Can a private university police department in South Carolina enter a statutory mutual aid agreement with a city police department?

Official title

Opinion addressing whether a private university police department is authorized to enter into a mutual aid agreement under the Law Enforcement Assistance and Support Act.

Requester

Requested by Chief John Milby, Furman University Police Department.

Plain-English summary

The South Carolina Attorney General concluded that a court would likely hold that private university police departments cannot enter mutual aid agreements under the Law Enforcement Assistance and Support Act. The current statute authorizes counties, incorporated municipalities, and other political subdivisions to make those agreements, subject to approval by the governing bodies involved.

The opinion contrasted private universities with state universities. It explained that state universities are political subdivisions and therefore may participate through their governing boards, while a private university is neither a political subdivision nor another body authorized by the Act.

The conclusion was limited to statutory mutual aid agreements. The opinion added that private campus police officers may still respond to distress calls or requests for assistance in an adjacent jurisdiction under section 17-13-45.

What this means for you

Private university police departments

The opinion treats private universities as outside the entities authorized to enter mutual aid agreements under the Act. It does not treat that conclusion as barring an officer from responding to a distress call or request for assistance in an adjacent jurisdiction.

Municipal police departments and local governments

Under the opinion's reading, the Act moved agreement-making authority to counties, municipalities, and other political subdivisions, with approval by the relevant governing bodies. A private university police department is not an authorized agreement party.

University counsel and administrators

The opinion distinguishes the statutory status of public and private institutions: state universities qualify as political subdivisions, while private universities do not. The requested agreement to extend Furman police patrol jurisdiction therefore was not authorized by the Act.

Common questions

Q: May a private South Carolina university sign a police mutual aid agreement under the Act? A: The AG concluded that a court would likely say no because a private university is not a county, municipality, political subdivision, or other authorized body.

Q: Why may a state university participate when a private university may not? A: The opinion says state universities are political subdivisions whose governing boards may approve participation; private universities do not have that status.

Q: Does the opinion prevent private campus police from helping outside campus in every circumstance? A: No. It says officers may still respond to distress calls or requests for assistance in adjacent jurisdictions under section 17-13-45.

Q: Did the 2016 amendment matter to the result?
A: Yes. The opinion read the amendment as shifting authority to enter mutual aid agreements from law-enforcement agencies to political subdivisions, subject to stated exceptions.

Background and statutory framework

Section 23-20-30(A) authorizes counties, incorporated municipalities, and other political subdivisions to enter mutual aid agreements for public-safety functions. Section 23-20-40(B) requires approval by the appropriate governing bodies. The AG concluded that these provisions do not include private university police departments.

The opinion also cited the adjacent-jurisdiction rule in section 17-13-45. That provision extends an officer's authority, rights, privileges, and immunities when the officer responds to a distress call or request for assistance in an adjacent jurisdiction.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• S.C. Code § 23-20-10 et seq.
• S.C. Code § 23-20-30(A)
• S.C. Code § 23-20-40(B)
• S.C. Code § 17-13-45

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/opinion-addressing-whether-a-private-university-police-department-is-authorized-to-enter-into-a-mutual-aid-agreement-under-the-law-enforcement-assistance-and-support-act/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/media/pmtbb2ii/03310373.pdf

Original opinion text

Alan Wilson
Attorney General

June 08, 2023

Chief John Milby
Furman University Police Department
3300 Poinsett HWY
Greenville, SC 29613

Dear Chief Milby:

Attorney General Alan Wilson has referred your letter to the Opinions section. Your letter states the following:

I am writing on behalf of Furman University to request an opinion to confirm that private university police departments may enter into mutual aid agreements

with public law enforcement agencies pursuant to the Law Enforcement Assistance and Support Act (S.C. Code Ann. 23-20-10 et. seq.), and if so, whether there [are] parameters that restrict such agreements. The City of Travelers Rest and the Travelers Rest Police Department have

asked the Furman University Police Department to enter into a mutual aid agreement extending our jurisdiction to cover The Vinings Apartments, a complex owned by Furman University, but no longer used to house students. The mutual aid agreement states, in pertinent part, “the Furman University Police Department shall be responsible for the enforcement of all laws in the Enforcement Area and may respond without request by the Travelers Rest

Police Department for any law enforcement-related purpose...”
... [W]e seek clarification to this question: can a private university police

department enter into a mutual aid agreement with another South Carolina law enforcement agency to extend its jurisdiction for the purpose of providing patrol services?

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Chief John Milby
Page 2
June 08, 2023

Law/Analysis
It is this Office’s opinion that a court would likely hold private university police departments are not authorized to enter into mutual aid agreements under the Law Enforcement Assistance and Support Act. S.C. Code § 23-20-10 et seq. (Supp. 2022). The act was amended in 2016 and is titled in relevant part as:

AN

ACT

TO

...

ENFORCEMENT

AGREEMENTS

DELETE

THE

AGENCIES

TO

PROVIDE

PROVISION

THAT

ALLOWS

INTO

CONTRACTUAL

TO

ENTER

LAW

ENFORCEMENT

LAW

SERVICES,

TO

ALLOW POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS TO ENTER INTO MUTUAL AID

AGREEMENTS

TO

PROVIDE

LAW

ENFORCEMENT

SERVICES,

TO

PROVIDE FOR THE CONTENT OF A MUTUAL AID AGREEMENT, TO
SPECIFY THE OFFICIALS WHO MAY ENTER INTO AND ENFORCE A
MUTUAL AID AGREEMENT . . .

2016 Act No. 222. We have previously noted this language states the amendment was intended “to shift the authority to enter into a mutual aid agreement from law enforcement agencies and to political subdivisions, subject to certain exceptions.” Op. S.C. Att’v Gen., 2019 WL 6244760, at 4 (November 8, 2019).

To that end, section 23-20-30 now reads, “Any county, incorporated

municipality, or other political subdivision of this State may enter into mutual aid agreements as

may be necessary for the proper and prudent exercise of public safety functions. All agreements must adhere to the requirements contained in Section 23-20-40.” S.C. Code § 23-20-30(A) (emphasis added). The mutual aid agreements “must be approved by the appropriate governing bodies of each concerned county, incorporated municipality, or other political subdivision of this

State.” S.C. Code § 23-20-40(B).’ Because state universities are considered political subdivisions, a campus police department at a state university is authorized participate in mutual aid agreements if approved by its governing board. See Op, S.C. Att’v Gen., 1984 WL 249914, at 3 (June 26, 1984). However, a private university is not a political subdivision of the state nor does it qualify

1 Subsection (C) contains an exception whereby sheriffs may enter into a mutual aid agreement without first seeking approval from his county governing body.

As noted earlier in this opinion, the current version of Section 23-20-40(C) now expressly provides that “[a]n elected official whose office was created by the Constitution or by

general law of this State is not required to seek approval from the elected official's governing body in order to participate in mutual aid agreements.” At the request of the South Carolina Sheriffs' Association, we note that a South Carolina Sheriff holds such an office.

Op. S.C. Att’v Gen., 2019 WL 6244760, at 6 (November 8, 2019).

Chief John Milby
Page 3
June 08, 2023

as any of the other bodies authorized to enter into a mutual aid agreement under the terms of the Law Enforcement Assistance and Support Act. Therefore, it is this Office’s opinion that the Act does not authorize private university police departments to enter into mutual aid agreements.

Conclusion

It is this Office’s opinion that a court would likely hold private university police departments are not authorized to enter into mutual aid agreements under the Law Enforcement

Assistance and Support Act. S.C. Code § 23-20-10 et seq. (Supp. 2022).

However, its officers

may still respond to distress calls or requests for assistance in adjacent jurisdictions. See S.C. Code

§ 1 7-13-45 (“When a law enforcement officer responds to a distress call or a request for assistance in an adjacent jurisdiction, the authority, rights, privileges, and immunities, ... that are applicable to an officer within the jurisdiction in which he is employed are extended to and include the adjacent jurisdiction.”).

Sincerely,

//

Matthew Houck

Assistant Attorney General

REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY:

/Robert D. Cook
Solicitor General