the railroad's behalf, and therefore the officer's actions in ordering defendant away from the Conrail property were not in furtherance of his employer's business. The court found that the railroad police officer in this case acted within the scope of his authority, despite the fact that he was physically upon the property of another railroad: '[A] railroad police officer possesses the powers of sheriffs, marshals, constables, and municipal police officers, except in the service of civil process, whether or not the power exercised relates to his employer's business, as long as the exercise of such power arises while the officer is otherwise engaged in the discharge of his duties as a police officer for the railroad.' 121 Mich App 678. (Emphasis added.) It is my opinion, therefore, that a railroad police officer has the powers of sheriffs, marshals, constables and municipal police officers to arrest a person only in those instances when the officer is engaged in the discharge of his or her duties as a special police officer for the railroad company. Frank J. Kelley Attorney General
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