2022 Kentucky Revised Statutes Chapter 75A - Consolidated emergency services districts 75A.120 Definitions for section -- Appointment of special firefighters, rules, powers -- Discipline of members and employees -- Appeals of disciplinary actions -- Political activities of members -- Attendance of chief at board meetings, definition of chief, members as peace officers -- Oath and bond of members -- Duties and powers of chief and members -- Reimbursement of private owners for water used -- Board minute book, contents, where kept, inspection -- Board may employ counsel -- Counsel's duties and compensation -- Duties of county attorney – Audits and financial reports.
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75A.120 Definitions for section -- Appointment of special firefighters, rules, powers
-- Discipline of members and employees -- Appeals of disciplinary actions -Political activities of members -- Attendance of chief at board meetings,
definition of chief, members as peace officers -- Oath and bond of members -Duties and powers of chief and members -- Reimbursement of private owners
for water used -- Board minute book, contents, where kept, inspection -- Board
may employ counsel -- Counsel's duties and compensation -- Duties of county
attorney – Audits and financial reports.
(1)
As used in this section, unless the context requires otherwise:
(a) "Board" means the board of trustees a consolidated emergency services
district organized under this chapter;
(b) "Chairman" means the chairman of the board of a consolidated emergency
services district organized under this chapter;
(c) "Chief" means the chief of the consolidated emergency services district
organized under this chapter;
(d) "Consolidated emergency services district" means districts organized under
this chapter;
(e) "Dismissal" means the discharge of an employee by lawful authority;
(f) "Employees" means all persons employed, and paid wages, salary, or other
compensation for emergency services performed, by the board of trustees of a
consolidated emergency services district organized under this chapter. The
term "employees" does not include any individual who is a volunteer as
defined in paragraph (n) of this subsection.
(g) "Member" shall include the chief and all officers; all providers of emergency
services, including volunteer, paid, regular, and all employees, or special
firefighters; of a consolidated emergency services district organized under this
chapter;
(h) "Paid emergency service worker" means all personnel who are employees of
the consolidated emergency services district organized under this chapter
involved in the provision of emergency medical services subject to the
licensure provisions of KRS Chapter 311A or the provision of rescue services
pursuant to KRS Chapter 39F;
(i) "Paid firefighters" means all firefighters who are employees of the
consolidated emergency services district organized under this chapter;
(j) "Regular firefighters" means all firefighters who are members of a
consolidated emergency services district organized under this chapter, except
for special firefighters appointed by the chairman of the board of trustees
pursuant to KRS 75.110;
(k) "Salary" and "wages" mean any compensation received by an employee by
reason of his employment for services performed for a consolidated
emergency services district organized under this chapter;
(l) "Suspension" means the separation of an employee from the service for a
(2)
(3)
temporary or fixed period of time, by his appointing authority, as a
disciplinary measure;
(m) "Trustees" means the board of trustees of a consolidated emergency services
district organized under this chapter; and
(n) "Volunteer" means any person who is a member of a consolidated emergency
services district organized under this chapter who volunteers to provide
services for the district, if the individual receives no salary, wages, or other
compensation for services performed, or if the individual is paid expenses,
reasonable benefits, or a nominal fee to perform the services for which the
individual volunteered, and the services are not the same type of services
which the individual is employed to perform for the consolidated emergency
services district organized under this chapter.
(a) The chairman may, if in his or her discretion there is a case of need, appoint
special firefighters to do special duties at any place within the limits of the
consolidated emergency services district, on terms he or she deems proper.
(b) These special firefighters shall be governed by rules as the board may provide,
and be given the powers the board may provide, including the powers
enumerated in KRS 75.160 in the discretion of the board; if rules are not
provided they shall be deemed to have the powers and duties of regular
firefighters.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section no member or employee
of a consolidated emergency services district shall be reprimanded, dismissed,
suspended, or reduced in grade or pay for any reason except inefficiency,
misconduct, insubordination, or violation of law or of the rules adopted by the
board the district, and only after charges are preferred and a hearing conducted
as provided in this section.
(b) Any person may file charges against a member or employee of the district by
filing them with the secretary of the board and by delivering or mailing the
charges to the principal offices of the district. The secretary shall immediately
communicate the charges to the board by mailing or delivering a copy of the
charges to each member of the board within seven (7) days of receipt of the
charges at the principal fire house. The chairman shall, after conducting or
having conducted any inquiry or investigation which may be necessary,
determine if probable cause appears. The chairman shall prefer charges to the
board against any member or employee, against whom probable cause exists,
of conduct justifying the dismissal or punishment of the member or employee.
If probable cause does not exist, the chairman shall dismiss the charges. All
charges shall be written and shall set out clearly the charges made. The person
filing the charges may withdraw them at any time before the conclusion of the
hearing. The charges may then be dismissed.
(c) Charges preferred by the chairman shall be heard by either the full board or a
committee consisting of at least three (3) members of the board appointed by
the chairman. At the hearing all charges shall be considered, and the trial shall
be confined to matters related to the issues presented. Within forty-five (45)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(4)
(a)
(b)
days after the charges have been preferred by the chairman to the board, that
body, or a committee consisting of at least three (3) members of the board
appointed by the chairman, shall proceed to hear the charges. At least ten (10)
days before the hearing the member or employee accused shall be served
personally or by registered mail with a copy of the charges and a statement of
the day, place, and hour at which the hearing of the charges will begin. The
person accused may, in writing, waive the service of charges and demand trial
within thirty (30) days after the charges are preferred to the board.
The board of the district may summon and compel attendance of witnesses at
hearings by subpoena issued by the secretary of that body and served upon the
witnesses by any officer authorized to serve court subpoenas. If any witness
fails to appear in response to a summons, or refuses to testify concerning any
matter on which he may lawfully be interrogated, any District Judge, on
application of the board, may compel obedience by proceedings for contempt,
as in the case of disobedience of a subpoena issued from the District Court.
The member or employee accused may have subpoenaed any witnesses he or
she may desire, upon furnishing their names to the secretary of the board. The
written records of the charges, the hearing, if held, and any other actions or
decisions of the board on the charges shall be kept as an open public record
and maintained as required by KRS Chapter 61.
When the board or the chief of the district has probable cause to believe a
member or employee of a district has been guilty of conduct justifying
dismissal or punishment, the board or the chief may suspend the member or
employee from duty or from both pay and duty, pending trial, and the member
or employee shall not be placed on duty, or allowed pay, until the charges are
heard. If the member is suspended, there shall be no continuances granted
without the consent of the member or employee accused. If the member
suspended is a paid firefighter or an employee, the hearing on the charges
shall be conducted within fourteen (14) days after the charges have been
preferred by the chairman of the board.
The board of the district shall fix the punishment of a member or employee of
the district found guilty, by a reprimand, suspension for any length of time not
to exceed six (6) months, by reducing the grade if the accused is an officer, or
by combining any two (2) or more of those punishments, or by dismissal as a
member or employee of the district.
Any member or employee of the district found guilty by the board of the
district of any charge, as provided by KRS 75.130, may appeal to the Circuit
Court of the county in which the district is located, but the enforcement of the
judgment of the district shall not be suspended pending appeal. The notice of
the appeal shall be filed not later than thirty (30) days after the date the board
of the district makes its determination on the charge.
Upon request of the accused, the secretary of the board shall file a certified
copy of the charges and the judgment of the board in the Circuit Court. Upon
the transcript being filed, the case shall be docketed in the Circuit Court and
(c)
(d)
(5)
(a)
(b)
(6)
(a)
(b)
tried as an original action.
If the secretary of the board fails to certify the transcript to the Circuit Court
within thirty (30) days after the request is made, the party aggrieved may file
an affidavit in the Circuit Court setting out as fully as possible the charges
made, the time of the hearing, and the judgment of the board, together with a
statement that demand for transcript was made upon the secretary of the board
more than thirty (30) days before the filing of the affidavit. Upon the filing of
the affidavit in the Circuit Court, the case shall be docketed and the Circuit
Court may compel the filing of the transcript by the secretary of the board by
entering the proper mandatory order, and by fine and imprisonment for
contempt. The appeal shall have precedence over other business, and be
determined speedily.
An appeal will lie from the judgment of the Circuit Court to the Court of
Appeals as in other cases.
No person shall be appointed a member of the district on account of any
political service, contribution, sentiment, or affiliation. No member shall be
dismissed, suspended, or reduced in grade or pay for any political opinion.
Members and employees of the district, while off duty and out of uniform,
shall be entitled to:
1.
Place political bumper stickers on their privately owned vehicles;
2.
Wear political buttons;
3.
Contribute money to political parties, political candidates, and political
groups of their choice;
4.
Work at the polls on election days;
5.
Aid in the registration or purgation of voters;
6.
Become members of political groups; and
7.
Hold office in political groups and carry out the mandates of that group.
The chief in the district shall attend all sessions of the board, except executive
sessions, and shall execute all the orders of the board. Whenever "chief" is
used in this chapter, it shall include the assistant chief when the chief is not on
duty.
The regular members of the district, except volunteer members, shall have the
same powers of arrest as now given by law to sheriffs of this Commonwealth
and they are hereby expressly declared conservators of the public peace whose
duties, in addition to their other prescribed duties, are to conserve the peace,
enforce all laws and preserve order, and they shall have and are hereby
expressly given the same right and the same power to arrest, search, and seize
as is now given by law to sheriffs of this Commonwealth, and they shall be at
all times subject to the orders of the county judge/executive in which the
district lies while enforcing this section. Provided, however, that members of
these fire departments shall not have the power to serve subpoenas,
summonses, and notices in civil cases and they shall receive no fees for
performing any of the duties prescribed in this section as pertains to powers of
law enforcement. The members shall constitute a law enforcement agency in
addition to the patrol and investigation functions of the sheriff and his
deputies under KRS 75.150 to 75.170.
(7) (a) Each member of the district shall, before entering upon the discharge of his or
her various duties, take an oath before the county judge/executive of the
county or a notary public, to faithfully discharge his duties, and the oath shall
be subscribed by the person taking it and filed in the minute book kept by the
secretary of the board.
(b) Each member of the district shall give such bond as the board may designate
and with a surety as required by the board conditioned upon faithful
performance of the member's duties.
(8) (a) The chief, assistant chief, or highest officer present at the fires answered by
his or department shall investigate their causes. He or she may examine
witnesses, compel the testimony of witnesses, administer oaths, compel
production of evidence, and make arrests as provided in KRS 75.160. He or
she may enter any building at all reasonable times for the purpose of
examining the building if, in his or her opinion the building is in danger of
fire. He shall report his or her findings, when requested, to the board,
Kentucky Inspection Bureau, and state fire marshal.
(b) The chief of the district shall direct and control the operation of the district
and the control of the members in the discharge of their duties. He or she, and
members of the district, shall have access to and the use of all cisterns,
fireplugs, the waters of the waterworks of private persons and cisterns of
private persons for the purpose of extinguishing fires and shall have the power
to examine these water supplies at all reasonable times to see that they are in
condition for use in case of fire. The chief shall have control of all hoses,
buildings, engines, and other emergency equipment provided for the district
under direction of the board, or those authorized by the board to exercise this
direction, and shall perform such other duties prescribed by the board not
inconsistent with law. Upon application within ten (10) days to the board, any
owner of property where water is used for firefighting or the provision of
other emergency services shall be reimbursed in a reasonable amount by the
board for water used.
(9) The secretary of the board shall keep a minute book, appropriately bound and
marked, in which the minutes of each meeting of the board shall be kept, together
with all resolutions, tax levies, and other important material the board may
designate. A copy of all material required to be kept by the secretary shall be kept
on file in the office of the clerk of the county containing the district. The public
shall have the right to inspect the book and its contents at all times.
(10) (a) The board may, in its discretion, employ or retain a regularly licensed attorney
to advise them on all matters pertaining to their duties and shall have the
discretion to delegate this authority to the attorney. This attorney shall attend
all meetings of the board, except executive sessions when the board does not
desire his or her presence, whenever the board shall request him or her to
attend and shall advise the board on all legal matters on which he or she is
requested to give advice.
(b) In addition to the attorney provided for in this subsection, the county attorney
in the county in which the district lies shall advise and represent the board in
all matters and on the occasions chosen by the board whenever the board so
requests.
(c) The board may fix the salary or compensation of the attorney provided for in
subsection (1) of this section, in their discretion.
(11) With respect to audits and financial reports, the board of the district shall follow the
procedures of KRS 65.065.
Effective: June 29, 2021
History: Created 2021 Ky. Acts ch. 116, sec. 12, effective June 29, 2021.
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