31-2229. SEARCH AND RESCUE. (1) For the purpose of this section:
(a) "Aerial search" means a response by the Idaho office of emergency management and the Idaho transportation department’s division of aeronautics to a missing or overdue aircraft or airman.
(b) "Rescue" means a response by the sheriff to recover lost, missing, injured, impaired or incapacitated persons in imminent danger of injury or death.
(c) "Search" means a response by the sheriff to locate an overdue, missing or lost person.
(2) The sheriff of each county shall:
(a) Be the official responsible for command of all search and rescue operations within the county;
(b) Prepare and keep current a plan to command the search and rescue capabilities and resources available within the county.
(3) All aerial search assets shall be under the coordination of the Idaho transportation department’s division of aeronautics. The ground aspects of the search and rescue of lost aircraft and airmen shall be under the supervision of the county sheriff, in coordination with the chief of the Idaho office of emergency management and the administrator of the division of aeronautics.
(4) Nothing in subsection (2) of this section shall apply to search and rescue operations within the incorporated limits of any city when the city performs such service.
(5) Nothing in subsection (2) of this section shall apply to the rescue of entrapped or injured persons where their location is known to be within a fire district where the fire district performs such service.
(6) Nothing contained in subsection (2) of this section shall apply to the removal of entrapped or injured persons where the person’s location is known to a local EMS agency licensed by the state of Idaho.
History:
[31-2229, added 2008, ch. 39, sec. 2, p. 94; am. 2016, ch. 118, sec. 2, p. 331.]