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Natural Environment Bill

Enforcement and other matters - Enforcement - Enforcement officers

244: Authorisation and responsibilities of enforcement officers

You could also call this:

"Who can be an enforcement officer and what are their jobs and rules?"

Illustration for Natural Environment Bill

You can be chosen by a local authority to carry out tasks as an enforcement officer. This can be an officer from the local authority or from other groups like the Ministry for Primary Industries. The local authority or Minister must give you a warrant that says what you are allowed to do. You must carry your warrant and identity with you when you are working as an enforcement officer. You must show them if someone asks to see them. When you are no longer an enforcement officer, you must give your warrant back to the local authority or Minister. The local authority can choose its own officers or officers from other groups to be enforcement officers. They can also choose officers from the Department of Conservation or Maritime New Zealand. You will get a warrant that explains what you can and cannot do as an enforcement officer.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1526731.

This page was last updated on 14 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Government and voting > Local councilsEnvironment and resources > Conservation

243: Duty to give certain information, or

"Telling officials who you are and where you live if you break a rule"

245: Terms used in this section and sections 246 to 252, or

"What special words mean in this part of the Natural Environment Bill"

Part 6Enforcement and other matters
Enforcement: Enforcement officers

244Authorisation and responsibilities of enforcement officers

A local authority may authorise the following to carry out all or any of the functions and powers as an enforcement officer under this Act:
any of its officers; or
any of the officers of any other local authority, the Ministry for Primary Industries, the Department of Conservation, or Maritime New Zealand.

The local authority or Minister must supply every enforcement officer authorised under this section with a warrant, and that warrant must clearly state the functions and powers that the person concerned has been authorised to exercise and carry out under this Act.
Every enforcement officer authorised under this section who exercises or purports to exercise any power conferred on them by this Act must have with them, and must produce if required to do so, their warrant and evidence of identity.
Every enforcement officer who holds a warrant issued under this section must, on the termination of their appointment as such, surrender the warrant to the local authority or Minister, as the case may be.