(Louisiana Illuminator) - Wildlife agents and other law enforcement personnel will no longer be able to randomly stop and board boats in Louisiana waters without reasonable suspicion of a crime under legislation state lawmakers have approved.
House Bill 756, sponsored by Rep. Bryan Fontenot, R-Thibodaux, is on Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk after receiving unanimous approval from both chambers of the legislature and support from the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission. Proponents say the measure will bring state law in line with the U.S. Constitution.
It would replace a law adopted in 1984 that allowed state Wildlife and Fisheries agents to randomly stop and board boats in state waters to perform safety checks.
In a brief interview Wednesday, Fontenot said his bill is part of a growing movement in some states to rein in certain law enforcement practices that have annoyed some boaters. Alabama recently enacted a law similar to the measure Louisiana is on the cusp of adopting, and Florida approved its version last year.
More than 20 states don’t require probable cause, which is a step after reasonable suspicion, for law enforcement to board boats, but that number is trending downward according to tracking data from the U.S. Coast Guard.
An officer stopping a boat without suspicion of a crime amounts to an unconstitutional detention of a citizen in violation of their Fourth Amendment rights, Fontenot said. For decades, the practice was largely considered a special exception for fish and game agents, but it has come under recent scrutiny, he said.
Requiring maritime law enforcement to have reasonable suspicion to stop a boat is the same standard police need to stop a citizen on the street. Some common factors for a boater to draw reasonable suspicion include unsafe operation and broken navigation lights.
The changes in Fontenot’s legislation will apply to all law enforcement officers in Louisiana, not just fish and game wardens.
Fontenot’s measure does not affect the standard of evidence needed for a search. Although agents can stop and inspect a boat for safety equipment, they still need a judicial warrant to perform a search.
It also only applies to state waters. In federal waters, the U.S. Coast Guard can stop any vessel without probable cause.
Additionally, the Fontenot measure will require anyone operating or riding a personal watercraft, like a Jet Ski or WaveRunner, to wear a life vest.
The Louisiana Wildlife Federation, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for habitat conservation and outdoors recreation, expressed some concerns about Fontenot’s bill but did not oppose it.
Rick Owens, the federation’s advocacy manager, said in a phone interview Louisiana is already relatively lax on recreational boating laws. For example, it’s legal to drive a boat here without any kind of training or certification, and the state’s open container law doesn’t apply to watercraft. Also, life vests must be in a boat but don’t have to be worn, Owens said.
Most people have tolerated random law enforcement stops on water in Louisiana, seeing them as a trade off for its relaxed laws, Owens said.
John Hoover, a commercial crab trapper and recreational fishing guide in Lake Maurepas, agreed with Owens and said there are valid points on both sides of the issue.
Random stops have been both a benefit and a hindrance in his industry, Hoover said. They can help fishermen recover stolen equipment, which is relatively common in his industry. At the same time, it can be frustrating when a fisherman who follows all the laws is stopped and delayed from work, he said.
“I don’t mind it because we deal with a lot of thieving,” Hoover said. “I’ve been checked many times, but I look at it as just part of the job.”
The Wildlife Federation worked with lawmakers on a resolution that directs state officials to track and report boating enforcement statistics to the legislature over the next 10 years. The data, some of which the agency already reports monthly to the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, will help lawmakers determine what, if any, impacts the new laws will have.
“We’re thankful for the resolution to track those numbers and see if those concerns prove to be valid,” Owens said. “We’ll see how it plays out.”
During the commission’s May 7 meeting, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries reported that its agents had issued more than 1,000 citations in April and investigated nearly two dozen boating incidents that involved 25 injuries and two deaths.
