MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1998 Regular Session

To: Insurance

By: Representative Montgomery

House Bill 1516

(As Passed the House)

AN ACT TO REPEAL SECTION 45-11-253, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDES FOR THE FUNCTIONS, POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE MISSISSIPPI FIRE PERSONNEL MINIMUM STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION BOARD; TO AMEND SECTION 45-11-203, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT THOSE FIRE FIGHTERS BEGINNING A BASIC TRAINING PROGRAM ON OR AFTER JULY 1, 1998, MUST BE CERTIFIED BY THE STATE FIRE ACADEMY IN ORDER TO BE EMPLOYED AS FULL-TIME FIRE FIGHTERS; TO AMEND SECTION 45-11-251, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CREATE AN ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR THE PURPOSE OF ADVISING THE STATE FIRE ACADEMY ON THE MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE BASIC FIRE FIGHTER COURSE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL SHALL BE APPOINTED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE IN THE SAME MANNER AS APPOINTMENTS WERE MADE TO THE MISSISSIPPI FIRE PERSONNEL MINIMUM STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION BOARD; TO AMEND SECTIONS 45-11-7 AND 45-11-8, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 45-11-253, Mississippi Code of 1972, which provides for the functions, powers and duties of the Mississippi Fire Personnel Minimum Standards and Certification Board, is repealed.

SECTION 2. Section 45-11-203, Mississippi Code of 1972, is

amended as follows:

45-11-203. (1) After January 1, 1991, no person shall be

employed as a full-time fire fighter by any local government fire

fighting unit for a period exceeding one (1) year, nor for a

cumulative time exceeding two thousand eight hundred (2,800)

compensated hours, unless that person is certified as completing

the mandatory training requirements in subsection (2). Any state agency or political subdivision that employs a person as a fire fighter who does not meet the requirements of subsection (2) of this section is prohibited from paying the salary of such person, and any person violating this subsection shall be personally liable for making such payment. The State Fire Academy may grant an extension to individuals employed within the guidelines as established by the State Fire Academy not to exceed an additional year. Fire fighters serving as full-time employees prior to January 1, 1991, in a local fire fighting unit shall not be required to meet the minimum requirements in subsection (2).

(2) The uniform training standards for all paid fire

fighters shall consist of satisfactory completion of a training

program administered by the State Fire Academy or local

governments that have the proper facilities and have been

certified by the State Fire Academy which shall utilize the National Fire Protection Association Fire Fighter 1001 Standard.

(3) Any fire fighter who begins a basic fire fighter training program on or after July 1, 1998, must be certified by the State Fire Academy in order to be employed as a full-time fire fighter.

(4) The State Fire Academy may promulgate rules and regulations as necessary to implement the provisions of this section.

(5) Fire fighters serving as full-time employees before July 1, 1998, are not required to be retested by the State Fire Academy.

SECTION 3. Section 45-11-251, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

45-11-251. (1) There is * * * created an advisory council to serve in an advisory capacity to the State Fire Academy on the minimum standards for the basic fire fighter course. The council shall consist of seventeen (17) members. The Commissioner of Insurance and the Director of the State Fire Academy shall serve as ex officio members. The Director of the State Fire Academy shall serve as secretary to the council.

(2) The Commissioner of Insurance shall appoint the members of the advisory council. Fifteen (15) members shall be selected as follows:

(a) Three (3) full time paid fire fighters below the rank of chief, one (1) from each Supreme Court district selected by the Mississippi Fire Fighters Association;

(b) Three (3) volunteer fire fighters below the rank of chief, one (1) from each Supreme Court district selected by the State Fire Fighters Association;

(c) Three (3) fire chiefs, one (1) from each Supreme Court district selected by the Mississippi Fire Chiefs Association. One (1) must be a fire chief of a paid department; one (1) must be a fire chief of a volunteer department, and one (1) must be a full time fire chief of a combination department;

The initial terms of members in each category selected in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) shall be staggered: One (1) member in each category shall serve a term of one (1) year; one (1) member in each category shall serve a term of two (2) years; one (1) member in each category shall serve a term of three (3) years. After the expiration of the initial term, the term shall be three (3) years.

(d) One (1) full time paid arson investigator who is a member of a fire department selected by the Mississippi Arson Investigators Association for a term of three (3) years;

(e) One (1) full time paid fire prevention inspector selected by the Mississippi Fire Fighters Association for a term of three (3) years;

(f) One (1) full time paid fire instructor selected by the Mississippi Fire Instructors Association for a term of three (3) years; and

(g) Three (3) county fire coordinators, one (1) from each Supreme Court district, selected by the Mississippi County Fire Service Coordinators for a term of three (3) years.

No member selected under this subsection shall serve more than two (2) terms. Any member missing three (3) consecutive meetings shall be deemed to have resigned from the council. A vacancy prior to the expiration of a term shall be filled by selection in the same manner and for the balance of the unexpired term.

(3) During his term, a member of the board shall not serve as a member of the State Fire Academy Advisory Board.

(4) The council shall select a chairman and vice chairman from its membership.

 * * *

SECTION 4. Section 45-11-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

45-11-7. (1) There is hereby created a State Fire Academy for the training and education of persons engaged in municipal, county and industrial fire protection. The Commissioner of Insurance shall appoint an Executive Director of the State Fire Academy who, along with his employees, shall be designated as a division of the Insurance Department. The executive director shall serve at the pleasure of the Commissioner of Insurance. The State Fire Academy shall be under the supervision and direction of the Executive Director of the State Fire Academy. State Fire Academy training programs for fire personnel shall be conducted at the academy with seminars to be conducted in other sections of the state as and when the State Fire Academy Advisory Board considers it necessary and advisable.

The Commissioner of Insurance may establish and charge reasonable fees for the training programs and other services provided by the academy. A record of all funds received pursuant to this paragraph shall be maintained as is required for other monies pursuant to Section 45-11-5.

The Executive Director of the State Fire Academy is authorized and empowered to purchase, operate and maintain mobile fire fighting equipment as he may find necessary and proper for the operation of the academy subject to approval of the Commissioner of Insurance. The equipment may be utilized wherever training sessions may be held at the discretion of the State Fire Academy Advisory Board.

(2) The Commissioner of Insurance shall be authorized to undertake appropriate action to accomplish and fulfill the purposes of the State Fire Academy, including the hiring of instructors and personnel, the lease and purchase of appropriate training equipment and to lease, purchase or construct suitable premises and quarters for conducting annual school and seminars, as the State Fire Academy Advisory Board may deem necessary and required for such purposes. Any contract entered into under and by virtue of the provisions of this section shall first be submitted to and approved by the Public Procurement Review Board, and construction pursuant to the contract shall be under the supervision of the Governor's Office of General Services.

(3) Vouchers for operating expense for the State Fire Academy shall be signed by the Executive Director of the State Fire Academy and payment thereof shall be made from such funds to be derived from a special allocation from the State Fire Academy Fund as provided in Section 45-11-5.

(4) The State Fire Academy is hereby officially designated as the agency of this state to conduct training for fire personnel on a statewide basis in which members of all duly constituted fire departments may participate. This subsection shall not be construed to affect the authority of any fire department to conduct training for its own personnel.

(5) Each state agency, private agency or federal agency which provides training for the fire service shall coordinate such efforts with the State Fire Academy to prevent duplication of cost and to insure standardization of training.

(6) The State Fire Academy shall present an appropriate certificate signifying the successful completion of its prescribed courses.

(7) National fire fighter standards * * * shall be used as the basis for classroom instruction at the fire academy.

(8) The Commissioner of Insurance, the State Fire Coordinator and the Executive Director of the State Fire Academy * * * shall coordinate all state programs related to fire department operations.

(9) The Commissioner of Insurance is hereby authorized and empowered to establish standard guidelines for the use of, and accountability for, municipal and county fire protection funds distributed pursuant to the provisions of Sections 83-1-37 and 83-1-39, Mississippi Code of 1972. Such guidelines shall include requirements for the establishment of record keeping and reports to the Commissioner of Insurance by municipalities and counties relating to the receipt and expenditure of fire protection funds, the training of fire department personnel and the submission to the Commissioner of Insurance of other data reasonably related to local fire protection responsibilities which the Commissioner of Insurance deems necessary for the performance of the duties of the State Fire Academy Advisory Board.

(10) In order that the Commissioner of Insurance may more effectively execute the duties imposed upon him by subsection (9) of this section, there is hereby created within the Department of Insurance a Division of Fire Services Development. The division shall be staffed by the State Fire Coordinator, appointed by the Commissioner of Insurance and by such other personnel as deemed by the Commissioner of Insurance. The division shall work with municipal and county fire coordinators to ensure effective implementation of guidelines established pursuant to subsection (9) of this section and shall serve in an advisory capacity for all aspects of fire service improvement. The State Fire Coordinator shall annually notify the Department of Finance and Administration of those municipalities and counties which are not eligible to receive a portion of fire protection fund distributions because of failure to comply with requirements imposed in Sections 83-1-37 and 83-1-39 as a prerequisite to receipt of such funds.

(11) There is created in the State Treasury a separate account to be known as the "State Fire Academy Construction Fund." The State Treasurer shall transfer on July 1, 1997, the sum of Six Hundred Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($675,000.00) and on July 1, 1998, the sum of Six Hundred Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($675,000.00) from the State Fire Academy Fund 3502 into the separate account created in this subsection. Monies in such account shall be expended solely, upon legislative appropriations, to defray expenses related to the construction of capital improvements project known as "Fire Safety and Education Building" and parking areas at the State Fire Academy by the Bureau of Building, Grounds and Real Property Management of the Office of General Services and to pay any indebtedness incurred to accomplish such construction. Funds not used after the completion of this capital improvements project shall be transferred back into State Fund 3502.

SECTION 5. Section 45-11-8, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

45-11-8. There is hereby created the State Fire Academy Advisory Board for the purpose of reviewing matters affecting the State Fire Academy and advising the State Fire Academy on any such matters other than minimum standards for the basic fire fighter course. The advisory board shall consist of the State Chief Deputy Fire Marshal, the Manager of the Mississippi State Rating Bureau, the President of the State Fire Fighters Association, the President of the Mississippi Fire Chiefs Association, the President of the Mississippi Municipal Association and the President of the Mississippi Association of Supervisors or his designee. Members of the State Fire Academy Advisory Board who are not state employees shall be entitled to a per diem compensation as provided in Section 25-3-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, and to travel expenses as provided in Section 25-3-41, Mississippi Code of 1972.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1998.