Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) The superintendent
of a prison may require and direct —
(a) a
search of —
(i)
a person entering or seeking to enter a prison; or
(ii)
a person outside but near a prison, where in the opinion
of the superintendent that search is necessary for the purpose of the security
or good order of the prison;
and
(b) the
examination of any article in the possession or under the control of that
person.
(2) A person who is
permitted to enter a prison or having been permitted to enter has just left a
prison shall, if required by the superintendent, permit a search to be made of
his person and that of any child accompanying him and shall, if so required,
permit the examination of any article in his possession or under his control
or in the possession or under the control of such a child.
Penalty: $1 000.
(3) Notwithstanding
any other provision of this Act, if a person refuses to permit a search or an
examination under subsection (1) or (2), the superintendent may
nevertheless require and direct that —
(a) he
be searched;
(b) any
article in the possession or under the control of that person be examined,
and the superintendent
may refuse to admit that person to or may cause him to be removed from the
prison.
(4) A search under
this section of a female person or a child apparently under the age of
10 years shall be conducted expeditiously and —
(a) by a
female prison officer or some other female person authorised for the purpose
by the superintendent; and
(b) in
the presence only of female persons and, in the case of the search of such a
child, in the presence of the person accompanying the child unless that person
refuses to be present.
(5) Where it appears
to a superintendent that an article in the possession or under the control of
a person who is searched under this section may jeopardise the good order or
security of the prison, that article may be seized and, subject to
section 49B of this Act and to section 6(2) of the Weapons
Act 1999 , in accordance with the directions of the chief executive
officer, shall be returned to the apparent owner or otherwise dealt with.
(6) The superintendent
of a prison may require a person who enters or seeks to enter a prison or,
having been permitted to enter, has just left a prison —
(a) to
state in writing his full name and residential address, and the full name and
residential address of any child accompanying him; and
(b) to
state in writing his purpose in entering or seeking to enter the prison,
and a person so
required by the superintendent who neglects or refuses to comply with the
requirement or states a false name or residential address or who states a
false purpose in entering or seeking to enter the prison or who otherwise
provides false or misleading information commits an offence.
Penalty: $1 000 or 12 months’
imprisonment, or both.
(7) The superintendent
may refuse to admit to or may cause to be removed from a prison any person
who —
(a)
refuses or neglects to provide information which he is required to state under
subsection (6); or
(b)
provides information which the superintendent has reasonable cause to suspect
is false in a material respect.
(8) For the purpose of
exercising a power conferred by this section, a person carrying out a search
or examination may use such force as is reasonably necessary for the purpose.
[Section 49 amended by No. 47 of 1987
s. 11; No. 113 of 1987 s. 32; No. 19 of 1995 s. 4;
No. 43 of 1999 s. 15; No. 50 of 2003 s. 86(2).]