176-B - Volunteer members of fire district fire companies.

§  176-b.  Volunteer  members  of fire district fire companies. 1. The  volunteer members of a fire company shall be elected  and  appointed  as  provided in this section.    2. The board of fire commissioners shall appoint residents of the fire  district  as  the volunteer members of any newly organized fire company.  Thereafter, the fire company may elect other eligible persons, including  fire district officers, as volunteer  members.  The  election  shall  be  pursuant  to  the  by-laws, if any, of the fire company; otherwise, by a  three-fourths vote of the members of the fire company present and voting  at a regular or special meeting thereof. The membership of any person so  elected shall become effective when approved by resolution of the  board  of  fire commissioners. Membership shall be deemed to have been approved  pursuant to this subdivision in the event that no action is taken by the  board of fire commissioners, either approving  or  disapproving,  within  forty  days  after  service  of written notice of election to membership  shall have been made by the secretary  of  the  fire  company  upon  the  secretary  of  the  board of fire commissioners, either personally or by  mail.    3. Any person elected to membership as a volunteer member  of  a  fire  company shall be a resident of the fire district or of territory outside  the  fire  district  which  is  afforded  fire  protection  by  the fire  department of the fire district, or any fire company  thereof,  pursuant  to  a  contract  for  fire  protection,  except as otherwise provided in  subdivision six.    4. The membership of a  volunteer  member  of  a  fire  company  shall  terminate when he ceases to be a resident of the fire district or of any  territory outside the fire district which is afforded fire protection by  the  fire  department of the fire district, or any fire company thereof,  pursuant to a contract for fire protection, except as otherwise provided  in subdivision five.    5. Any fire company may authorize  the  continued  membership  of  any  volunteer  member  where  such member notifies the secretary of his fire  company (a) that he plans to change his residence to territory which  is  not  in the fire district and is not protected by the fire department of  the district, or any fire company thereof, pursuant to  a  contract  for  fire protection, and (b) that by reason of his residence in the vicinity  or his usual occupation he will be available to render active service as  a  volunteer  fireman  in  the fire district or in territory outside the  fire district which is afforded fire protection pursuant to  a  contract  for  fire  protection  by the fire department of the fire district, or a  fire company thereof.  Such  authorization  shall  be  pursuant  to  the  by-laws,  if any, of the fire company of which he is a member, otherwise  by a three-fourths vote of the members of such fire company present  and  voting at a regular or special meeting thereof. Such authorization shall  not  become effective unless approved by resolution of the board of fire  commissioners. Such authorization shall be deemed to have been  approved  pursuant to this subdivision in the event that no action is taken by the  board  of  fire  commissioners, either approving or disapproving, within  forty days after service of written notice of such  authorization  shall  have  been  made by the secretary of the fire company upon the secretary  of the board of fire commissioners, either personally or  by  mail.  Any  membership  continued  pursuant  to  the  provisions of this subdivision  shall terminate when the member cannot meet either the  requirements  of  this  subdivision or the residence requirements of subdivision three. In  the case of a fire  district  which  adjoins  another  state,  the  term  "vicinity",  as  used  in  this  subdivision, includes territory in this  state and territory in the adjoining state.6. A person who cannot meet the residence requirements of  subdivision  three  may  be  elected  to membership as a volunteer member of any fire  company of the fire department if by reason  of  his  residence  in  the  vicinity  or  his usual occupation he will be available to render active  service  as  a  volunteer  fireman  in the fire district or in territory  which is afforded fire  protection  pursuant  to  a  contract  for  fire  protection  by  the  fire  department  of  the  fire district, or a fire  company thereof. Such election shall be pursuant to the by-laws, if any,  of the fire company; otherwise by a three-fourths vote of the members of  the fire company present and voting at  a  regular  or  special  meeting  thereof.  The  membership  of  any  person  so  elected shall not become  effective  unless  approved  by  resolution  of  the   board   of   fire  commissioners. Membership shall be deemed to have been approved pursuant  to this subdivision in the event that no action is taken by the board of  fire commissioners, either approving or disapproving within seventy days  after  service  of  written  notice of election to membership shall have  been made by the secretary of the fire company upon the secretary of the  board  of  fire  commissioners,  either  personally  or  by  mail.   The  membership of any volunteer member elected pursuant to the provisions of  this  subdivision shall terminate when the member cannot meet either the  requirements of  this  subdivision  or  the  residence  requirements  of  subdivision  three. In the case of a fire district which adjoins another  state, the term  "vicinity",  as  used  in  this  subdivision,  includes  territory in this state and territory in the adjoining state.    7.  (a)  The  membership  of  any  volunteer  firefighter shall not be  continued pursuant to subdivision five  of  this  section,  and  persons  shall  not  be elected to membership pursuant to subdivision six of this  section, if, by so doing, the percentage of such non-resident members in  the fire company would  exceed  forty-five  per  centum  of  the  actual  membership of the fire company, provided however, that the provisions of  this  subdivision  shall  not  apply  to  the memberships of the Shelter  Island Heights fire district, the Cherry Grove fire district,  the  Fire  Island Pines fire district, the Davis Park fire department, and the Cold  Spring  Harbor  fire  district  in  Suffolk county, the New Hampton fire  district, the Mechanicstown fire district, the Pocatello fire  district,  the  Washington Heights fire district and the Good Will fire district in  Orange county, the Jericho fire district, the Westbury fire district and  the Roslyn Rescue Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1 in Nassau  county,  the  Orangeburg  fire  district  in  Rockland county, the South Lockport Fire  Company and the  Terry's  Corners  volunteer  fire  company  in  Niagara  County,  the Taunton fire district and the Onondaga Hill fire department  in Onondaga county, the Town  of  Batavia  fire  department  in  Genesee  County,  the  Schuyler  Heights  fire district, the Boght Community fire  district and the Slingerlands fire district I in Albany county, the town  of Providence fire district in Saratoga  county,  the  River  Road  fire  district, No. 3 and the Armor Volunteer Fire Company in Erie county, the  Sir William Johnson Fire Company in Fulton county, the Fort Johnson Fire  district  in  Montgomery  county or the memberships of the Millwood fire  district, the Purchase  Fire  District,  the  North  Castle  South  Fire  District, No. 1 in Westchester county, the Thornwood fire company, No. 1  in  Westchester  county  and the Rockland Lake fire district in Rockland  county.    (b) Upon application by a fire district or fire company to  the  state  fire   administrator,   the   requirements  of  paragraph  (a)  of  this  subdivision shall be waived, provided that  no  adjacent  fire  district  objects  within  sixty  days of notice, published in the state register.  Any  such  objection  shall  be  made  in  writing  to  the  state  fire  administrator  setting  forth  the  reasons  such  waiver  should not begranted. In cases where an objection is properly filed, the  state  fire  administrator   shall   have  the  authority  to  grant  a  waiver  upon  consideration of (1) the difficulty of the fire company or  district  in  retaining  and  recruiting adequate personnel; (2) any alternative means  available to the fire company or district to address such  difficulties;  and (3) the impact of such waiver on adjacent fire districts.    8.  The  board  of  fire  commissioners by resolution may restrict the  membership of volunteer members in any or all of the fire  companies  of  the  fire  department  to  residents of the fire district. Any volunteer  member who then resides in territory outside  the  fire  district  shall  cease  to  be  a  member of any fire company to which the restriction is  applicable unless the resolution  provides  that  his  membership  shall  continue  during  the  existence  of any contract for fire protection to  such territory by his company or during  the  period  in  which  he  may  continue to meet the requirements of subdivision three, five or six.    9.  Residents  of  outside  territory which is protected pursuant to a  contract  for  fire  protection  who  have  been  elected  to  volunteer  membership,  and  non-residents  whose  volunteer  memberships have been  continued or authorized pursuant to subdivision  five  or  six  of  this  section may be elected or appointed to any office in the fire company or  fire  department and, shall have all the powers, duties, immunities, and  privileges of resident volunteer members, except a non-resident of  this  state  whose membership has been continued pursuant to subdivision five,  or a non-resident of this state who was elected to  membership  pursuant  to  subdivision  six  of  this  section,  shall  not be considered to be  performing any firemanic  duty,  or  to  be  engaged  in  any  firemanic  activity,  as  a  member of the fire company while he is outside of this  state unless and until he has first reported to the officer  or  fireman  in  command  of his fire department, or any company, squad or other unit  thereof, engaged or to be engaged  in  rendering  service  outside  this  state,  or  has  received orders or authorization from an officer of the  fire department or fire company to participate in or  attend  authorized  activities  outside of this state in the same manner as resident members  of the fire company.    10. A person shall not be eligible to  volunteer  membership  in  more  than one fire company at one time.    11.  The  term  "contract for fire protection" as used in this section  means one under which a cash  consideration  is  received  by  the  fire  district  or  by  the  fire department or a fire company thereof for the  furnishing of fire protection to an area outside the fire district.  Any  such  contract shall be deemed in full force and effect for the purposes  of this section if negotiations are pending for the renewal thereof.    12. The provisions of this section shall not be  deemed  to  authorize  the  election  of  any  person  as  a  member  of a fire company, or the  continuance of membership in a fire company as herein provided, if  such  election  or continuance of membership shall be contrary to the by-laws,  rules or regulations of the fire company or of the  fire  department  of  the fire district.    13. Any person:    (1)  who  was  recognized  prior  to  the  first day of July, nineteen  hundred fifty-four, as a volunteer member of any  fire  company  of  the  fire district by the board of fire commissioners of the fire district or  by the officers and members of his fire company, and    (2)  who  rendered active service with such fire company prior to such  date, and    (3) who was, at the time of his election to membership, a resident  of  the  fire  district  or of territory outside the fire district which was  afforded fire protection by the fire department of the fire district, orany fire company thereof, pursuant to a contract  for  fire  protection,  shall  for  all  purposes in law be considered to have been duly elected  and appointed to membership in such fire company as of the date of  such  appointment, if any, and, if none, then as of the date of such election;  notwithstanding  that  there  may  have  been  some legal defect in such  election, or the proceedings precedent thereto,  or  a  failure  of  the  board  of  fire commissioners to appoint such member, as provided by the  law in force at the time of such election, and the status of such person  as a volunteer fireman as of the date of such appointment or election is  hereby legalized, validated, and confirmed. This subdivision  shall  not  apply  to a person, if any, whose volunteer membership in a fire company  was declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction prior  to  the  first day of January, nineteen hundred fifty-five.    14. Any person:    (1)  who  was  recognized on and after the first day of July, nineteen  hundred fifty-four and prior to the first day of January,  two  thousand  three, as a volunteer member of any fire company of the fire district by  the  board of fire commissioners of the fire district or by the officers  and members of his fire company, and    (2) who rendered active service with such fire  company  between  such  dates, and    (3)  who was, at the time of his election to membership, a resident of  the fire district or of territory outside the fire  district  which  was  afforded fire protection by the fire department of the fire district, or  any  fire  company  thereof, pursuant to a contract for fire protection,  or, who was a nonresident who was  elected  to  membership  or  who  was  continued as a member, pursuant to the provisions of subdivision five or  six of this section, shall for all purposes in law be considered to have  been  duly  elected and approved, or continued, as a member in such fire  company as of the date of such approval, if any, and, if none,  then  as  of the date of such election or, in the case of a continuance, as of the  date  of  the approval, if any, by the board of fire commissioners, and,  if none, as of the date of authorization  of  continuance  by  the  fire  company;  notwithstanding  that there may have been some legal defect in  such election, or the proceedings precedent thereto, or a failure of the  board of fire commissioners to  approve  such  member,  or  approve  the  continuance  of  membership  of  such  member, as provided by the law in  force at the time of such election or continuance,  and  the  status  of  such  person  as  a  volunteer  firefighter  as  of  such date is hereby  legalized, validated, and confirmed. This subdivision shall not apply to  a person, if any, whose volunteer  membership  in  a  fire  company  was  disapproved  by the board of fire commissioners or declared invalid by a  court of competent jurisdiction prior to the first day of  January,  two  thousand three.    15.  (a)  It  shall  be  an  unlawful  discriminatory practice for any  volunteer fire department or fire company, through any member or members  thereof, officers, board of fire commissioners or other body  or  office  having  power of appointment of volunteer firemen in any fire department  or fire company pursuant to this section, because of  the  race,  creed,  color,  national  origin,  sex  or  marital status of any individual, to  exclude or to expel from its volunteer membership such individual, or to  discriminate against any of its members  because  of  the  race,  creed,  color, national origin, sex or marital status of such volunteer members.    (b)  Any person claiming to be aggrieved by an unlawful discriminatory  practice pursuant to this section may by himself or his attorney at  law  make,  sign and file with the state division of human rights, a verified  complaint which shall set forth the particulars of the alleged  unlawful  discriminatory  practice  and  contain  such  other  information  as thedivision of human rights may require. The division shall thereupon cause  to be made an investigation and disposition of the charges  pursuant  to  the provisions of article fifteen of the executive law.    16.  A  person who has been convicted of arson in any degree shall not  be eligible to be elected or appointed as a volunteer member of  a  fire  company.  The membership of any volunteer member of a fire company shall  immediately terminate if he is convicted of arson in any degree while  a  member of a fire company.    17.  Upon  application  by any person for membership in a fire company  operating pursuant to this section,  the  fire  chief  shall  cause  the  applicant's  background  to be checked pursuant to section eight hundred  thirty-seven-o of the executive law for a criminal history  involving  a  conviction for arson.