Title 25

This article shall not affect the duties, powers, or responsibilities of the Safety Fire Commissioner, the state fire marshal, the sheriff’s office, the Department of Public Safety, local law enforcement agencies, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Natural Resources,…

It is the intention of the General Assembly of Georgia to establish minimum requirements for all fire departments operating in this state. The General Assembly recognizes that fire departments operating in this state cannot function effectively and efficiently as full-time fire depa…

As used in this article, the term: (1) “Executive director” means the executive director of the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council. (2)(A) “Fire department” means any fire department which is authorized to exercise the general and emergency powers enumerated in Code…

(a) In order for a fire department employing full-time firefighters or part-time firefighters to be legally organized to operate in the State of Georgia, the chief administrative officer of the fire department shall notify and submit all required documentation to the executive director…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this Code section, in order to be legally organized: (1) A fire department shall comply with the following requirements: (A) Be established to provide fire and other emergency and nonemergency services in accordance with standar…

The executive director may consult with and consider the recommendations of the director of the State Forestry Commission, the director of the Georgia Fire Academy, the state fire marshal, and the governing authority of any county or municipality in which the fire department is loc…

(a) The certificate of compliance issued by the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council or the Georgia Volunteer Fire Service Council shall be subject to suspension or revocation by the applicable council at any time it receives satisfactory evidence that the fire departm…

The executive director shall cooperate with newly formed and existing fire departments to ensure that all fire departments in this state are in compliance with the provisions of this article by July 1, 1986. History. Code 1981, § 25-3-26, enacted by Ga. L. 1984, p. 1000, § 3; Ga. L…

Nomenclature and symbols. Use in connection with advertising. Prohibited act, §§25-13-4, 25-13-5. Appropriations. Mutual aid resource pacts, §25-6-6. Arson. Powers and duties, §25-3-1. FIRE DEPARTMENTS —Cont’d Attorneys’ fees. Nomenclature. Actions for civil damages for violation…

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Act.” History. Ga. L. 1971, p. 693, § 1.

(a) As a condition of continued certification, all full-time and parttime firefighters shall train, drill, or study at schools, classes, or courses at the local, area, or state level, as specified by the council. Authorized leaves of absence are expected. (b) As a condition of contin…

This chapter shall provide only the minimum qualification standards in training requirements for firefighters in this state and does not restrict any employing agency from setting and establishing requirements that exceed these minimum standards. History. Ga. L. 1971, p. 693, § 9.

(a) All firefighters qualified based upon successful completion of training set forth in subparagraph (a)(2)(A) of Code Section 25-4-8 shall be subject to random testing for evidence of use of illegal drugs. Such testing shall occur at least biannually for the first two years of lice…

Nothing in this chapter shall apply to firefighters employed on July 1, 1971, and such firefighters are not required to meet the requirements of Code Section 25-4-8 or Code Section 25-4-9 as a condition of tenure or continued employment; nor shall their failure to fulfill such require…

As used in this chapter, the term: (1) “Airport” means any airport located in this state which has regularly scheduled commercial air carrier service or commuter airline service as required for certification under Section 139.49 of the Federal Aviation Administration regulations. …

(a) The Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council is established. The council shall be composed of 11 members, one of whom shall be the Safety Fire Commissioner or the designated representative of the Safety Fire Commissioner. Two members shall be appointed by the Lieuten…

(a) There is established the Georgia Volunteer Fire Service Council which shall serve as a division of the council. The volunteer council shall possess all powers, rights, and duties as set forth by this chapter and shall not be considered an advisory committee as set forth in su…

Membership on the council or volunteer council does not constitute public office, and no member shall be disqualified from holding public office by reason of his or her membership. History. Ga. L. 1971, p. 693, § 4; Ga. L. 1977, p. 549, § 1; Ga. L. 2020, p. 515, § 6/SB 342. The 20…

The council and volunteer council are assigned to the Department of Public Safety for administrative purposes. The funds necessary to carry out this chapter shall come from funds appropriated to and available to the council and volunteer council and from any other available funds…

(a) The business of the council shall be conducted in the following manner: (1) The council shall hold at least two regular meetings each year at the call of the chairperson or upon the written request of six members of the council. Six members of the council shall constitute a q…

(a) The council is vested with the following functions and powers: (1) To promulgate rules and regulations for the administration of the council; (2) To provide rules of procedure for its internal management and control; (3) To enter into contracts or do such things as may be nec…

(a) The council, in conjunction with the volunteer council, shall appoint and establish the compensation of an executive director who shall serve at the pleasure of the council. (b) The executive director may contract for such services and employ such other professional, technica…

(a) Except as provided in Code Section 25-4-12, any employee, volunteer, or private contractor of a fire department operating in this state or certified as a firefighter shall, as prescribed by the council: (1) Be at least 18 years of age; (2) Not have been convicted of, or pleaded g…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in Code Section 25-4-12, any person volunteering at a volunteer fire department as a volunteer firefighter shall, as prescribed by the volunteer council: (1) Be at least 18 years of age; (2) Not have been convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, a felony …

(a)(1)(A) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, full-time, and part-time firefighters, including airport firefighters, shall successfully complete a basic training course. The council shall determine the course content, number of hours, and all other matte…

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Firefighter’s Mediation Act.” History. Ga. L. 1971, p. 565, § 1.

The mediators shall conduct the hearing and render their decision upon the basis of a prompt, peaceful, and just settlement of wage or hour disputes between the firefighters and the corporate authority. The factors, among others, to be given weight by the mediators in arriving at a…

The expenses incurred by the bargaining agent in connection with the mediation shall be borne by the bargaining agent. The expenses incurred by the corporate authorities in connection with the mediation shall be borne by such authorities. The necessary expenses incurred by the th…

(a) Any agreement actually negotiated between the bargaining agent and the corporate authorities either before or within 30 days after mediation shall constitute the collective bargaining contract governing firefighters and the municipality for the period stated therein. Such perio…

Whenever wages, rates of pay, or any other matter requiring appropriation of money by any municipality are included as a matter of collective bargaining conducted under this chapter, it is the obligation of the bargaining agent to serve written notice of a request for collective …

(a) Before a municipality with a population of 20,000 or more and its firefighters may come under this chapter, the governing authority of the municipality must agree by ordinance that the municipality will be so covered. (b) In no case may a city with a population of less than 20,…

As used in this chapter, the term: (1) “Corporate authorities” means the proper officials within any municipality whose duty it is to establish the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours, working conditions, and other terms and conditions of employment of firefighters, as defined in p…

(a) The protection of the public health, safety, and welfare demands that the permanent members of any paid fire department of a municipality should not be accorded the right to strike or engage in any work stoppage or slowdown. This necessary prohibition, however, shall not prohi…

Firefighters shall have the right to bargain collectively with their respective corporate authorities and to be represented by a labor organization in such collective bargaining as to wages, rates of pay, hours, working conditions, and all other terms and conditions of employment.…

The organization selected by vote of the majority of the firefighters in any fire department shall be recognized by the proper corporate authority, provided the organization does not advocate striking and has a “no strike” clause in its constitution and bylaws, as the sole and exclu…

It shall be the obligation of the proper corporate authority and the bargaining agent to meet and confer in good faith within 30 days after receipt of a written notice from the bargaining agent of the request for a meeting for collective bargaining purposes. This obligation may i…

If the bargaining agent and the corporate authorities are unable, within 30 days from and including the date of their first meeting, to reach an agreement on a contract, any and all unresolved issues shall be submitted to mediation. History. Ga. L. 1971, p. 565, § 7.

Within five days from the expiration of the 30 day period referred to in Code Section 25-5-7, the bargaining agent and the corporate authorities shall each select and name one mediator and shall immediately thereafter notify each other in writing of the name and address of the per…

(a) The mediation board, acting through its chairman, shall call a hearing to be held within ten days after the date of the appointment of the chairman and, acting through its chairman, shall give at least seven days’ notice in writing to each of the other two mediators, the barg…

For the purposes of this chapter, the term “jurisdiction” means a federal agency, a state agency, a local governmental subdivision of this state or an adjoining state, or an industrial or private organization which has established a fire-fighting department that is responsible for …

Pacts in existence on July 4, 1976, are authorized to continue to operate under their articles of incorporation or organizational policy. History. Ga. L. 1976, p. 742, § 11.

Any member of the governing body of a jurisdiction or any other person who violates this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and may be prosecuted by the Attorney General. History. Ga. L. 1976, p. 742, § 10.

Whenever two or more jurisdictions, as defined by Code Section 25-6-1, within or adjacent to this state, by written resolution authorize their respective fire departments to render aid and assistance in the extinguishment of fires or other immediate response emergencies outside of t…

(a) When two or more jurisdictions desire to establish a pact, each jurisdiction shall designate its fire chief or person or position in charge of its fire department to act for that jurisdiction on all matters relating to the activities and functions of the pact, once it has been …

(a) It shall be the primary purpose of a pact to coordinate the emergency fire services of all jurisdictions belonging to it, so as to provide better, more efficient, and more effective cooperation in the protection of life and property from fires or other immediate response emerge…

(a) There shall be no liability imposed by law on a pact or any member jurisdiction or its personnel for failure to respond for the purpose of extinguishing or controlling any fire or other immediate response emergency. This immunity is not exclusive of other similar immunities gr…