(a) A deputy prosecuting attorney who is duly appointed in any county of the Twelfth Judicial District shall have the authority to perform all official acts as deputy prosecuting attorney in all counties within the Twelfth Judicial District.
(b) Deputy prosecuting attorneys in the Twelfth Judicial District shall not engage in the private practice of law.
(c)
(1) The Prosecuting Attorney of the Twelfth Judicial District and those deputy prosecuting attorneys and other staff members he designates shall be considered law enforcement officers for the purposes of utilizing emergency, protective, and communications equipment.
(2) Provided, that the prosecuting attorney and all members of his office shall have no greater arrest powers than that accorded all citizens under the Arkansas Constitution and this Code.
(d) The prosecuting attorney shall have the power to appoint deputy prosecuting attorneys and other employees at such salaries as are authorized in the grant awards from the Department of Finance and Administration Drug Law Enforcement Program, and the federal Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 or other federal programs and may expend funds from any federal program that are tendered to the office for official purposes.
(e) The Prosecuting Attorney of the Twelfth Judicial District, acting through the Twelfth Judicial District Drug Task Force, shall have the authority to expend funds from the Department of Finance and Administration Drug Law Enforcement Program, and the federal Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 or other federal law enforcement program, which tenders funds to the office to be used for official purposes. Those funds that are designated “overtime funds” are authorized under the grant to be paid to law enforcement officers who are certified with various police agencies in the State of Arkansas. Law enforcement personnel who are employed by police agencies or sheriffs' offices, including the Department of Arkansas State Police, may receive these funds without being considered employees of the office of the Prosecuting Attorney of the Twelfth Judicial District. In addition, overtime funds paid these officers under this drug task force grant procedure are not to be construed as violating any legislative salary cap accorded these officers in the normal course of employment with their various agencies. These funds are intended to supplement funds provided to these departments as salaries to enhance the drug-fighting and violent crime-fighting capabilities of the Twelfth Judicial District Task Force and, to a larger extent, the State of Arkansas.
(f) The office of the Prosecuting Attorney of the Twelfth Judicial District is authorized to receive funds from the federal government in the name of the Twelfth Judicial District Task Force both from federal grants and from asset forfeiture funds and utilize those for official purposes as described in subsection (e) of this section.
(g) The prosecuting attorney's office is hereby authorized pursuant to this Code to collect fees for the hot check fund as authorized by the state legislature and to expend those funds in official uses for the benefit of the office.