2007 California Government Code Article 3. Contributions, Service, Point System, And Qualifications Review Commission

CA Codes (gov:50957-50963)

50957.  Only members may accumulate service credit in the award
system.  A volunteer becomes a member upon completion of one year of
current service as certified by a qualifications review commission.
Membership shall terminate on the day prior to the effective date of
an award pursuant to Section 50962.


50958.  (a) The award system shall be funded by contributions paid
by contracting departments and income from the fund.  The award
system is a noncontributory system, and no contributions shall be
required from its members.
   (b) As determined by actuarial valuation reported to the
contracting department by the award system, each contracting
department shall make contributions annually, not later than October
1 of each year, sufficient to meet the prescribed amount with respect
to its volunteers, in accordance with the conditions provided in its
contract under the award system.
   Contributions of all contracting departments shall be applied by
the board during each fiscal year to meet the obligations of all
departments collectively, as follows:  first, in an amount equal to
the liabilities accruing on account of awards payable on account of
current service; and second, the balance of such contributions on any
other liability incurred under this chapter.



50959.  (a) Only those volunteers who have been certified by their
contracting department as having satisfactorily completed a service
year shall be credited with current service for that year.  A member
is not required to qualify in consecutive years.
   (b) Members of departments contracting on or after January 1,
1988, may initially be credited with a full service year if they have
been active members of the contracting department for at least six
months of the service year of the contract operative date and are
certified by the department's qualifications review commission.
   (c) A satisfactory service year credit shall be determined by a
member's active participation in all of the following fire department
activities.
   (1) Training drills.
   (2) Responses to emergency calls.
   (3) Attendance at official department and association meetings.
   (d) Contracting departments shall maintain adequate records to
show that a credited member was a participating member of the
department during the year of certification.  The records may
include, but are not limited to, the following:
   (1) Department run logs.
   (2) Department training records.
   (3) Certificates of training.
   (4) Records of exposures to hazardous products.
   (5) Minutes of departmental or association meetings.



50959.5.  The State Board of Fire Services may audit and review the
department records necessary to ensure that credited individuals have
actively participated in department activities as required by
Section 50959.


50961.  (a) The governing body of each contracting department shall
establish a qualifications review commission which shall include the
fire chief, one member of the governing body appointed by the
governing body, and one volunteer elected by the volunteers employed
by the contracting department.
   (b) The qualifications review commission shall review the list of
department members each year, and prior to October 1 of each year
shall certify to the board those volunteers who have qualified.
   (c) In no event shall any member be credited with more than 20
years of service.
   (d) With respect to each contracting department which provides
benefits for prior service credit, the qualifications review
commission shall promulgate and publish guidelines for computing
prior service credit.  The guidelines shall require the prior service
credit to be verified and certified and, in the event that there are
no records in existence, the members of the commission and the
volunteer shall sign an affidavit certifying that the prior service
met the criteria prescribed in Section 50959.  The affidavit shall be
signed under penalty of perjury. Thereafter, the qualifications
review commission shall certify to the board certified prior service
credit which has been earned by each member.



50962.  Upon a member's application to the board, an award shall be
granted to accrue prospectively only if the member has attained age
60 and is credited with a minimum of 10 years of service.  An award
shall be effective and shall begin to accrue no earlier than the
first of the month next following the month in which (a) the member
reaches age 60, or (b) the application is received by the board in
its Sacramento office, whichever is the later.



50963.  (a) Upon attaining 60 years of age, a member may, subject to
the annual approval of the district governing board, choose either
of the following options:
   (1) He or she may continue service with the volunteer department,
accruing length of service award credit of up to the maximum of 20
years before applying for the award.
   (2) He or she may apply for the award once the minimum 10 years of
length of service award credit has been accrued, and continue
service with the volunteer department without accruing additional
length of service award credit.
   (b) An award shall not begin to accrue unless and until an
appropriate application therefor has been received by the board in
its Sacramento office, and shall begin to accrue and become payable
on the first day of the month following the receipt of the
application.
   (c) This section may be made applicable to a district only during
the periods of time that the district governing board finds that
there are retention and recruitment problems in the district.