http://www.mtdemocrat.com/news/sheriff-strips-forest-service-of-power/
Sheriff strips Forest Service of power
By Cole Mayer
El Dorado County Sheriff John D’Agostini has been having problems with the U.S. Forest Service since he took office more than two years ago — and now is stripping it of its state law enforcement power in the county and the Eldorado National Forest.
“I have a folder an inch thick of e-mail and snail mail,” D’Agostini said, all complaints about the Forest Service. He estimates about 50 complaints total. They were all “complaints about services from the Forest Service. Or, I should say, lack thereof.”
. . .
He looked at the Memorandum of Understanding between EDSO and the USFS, looked into case law and the state Attorney General’s opinions.
The Sheriff sent the USFS a letter on June 22, giving USFS officials a 30-day notice before they are stripped of their law enforcement power.
“California Penal Code Section 830.8(a) limits the authority of Forest Service criminal investigators and law enforcement officers to exercise the powers of arrest of a California peace officer and to enforce California statutes without the written consent of the Sheriff or Chief of Police in whose jurisdiction they are assigned,” D’Agostini’s letter read. “I am terminating the agreement and giving 30 days written notice as required. Effective Monday, July 22, 2013, the cooperative agreement will no longer exist.” It goes on to say that the law enforcement officials of the USFS no longer have his consent or authorization to enforce state laws in the county, nor will EDSO accept evidence submitted by them.
“They can’t enforce state law,” D’Agostini said. That includes vehicle and penal codes, on both private and federal land. They can, however, enforce federal laws.
Forest Service Special Agent in Charge Scott Harris told the Mountain Democrat, “We have received the letter and are in the process of reviewing it. We have a meeting scheduled with the El Dorado County sheriff on Wednesday to consider our options for resolving this issue.”