It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 31-50-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 31-50 entitled "Office of Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud" is hereby amended to read as follows:

31-50-1. Office of automobile theft and insurance fraud -- Powers and duties of investigators. (Repealed effective July 26, 1996) -- (a) There is hereby established an office of automobile theft and insurance fraud.

(b) The scope and purpose of the office of automobile theft and insurance fraud shall be to investigate and prosecute crimes involving the theft or other unauthorized use of motor vehicles and to investigate and prosecute all forms of automobile insurance-related fraud.

(c) The office of automobile theft and insurance fraud shall consist of a director, and not less than five (5) nor more than eight (8) investigators, who shall be selected and who shall be specially-trained to investigate instances of automobile theft and automobile claim insurance fraud. The director shall be a member of the Rhode Island State Police with at least the rank of sergeant, and shall remain on the personnel rolls of the Rhode Island State Police, with the same salary and benefits schedule, and shall retain all powers of a member of the Rhode Island State Police of that rank.

(d) The office of automobile theft and insurance fraud shall be under the jurisdiction of the superintendent of the state police. He or she shall appoint the director of said office from amongst the members of the state police who have attained the rank of sergeant or above. The director, with the approval of the superintendent, shall have the authority to appoint and to remove if necessary, the investigators and staff of the office.

(e) The director and the investigators shall have the following powers:

(1) The power to arrest independently or in conjunction with local, state or federal law enforcement agencies.

(2) The power to , with the written authorization by the attorney general or his or her designated assistant, apply for and execute search warrants;

(3) The power to serve civil and criminal process.

(f) No person shall be appointed as an investigator in the office unless he or she has successfully completed the basic course of instruction for police officers at the Providence police training academy, the Rhode Island municipal police training academy, or the Rhode Island state police training academy, and has at least three (3) years of active law enforcement experience, or has served as a member of the United States marshal's service or as a special agent of the federal bureau of investigation, a criminal law enforcement agency of the United States department of justice, the United States department of state, the United States department of the treasury or the United States postal inspection service and has at least three (3) years of active law enforcement experience, or has been certified as a police officer by the duly-constituted state commission on police officer standards and training of another state, and has at least three (3) years of active law enforcement experience. Prior to the appointment of any individuals, a background examination shall be conducted utilizing federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, bureau of criminal identification, national crime information center, and any and all relevant records existing within the federal and state court systems.

(g) The attorney general shall designate one assistant or special assistant attorney general to the office whose duties shall be exclusively devoted to the office of automobile theft and insurance fraud. Said assistant shall be funded from the account established in section 31-50-4.

(h) The state shall hold the director and each investigator harmless and indemnify them to the extent provided under section 9-31-12 for acts committed within the scope of their employment.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.