Senate Bill No. 451
(By Senator Love)
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[Introduced February 19, 1996; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article three, chapter
twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to state fire
commission; composition; qualifications; appointment; terms
of office; removal; vacancies; compensation; expenses;
adding a professional engineer; and adding a building code
official.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article three, chapter twenty-nine of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTROL ACT.
§29-3-3. State fire commission created; composition; qualifications; appointment; terms of office;
removal; vacancies; compensation and expenses.
(a) There is hereby created a state fire commission, which
shall consist of thirteen fifteen members, qualified by
experience and training to deal with the matters which are the
responsibilities of the commission. The officers of the West
Virginia fire chiefs association, the West Virginia firemen's
association, the West Virginia professional fire fighters
association, the West Virginia professional fire chiefs
association, the West Virginia manufacturers association, the
professional independent insurance agents of West Virginia, and
the West Virginia society of architects, the West Virginia
association of building code officials and the society of
professional engineers shall submit a list of names of persons
recommended by each of these associations to the governor for
consideration in appointing the state fire commission. The West
Virginia professional fire fighters association and the West
Virginia professional fire chiefs association shall recommend the
names of two persons from full-time paid fire departments. The
West Virginia fire chiefs association and the West Virginia
firemen's association shall each recommend the names of three persons from volunteer fire departments. The West Virginia
manufacturers association shall recommend the names of three
persons to represent business and industry. The professional
independent insurance agents of West Virginia shall recommend the
names of two persons to represent the fire insurance industry.
The West Virginia society of architects shall recommend the names
of two persons to represent registered architects. The West
Virginia association of building code officials shall recommend
the names of two persons to represent building code officials.
The society of professional engineers shall recommend the names
of two persons to represent professional engineers. Appointments
to the commission shall be made by the governor, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, from the lists of qualified
persons recommended by the organizations. Three members shall be
appointed to represent full-time paid fire departments, one
member shall be appointed to represent the full-time paid fire
chiefs, three members shall be appointed to represent volunteer
fire departments and two members shall be appointed to represent
the volunteer fire chiefs. Two members shall be appointed to
represent business and industry and one member shall be appointed
to represent the fire insurance industry. One member shall be appointed to represent registered architects, one member shall be
appointed to represent building code officials and one member
shall be appointed to represent professional engineers. The term
of office of the members shall be staggered five-year terms. The
terms of members first appointed shall expire as designated by
the governor at the time of appointment, two at the end of one
year, two at the end of two years, three at the end of three
years, two at the end of four years and two at the end of five
years. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the
original appointment but only for the remainder of a term. Any
member is subject to removal by the governor at any time for
neglect of his or her duties or other conduct unbecoming his or
her office. The governor shall make the appointments within
ninety days after this section takes effect.
(b) The members of the state fire commission shall serve
without compensation but shall be reimbursed for their reasonable
and necessary expenses actually incurred in the performance of
their duties.
NOTE: The purpose of this section is to add to the
composition of the state fire commission a professional engineer and a building code official.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.