Article III of the ICAOS specifies that the commission is a “body corporate and joint agency of the compacting states.” The commission is an entity of all the member states acting together and is not an agency of any one state or of each state. The commission is engaged in public policy-making on behalf of the member states. This characterization as a corporate public body of the member states may have important liability considerations regarding the actions of the commission; for example, the commission may not be liable under one member state’s law in the same manner as a state agency in that state.
Article V of the ICAOS specifies the powers of the commission. Among its primary powers, the commission:
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Promulgates rules, which are binding on the states and have the force and effect of statutory law within each member state;
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Oversees, supervises, and coordinates the interstate movement of supervised individuals subject to the Compact;
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Enforces compliance with all the Compact rules and terms;
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Creating mechanisms for resolving disputes between states;
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Coordinates the Commission’s education, training, and awareness relative to supervised individual’s interstate movement;
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Establishes uniform standards for reporting, collecting, and exchanging data; and,
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Performs other functions as necessary to achieve the purposes of the Compact.