19-17-108. Credit for service as volunteer firefighter. (1) The annual period of service that may be credited under this chapter is the fiscal year. A fractional part of a year may not count toward the service required for participation in this system. To be eligible to receive credit for any particular year, a volunteer firefighter shall serve with a fire company throughout the entire fiscal year.
     (2) The years of service are cumulative and need not be continuous. Separate periods of service properly credited with different fire companies in different fire districts must be credited toward a member's eligibility for full or partial benefits.
     (3) A volunteer firefighter must receive credit for service during any fiscal year if:
     (a) during the fiscal year, the volunteer firefighter completes a minimum of 30 hours of instruction in matters pertaining to firefighting under a formal program that has been formulated, supervised, and certified to the board by the chief or supervisor of the fire company;
     (b) the volunteer firefighter's participation in the program is documented in the fire department records filed and maintained by the chief or supervisor;
     (c) the fire company maintained firefighting equipment that is in serviceable condition and owns one or more buildings used for the storage of that equipment that all together are valued at $12,000 or more; and
     (d) the fire company or the fire district served by it was rated in class 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 by the board of fire underwriters for the purpose of fire insurance premium rates.

     History: En. Sec. 3, Ch. 175, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 92, Ch. 562, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 114, Ch. 429, L. 2003.