SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2017 SESSION

17103587D
SENATE BILL NO. 1198
Offered January 11, 2017
Prefiled January 10, 2017
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 27-9 and 27-14 of the Code of Virginia, relating to operators of emergency vehicles; Emergency Vehicle Operator's Course.
----------
Patrons-- DeSteph, Mason and Spruill; Delegate: Knight
----------
Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology
----------

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 27-9 and 27-14 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 27-9. Organization of fire company.

A writing stating the formation of a fire company, with the names of the members thereof thereto subscribed, shall be recorded in the court of the city or the court of the county wherein such fire company is located, after which the members of the fire company may make regulations for effecting its objects consistent with the laws of the Commonwealth, the ordinances of the county, city, or town and the bylaws of the fire department thereof. The principal officer of such fire company shall be known as "the chief."

Any regulations established pursuant to this section shall include a requirement described in subsection B of § 27-14.

§ 27-14. Ordinances as to fire departments and fire companies.

A. The governing body of any county, city, or town in which a fire department or fire company is established may make such ordinances in relation to the powers and duties of such fire departments or fire companies, and of chiefs and other officers of such fire departments or fire companies, as it may deem proper, including billing property owners on behalf of volunteer fire departments as provided in § 38.2-2130.

B. Such ordinances shall include a requirement that any member of a fire department or fire company who operates an emergency vehicle, as defined in § 46.2-920 or 46.2-1023, shall at a minimum possess a valid motor vehicle operator's permit issued by the Commonwealth or another state and have successfully completed an approved Emergency Vehicle Operator's Course or equivalent training course recognized by the Department of Fire Programs or the Office of Emergency Medical Services.

C. The ordinances shall not require a minor who achieved certification under National Fire Protection Association 1001, level one, firefighter standards, as administered by the Department of Fire Programs, on or before January 1, 2006, between the ages of 15 and 16, to repeat the certification after his sixteenth birthday.

2. That, in order to operate or continue to operate an emergency vehicle, as defined in § 46.2-920 or 46.2-1023 of the Code of Virginia, on or after July 1, 2017, any member of a fire department or a fire company who was an operator of an emergency vehicle prior to July 1, 2017, shall successfully complete the emergency vehicle operator's course or equivalent training course recognized by the Department of Fire Programs or the Office of Emergency Medical Services no later than July 1, 2020.