(a) The Sheriff of Colbert County is hereby authorized to establish a sheriff reserve to be composed of such persons who may volunteer to serve as sheriff reserve officers of the sheriff's department. Such service shall be without compensation to the individual so volunteering.
(b) Sheriff reserve officers shall at all times serve under the direction and supervision of the sheriff and/or members of the sheriff's department. The sheriff shall determine the fitness of persons to serve as sheriff reserve officers and shall prescribe such training necessary for reserve officers.
(c) The duties of a sheriff reserve officer shall be limited to assisting the sheriff's department in the performance of its regularly constituted duties and shall serve under the immediate supervision of a lawful sheriff's department officer. Sheriff reserve officers shall have the authority to carry firearms when summoned to duty. Reserve officers shall have arrest power only in the event the full-time sheriff's department deputy is incapacitated or unable to perform an arrest. Sheriff reserve officers, while serving under the supervision and direction of the sheriff, or a member of the sheriff's department, shall have the same protection and immunities afforded regularly employed sheriff's deputies which shall be recognized by all courts having jurisdiction over offenses against the laws of this state.