Private citizens in
qui tam actions bring suit on behalf of the state but are not
officers of the court, and are possibly eligible for a reward. Private citizens may have the right to make citizen's arrests under certain circumstances, despite not being
sworn law-enforcement officials. Private citizens may have the right to bring
citizen suits to enforce a
statute. A government employee may be considered to be a private citizen in the context of law enforcement actions. For example, an emergency medical technician who discovered contraband on a patient was ruled not to be a "government agent" for the purposes of the
constitutional restrictions on government searches. ==See also==