By AP/KWMU
St. Louis, MO – People taking boats out on Missouri lakes and rivers this year will encounter some new rules.
This is the first full year that the Missouri Water Patrol will have increased jurisdiction.
The new law says water patrol officers don't need to be in sight to enforce rules. They can now arrest people on "surf or turf."
In the past, drunk boaters who were injured, for example, could be followed by a water patrol officer to the hospital. But that officer would have no power to arrest the boater once they're away from the shoreline.
The new law changes that.