Provides for requirements to stop and board a vessel. (8/1/26)

Senate Bill 243 amends Louisiana Revised Statutes 34:851.29 to impose a probable cause requirement on wildlife agents and peace officers before they may stop and board vessels for enforcement purposes. Under existing law, officers possessed broad authority to stop and board any vessel without limitation to address inquiries, verify identification, examine vessel numbers, and inspect compliance with operation and equipment safety requirements. The proposed legislation retains the duty of wildlife agents and peace officers to enforce the vessel safety provisions of Part 851 but adds a constitutional safeguard by prohibiting officers from performing vessel stops and boardings unless they have probable cause to believe that a violation of Part 851 has occurred or is occurring. The bill preserves the existing requirements that officers identify themselves before boarding and remain exempt from trespass liability when performing official duties.

Wildlife agents and peace officers conducting vessel enforcement will be directly affected by this change, as they will no longer have authority to conduct random or suspicionless vessel stops for general compliance checks. Vessel operators will benefit from heightened protection against warrantless intrusions, as stops and boardings may now occur only when an officer has developed a reasonable, articulable basis to believe that a specific violation exists rather than when an officer simply wishes to conduct an encounter. The practical effect limits warrantless intrusions into vessel operations while preserving law enforcement's ability to investigate suspected violations through the probable cause standard.

This amendment operates within Louisiana's constitutional framework governing seizures and searches. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and its Louisiana counterpart prohibit unreasonable searches and seizures, with probable cause traditionally serving as the constitutional threshold for warrantless stops. The addition of the probable cause requirement brings R.S. 34:851.29 into alignment with constitutional constraints on officer conduct during vessel encounters. The statute continues to apply to all vessels subject to Part 851 regulations and maintains the enforcement duties of state wildlife agents and local peace officers throughout Louisiana.