Minnesota Session Laws - 1993, Regular Session

  
    Laws of Minnesota 1993 

                        CHAPTER 237-S.F.No. 340 
           An act relating to the military; entering into the 
          National Guard mutual assistance counterdrug 
          activities compact; proposing coding for new law in 
          Minnesota Statutes, chapter 192.  
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  [192.88] [NATIONAL GUARD MUTUAL ASSISTANCE 
COUNTERDRUG ACTIVITIES COMPACT.] 
    The National Guard mutual assistance counterdrug activities 
compact is ratified, enacted into law, and entered into by this 
state as a party with any other state or province which, 
pursuant to Article 2 of the compact has legally joined in it in 
the form substantially as follows:  
    The party states solemnly agree:  

                                ARTICLE 1
PURPOSE
    The purposes of this compact are to:  
    A.  provide for mutual assistance and support among the 
party states in the utilization of the National Guard in drug 
interdiction, counterdrug, and demand reduction activities; 
    B.  permit the National Guard of this state to enter into 
mutual assistance and support agreements, on the basis of need, 
with one or more law enforcement agencies operating within this 
state, for activities within this state, or with a National 
Guard of one or more other states, whether said activities are 
within or without this state, in order to facilitate and 
coordinate efficient, cooperative enforcement efforts directed 
toward drug interdiction, counterdrug activities, and demand 
reduction; 
    C.  permit the National Guard of this state to act as a 
receiving and a responding state as defined within this compact 
and to ensure the prompt and effective delivery of National 
Guard personnel, assets, and services to agencies or areas that 
are in need of increased support and presence; 
    D.  permit and encourage a high degree of flexibility in 
the deployment of National Guard forces in the interest of 
efficiency; 
    E.  maximize the effectiveness of the National Guard in 
those situations which call for its utilization under this 
compact; 
    F.  provide protection for the rights of National Guard 
personnel when performing duty in other states in counterdrug 
activities; and 
    G.  ensure uniformity of state laws in the area of National 
Guard involvement in interstate counterdrug activities by 
incorporating said uniform laws within the compact.  

                                ARTICLE 2
ENTRY INTO FORCE AND WITHDRAWAL
    A.  This compact shall enter into force when enacted into 
law by any two states.  Thereafter, this compact shall become 
effective as to any other state upon its enactment thereof.  
    B.  Any party state may withdraw from this compact by 
enacting a statute repealing the same, but no such withdrawal 
shall take effect until one year after the governor of the 
withdrawing state has given notice in writing of such withdrawal 
to the governors of all other party states.  

                                ARTICLE 3
MUTUAL ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT 
    A.  As used in this article:  
    1.  "Drug interdiction and counterdrug activities" means 
the use of National Guard personnel, while not in federal 
service, in any law enforcement support activities that are 
intended to reduce the supply or use of illegal drugs in the 
United States.  The activities include, but are not limited to:  
    (a) providing information obtained during either the normal 
course of military training or operations or during counterdrug 
activities to federal, state, and local law enforcement 
officials that may be relevant to a violation of any federal or 
state law within the jurisdiction of such officials; 
    (b) making available any equipment (including associated 
supplies or spare parts), base facilities, or research 
facilities of the National Guard to any federal, state, or local 
civilian law enforcement official for law enforcement purposes, 
in accordance with other applicable law or regulation; 
    (c) providing available National Guard personnel to train 
federal, state, or local civilian law enforcement in the 
operation and maintenance of equipment, including equipment made 
available above, in accordance with other applicable law; 
    (d) providing available National Guard personnel to operate 
and maintain equipment provided to federal, state, or local law 
enforcement officials pursuant to activities defined and 
referred to in this compact; 
    (e) operation and maintenance of equipment and facilities 
of the National Guard or law enforcement agencies used for the 
purposes of drug interdiction and counterdrug activities; 
    (f) providing available National Guard personnel to operate 
equipment for the detection, monitoring, and communication of 
the movement of air, land, and sea traffic, to facilitate 
communications in connection with law enforcement programs, to 
provide transportation for civilian law enforcement personnel, 
and to operate bases of operations for civilian law enforcement 
personnel; 
    (g) providing available National Guard personnel, 
equipment, and support for administrative, interpretive, 
analytic, or other purposes; 
    (h) providing available National Guard personnel and 
equipment to aid federal, state, and local officials and 
agencies otherwise involved in the prosecution or incarceration 
of individuals processed within the criminal justice system who 
have been arrested for criminal acts involving the use, 
distribution, or transportation of controlled substances as 
defined in United States Code, title 21, section 801 et seq. or 
otherwise by law, in accordance with applicable law.  
    2.  "Demand reduction" means providing available National 
Guard personnel, equipment, support, and coordination to 
federal, state, local, and civic organizations, institutions, 
and agencies for the purposes of the prevention of drug abuse 
and the reduction in the demand for illegal drugs.  
    3.  "Requesting state" means that state whose governor 
requested assistance in the area of counterdrug activities.  
    4.  "Responding state" means the state furnishing 
assistance, or requested to furnish assistance, in the area of 
counterdrug activities.  
    5.  "Law enforcement agency" means a lawfully established 
federal, state, or local public agency that is responsible for 
the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of 
penal, traffic, regulatory, game, immigration, postal, customs, 
or controlled substances laws.  
    6.  "Official" means the appointed, elected, designated, or 
otherwise duly selected representative of an agency, 
institution, or organization authorized to conduct those 
activities for which support is requested.  
    7.  "Mutual assistance and support agreement" or 
"agreement" means an agreement between the National Guard of 
this state and one or more law enforcement agencies or between 
the National Guard of this state and the National Guard of one 
or more other states, consistent with the purposes of this 
compact.  
    8.  "Party state" refers to a state that has lawfully 
enacted this compact.  
    9.  "State" means each of the several states of the United 
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
Rico, or a territory or possession of the United States.  
    B.  Upon the request of a governor of a party state for 
assistance in the area of drug interdiction, counterdrug and 
demand reduction activities, the governor of a responding state 
shall have authority under this compact to send without the 
borders of his or her state and place under the temporary 
operational control of the appropriate National Guard or other 
military authorities of the requesting state, for the purposes 
of providing such requested assistance, all or any part of the 
National Guard forces of his or her state as he or she may deem 
necessary, and the exercise of his or her discretion in this 
regard shall be conclusive.  
    C.  The governor of a party state may, within his or her 
discretion, withhold the National Guard forces of his or her 
state from such use and recall any forces or part or member 
thereof previously deployed in a requesting state.  
    D.  The National Guard of this state is hereby authorized 
to engage in counterdrug activities and demand reduction.  
    E.  The adjutant general of this state, in order to further 
the purposes of this compact, may enter into a mutual assistance 
and support agreement with one or more law enforcement agencies 
of this state, including federal law enforcement agencies 
operating within this state, or with the National Guard of one 
or more other party states to provide personnel, assets, and 
services in the area of counterdrug activities, and demand 
reduction provided that all parties to the agreement are not 
specifically prohibited by law to perform said activities.  
    F.  The agreement must set forth the powers, rights, and 
obligations of the parties to the agreement, where applicable, 
as follows: 
    1.  its duration; 
    2.  the organization, composition, and nature of any 
separate legal entity created thereby; 
    3.  the purpose of the agreement; 
    4.  the manner of financing the agreement and establishing 
and maintaining its budget; 
    5.  the method to be employed in accomplishing the partial 
or complete termination of the agreement and for disposing of 
property upon such partial or complete termination.  
    6.  provision for administering the agreement, which may 
include creation of a joint board responsible for such 
administration; 
    7.  the manner of acquiring, holding, and disposing of real 
and personal property used in this agreement, if necessary; 
    8.  the minimum standards for National Guard personnel 
implementing the provisions of this agreement; 
    9.  the minimum insurance required of each party to the 
agreement, if necessary; 
    10.  the chain of command or delegation of authority to be 
followed by National Guard personnel acting under the provisions 
of the agreement; 
    11.  the duties and authority that the National Guard 
personnel of each party state may exercise; and 
    12.  any other necessary and proper matters.  
    Agreements prepared under the provisions of this statute 
are exempt from any general law pertaining to intergovernmental 
agreements.  
    G.  As a condition precedent to an agreement becoming 
effective under this part, the agreement must be submitted to 
and receive approval of the office of the attorney general of 
Minnesota.  The attorney general of Minnesota may delegate his 
or her approval authority to the appropriate attorney for the 
Minnesota National Guard subject to those conditions which he or 
she decides are appropriate.  The delegation must be in writing. 
    1.  The attorney general, or his or her agent in the 
Minnesota National Guard as stated above, shall approve an 
agreement submitted to him or her under this part unless he or 
she finds that it is not in proper form, does not meet the 
requirements set forth in this part, or otherwise does not 
conform to the laws of Minnesota.  If the attorney general 
disapproves an agreement, he or she shall provide a written 
explanation to the adjutant general of the Minnesota National 
Guard.  
    2.  If the attorney general, or his or her authorized agent 
as stated above, does not disapprove an agreement within 30 days 
after its submission to him or her, it is considered approved by 
him or her.  
    H.  Whenever National Guard forces of any party state are 
engaged in the performance of duties, in the area of drug 
interdiction, counterdrug and demand reduction activities, 
pursuant to orders, they shall not be held personally liable for 
any acts or omissions which occur during the performance of 
their duty.  

                               ARTICLE 4 
RESPONSIBILITIES 
    A.  Nothing in this compact shall be construed as a waiver 
of any benefits, privileges, immunities, or rights otherwise 
provided for National Guard personnel performing duty pursuant 
to United States Code, title 32, nor shall anything in this 
compact be construed as a waiver of coverage provided for under 
the Federal Tort Claims Act.  In the event that National Guard 
personnel performing counterdrug activities do not receive 
rights, benefits, privileges, and immunities otherwise provided 
for National Guard personnel as stated above, the following 
provisions shall apply:  
    1.  Whenever National Guard forces of any responding state 
are engaged in another state in carrying out the purposes of 
this compact, the members thereof so engaged shall have the same 
powers, duties, rights, privileges, and immunities as members of 
National Guard forces of the requesting state.  The requesting 
state shall save and hold members of the National Guard forces 
of responding states harmless from civil liability, except as 
otherwise provided herein, for acts or omissions which occurred 
in the performance of their duty while engaged in carrying out 
the purposes of this compact, whether responding forces are 
serving the requesting state within the borders of the 
responding state or are attached to the requesting state for 
purposes of operational control. 
    2.  Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 of 
this article, all liability that may arise under the laws of the 
requesting state or the responding states, on account of or in 
connection with a request for assistance or support, shall be 
assumed and borne by the requesting state.  
    3.  Any responding state rendering aid or assistance 
pursuant to this compact shall be reimbursed by the requesting 
state for any loss or damage to, or expense incurred in the 
operation of, any equipment answering a request for aid, and for 
the cost of the materials, transportation, and maintenance of 
National Guard personnel and equipment incurred in connection 
with such request, provided that nothing herein contained shall 
prevent any responding state from assuming such loss, damage, 
expense, or other cost.  
    4.  Unless there is a written agreement to the contrary, 
each party shall provide, in the same amounts and manner as if 
they were on duty within their state, for pay and allowances of 
the personnel of its National Guard units while engaged without 
the state pursuant to this compact and while going to and 
returning from such duty pursuant to this compact.  
    5.  Each party state providing for the payment of 
compensation and death benefits to injured members and the 
representatives of deceased members of its National Guard forces 
in case such members sustain injuries or are killed within their 
own state shall provide for the payment of compensation and 
death benefits in the same manner and on the same terms in the 
event such members sustain injury or are killed while rendering 
assistance or support pursuant to this compact.  Such benefits 
and compensation shall be deemed items of expense reimbursable 
pursuant to paragraph 3 of this article.  
    B.  Officers and enlisted personnel of the National Guard 
performing duties subject to proper orders pursuant to this 
compact shall be subject to and governed by the provisions of 
their home state code of military justice whether they are 
performing duties within or without their home state.  In the 
event that any National Guard member commits, or is suspected of 
committing, a criminal offense while performing duties pursuant 
to this compact without his or her home state, he or she may be 
returned immediately to his or her home state and said home 
state shall be responsible for any disciplinary action to be 
taken.  However, nothing in this section shall abrogate the 
general criminal jurisdiction of the state in which the offense 
occurred.  

                               ARTICLE 5 
 DELEGATION 
    Nothing in this compact shall be construed to prevent the 
governor of a party state from delegating any of his or her 
responsibilities or authority respecting the National Guard, 
provided that such delegation is otherwise in accordance with 
law.  For purposes of this compact, however, the governor shall 
not delegate the power to request assistance from another state. 

                               ARTICLE 6 
LIMITATIONS 
    Nothing in this compact shall:  
    1.  authorize or permit National Guard units or personnel 
to be placed under the operational control of any person not 
having the National Guard rank or status required by law for the 
command in question; or 
    2.  deprive a properly convened court of jurisdiction over 
an offense or a defendant merely because of the fact that the 
National Guard, while performing duties pursuant to this 
compact, was utilized in achieving an arrest or indictment.  

                               ARTICLE 7 
CONSTRUCTION AND SEVERABILITY 
    This compact shall be liberally construed so as to 
effectuate the purposes thereof.  The provisions of this compact 
shall be severable and if any phrase, clause, sentence, or 
provision of this compact is declared to be contrary to the 
Constitution of the United States or of any state or the 
applicability thereof to any government, agency, person, or 
circumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of 
this compact and the applicability thereof to any government, 
agency, person, or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.  
If this compact shall be held contrary to the constitution of 
any state participating herein, the compact shall remain in full 
force and effect as to the remaining party states and in full 
force and effect as to the state affected as to all severable 
matters. 
    Presented to the governor May 14, 1993 
    Signed by the governor May 17, 1993, 3:09 p.m.