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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. 5806 October 28, 1980 POLICE: Reserve officer carrying weapon WEAPONS: Reserve police officer licensed to carry concealed weapon A reserve police officer employed by a local police agency must apply to the county concealed weapon licensing board for a permit to carry a concealed weapon. If the board finds, upon the facts presented, that the reserve police officer is regularly employed and paid by the municipality, the reserve police officer is excepted from the statutory permit requirement in order to carry a concealed weapon. Richard D. Gay Prosecuting Attorney County of Gratiot 245 East Newark Street Ithaca, Michigan 48847 You have requested my opinion as to whether reserve officers employed by local police agencies are required to apply for and receive concealed weapon permits before carrying weapons on duty. It is my opinion that reserve officers employed by police agencies must make application to the local county concealed weapon licensing board. By statute the board is exclusively authorized to issue licenses and make a determination whether an applicant falls within a particular exception to the permit requirement. 1927 PA 372, Sec. 6, as last amended by 1977 PA 280; MCLA 28.426; MSA 28.93 provides the following: 'The prosecuting attorney, the sheriff, and the director, or their respective authorized deputies, shall constitute boards exclusively authorized to issue licenses to applicants residing within their respective counties, to carry pistols concealed on the person and to 'carry pistols, whether concealed or otherwise, in a vehicle operated or occupied by the applicants. The county clerk of each county shall be clerk of the licensing board, which board shall be known in law as 'the concealed weapon licensing board'. A license to carry a pistol concealed on the person or to carry a pistol, whether concealed or otherwise, in a vehicle operated or occupied by the person applying for the license, shall not be granted to a person unless the person is 18 years of age or older, a citizen of the United States, and has resided in this state 6 months or longer. A license shall not be issued unless the application is first approved in writing by the township supervisor, when the applicant resides in that part of the county not included within an incorporated city or village, or by the commissioner or chief of police or marshal when the applicant resides in an incorporated city or village having an organized department of police. A license shall not be issued unless it appears that the applicant has good reason to fear injury to the applicant's person or property, or has other proper reasons, and that the applicant is a suitable person to be so licensed. A license shall not be issued to a person who has been convicted of a felony or confined for a felony conviction in this state or elsewhere during the 8-year period immediately preceding the date of the application or has been adjudged insane unless the applicant has been restored to sanity and so declared by court order.' 1927 PA 372, Sec. 12, as last amended by 1978 PA 519; MCLA 28.432a; MSA 28.98(1), provides for exceptions wherein the aforenoted licensure requirements do not apply. The statute provides, in pertinent part: 'Section 6 does not apply to: '(a) A peace officer of a duly authorized police agency of the United States or of this state or a political subdivision of this state, who is regularly employed and paid by the United States or this state or a subdivision of this state, except that section 6 does apply to a township constable.' It is the function of the concealed weapon licensing board to determine whether reserve officers in this instance are 'regularly employed and paid by . . . a subdivision of this state' such that they fall within the statutory exception. In OAG, 1973-1974, No 4792, p 78 (August 27, 1973), it was noted it was the function of the concealed weapon licensing board to determine whether constables fit within the statutory exception. Although at this time the Legislature has specifically provided that constables do not fall within the provisos of the statutory exception, that was not the case in 1972 and the reasoning of that opinion still applies. That opinion noted that it was properly the function of the concealed weapon licensing board of each individual county to review the employment situation to determine if a particular constable fits within the exception, and stated: 'The key consideration in determining whether a particular constable comes within the statutory exception should be whether his work for the township is substantial rather than merely occasional. In order to come within the statutory exception, a constable's work for the township as constable should form at least a large part of his daily activities.' OAG, No 4792, supra, p 79. Similarly in the instant case it is my opinion that reserve officers must make application and have their employment reviewed by the local county concealed weapon licensing board to determine whether they fit within the statutory exception. The board should take into account the above noted considerations in determining whether the applicant is regularly employed and paid and thus falls within the exception to licensure. Frank J. Kelley Attorney General
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