December 15, 2006

 

 

MEMO

 

 

Dear Chief:

 

The Official Code of Georgia is silent as to exactly what type of drills or training or meetings are required.  However, the Board expects you to keep a separate log of all drills and training activity conducted by your department.  That log should also record attendance at fires.  Please be advised that we do not recognize makeup drills nor should you include training at GPSTC at Forsyth unless all of your personnel are assigned to training at one time.  The reason for this is that if you included that type of training, which some individuals in your department had taken prior to the current year, then they would be penalized due to the fact that they did not attend it in the year that your counted it as far as the attendance requirements were concerned.

 

A clarification concerning the attendance requirements has been made by the Board.  In computing the attendance at drills, training and fires, one point should be assigned for each hour of drills, one point should be assigned for each hour of training, one point should be assigned for each hour of meetings and one point should be assigned for each general alarm fire that the department responds to.  At the end of the year you may add up all of the points and divide by 2.  That would give the 50% attendance requirements.  In computing this requirement, false alarms, canceled calls, non-fire calls, and responses that require your apparatus to travel more than 5 road miles from the station do not have to be included in the computation. 

 

Remember that your department must hold a minimum of 8 hours of drills and/or training for at least 10 months during each calendar year.

 

A copy of O.C.G.A. 47-7-1(6) and 47-7-81 follows for your reference.  Please call 770-388-5757 if you have any questions.

 

 

JRM/shd

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

47-7-1

 

(6) “Volunteer fire department” means volunteer fire department staffed by firefighters, volunteer firefighters, or a combination of firefighters and volunteer firefighters, separately organized and administered as such, of this state or any municipality or other political subdivision of this state or serving any fire district therein, which:

 

            (A)        Has the principal responsibility to prevent and suppress fires;

 

            (B)        Is financed by the public appropriation or subscription and is not privately owned;

 

            (C)        Holds drills and meetings of not less than eight hours monthly; and

 

            (D)        Meets the requirements imposed by Code Section 47-7-81.

 

 

47-7-81

 

(a)(1) The board is authorized to prescribe the minimum monthly and annual umber of hours of drills and meetings required to be conducted by a volunteer fire department as a condition to qualification of service by a firefighter or volunteer firefighter with such department for credit toward retirement and other benefits under this chapter.

 

     (2)  Any volunteer fire department which fails to hold at least eight hours drills and meetings per month for three months in any calendar year or such greater requirements as may be established by the board shall not be classified as a volunteer fire department for such calendar year, and the members of such departments shall not be entitled to receive credit for service during such calendar year.  Such members shall be entitled to a refund of 95 percent of the dues paid during such period.

 

(b)(1) The board is authorized to prescribe the monthly and annual percentage of attendance at drills, meetings and fires necessary for volunteer firefighters to receive credit for service toward retirement and other benefits under this chapter and to establish the form of reports required to be filed with the board.  In no case shall the annual percentage be set by the board at less than 50 percent of all drills, meetings, and fires in any calendar year.

 

       (2)  Any volunteer firefighter who fails to meet the attendance requirements relative to drills, meetings, and fires in this Code section, or such greater requirements as may be established by the board for the calendar year shall not be granted credit for such year’s service; and, in the event the member has paid any dues into the fund for such period, the member shall be entitled to a refund of 95 percent of such dues so paid.