pcgeek, what you just posted was exactly what my examples represent....state officials. If this officer isn't connected to the state, why does a law have to be passed by the Alabama legislature? I'm sure there are already mechanisms in place to allow organizations, institutions, etc., to hire security guards. So why does this law have to be passed? There certainly doesn't seem to be any prohibition to having security guards present there 24/7 if they want....but the church wants a police officer.
And probably more salient to the point you're trying to make, and flailing around doing so, is this first sentence in CNN's article linked above....that you failed to read:
So, if the full time hired officers are fully deputized, carry weapons and have arrest authority, what else do you call them other than state workers/agents?
Or maybe you missed this part of the article you chose to quote from, the linked AL. com article:
You see that "invested with all the powers of law enforcement officers in this state" part? That's a clue they'll be actors of the state, period.