10 U.S.C. § 809
Section 809 · Art. 9. Imposition of restraint
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 55 court decisions — leading case United States v. Davenport (1980)
Most recently applied in 264 N.C. App. 467 - State v. Gamez (March 2019)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Arrest is the restraint of a person by an order, not imposed as a punishment for an offense, directing him to remain within certain specified limits. Confinement is the physical restraint of a person.
(b) An enlisted member may be ordered into arrest or confinement by any commissioned officer by an order, oral or written, delivered in person or through other persons subject to this chapter. A commanding officer may authorize warrant officers, petty officers, or noncommissioned officers to order enlisted members of his command or subject to his authority into arrest or confinement.
(c) A commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or a civilian subject to this chapter or to trial thereunder may be ordered into arrest or confinement only by a commanding officer to whose authority he is subject, by an order, oral or written, delivered in person or by another commissioned officer. The authority to order such persons into arrest or confinement may not be delegated.
(d) No person may be ordered into arrest or confinement except for probable cause.
(e) Nothing in this article limits the authority of persons authorized to apprehend offenders to secure the custody of an alleged offender until proper authority may be notified.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
809(b) 50:563(a).50:563(b). May 5, 1950, ch. 169, §1 (Art. 9), 64 Stat. 111. 809(c) 50:563(c). 809(d) 50:563(d). 809(e) 50:563(e). In subsection (b), the word “commissioned” is inserted before the word “officer” for clarity. The words “member” and “members”, respectively, are substituted for the words “person” and “persons”.
In subsection (c), the words “A commissioned” are substituted for the word “An” for clarity. The word “commissioned” is inserted after the word “another” for clarity.
In subsection (d), the word “may” is substituted for the word “shall”.
In subsection (e), the word “limits” is substituted for the words “shall be construed to limit”.
Cross References
Article to be explained, see section 937 of this title.
Forwarding of charges, time of, see section 833 of this title.