Title 31 — COUNTIES AND COUNTY LAW

31-1401. Purpose and policy of law — Short title. The protection of property against fire and the preservation of life, and enforcement of any of the fire codes and other rules that are adopted by the state fire marshal pursuant to chapter 2, title 41, Idaho Code, are hereby decl…

31-1402. Creation and organization of district. (1) Whenever twenty-five (25) or more of the holders of title, or evidence of title, to lands aggregating not less than one thousand (1,000) acres of contiguous territory, or consisting of contiguous territory of less extent but hav…

31-1403. Petition. (1) A petition shall first be presented to the board of county commissioners and filed with the clerk of the board of commissioners of each county in which the proposed fire protection district is to be situated, signed by the number of holders of title, or evi…

31-1404. Notice of hearing. When such petition is presented to the board of county commissioners and filed in the office of the clerk of such board, the said board shall set a time for a hearing upon such petition, which time shall not be less than four (4) nor more than six (6) …

31-1405. Notice of election. After the county commissioners have made their order finally fixing and determining the boundaries of the proposed district, the clerk of the board of county commissioners shall cause to be published a notice of an election to be held, subject to the …

31-1406. Election — Qualification of electors — Canvass. Such election shall be conducted in accordance with title 34, Idaho Code. The board of county commissioners shall establish as many election precincts within such proposed fire protection district as may be necessary, and d…

31-1407. Canvass by board of commissioners — Validity of organization. Immediately after any election for voting upon the organization of a fire protection district, the judges of said election shall forward the official results of said election to the clerk of said board of comm…

31-1408. Fire protection board — Appointment of commissioners — Oath. (1) There shall be three (3) fire protection commissioners in each district, who shall constitute the fire protection board. The first fire protection commissioners of such fire protection district shall be app…

31-1409. Residence qualifications of commissioners — Term of office — Vacancies. (1) At the meeting of the board of county commissioners at which the fire protection district is declared organized, as provided by section 31-1407, Idaho Code, the county commissioners shall divide …

31-1410. Election of commissioners — resident qualifications of commissioners — revising subdistricts — term of office. (1) On the first Tuesday following the first Monday of November, of the next odd-numbered year, following the organization of a fire protection district, three …

31-1410A. Decision to increase the size of the board. (1) Subsequent to the creation of a fire protection district and the appointment of the first board of fire protection commissioners, the fire protection board may, by a majority vote of all of the fire protection district boa…

31-1410B. Decision to decrease the size of the board. (1) Any fire protection board consisting of five (5) members may, by a four-fifths (4/5) majority vote of all of the board members, elect to decrease the size of the board to three (3) members. (2) If the board of fire protect…

31-1411. Annexation of territory in same county — Petition — Hearing — Order — Certification to county commissioners — Alternate procedure — Election — Petition to de annex property from existing district and annex into another district. After the organization of a fire protectio…

31-1412. Annexation of territory in adjoining county. After the organization of a fire protection district, additional territory, contiguous or noncontiguous thereto and located wholly within an adjoining county, may be added to the district and become a part thereof as hereinaft…

31-1413. Consolidation of districts — Hearing — Protest — Election. Any fire protection district may consolidate with one (1) or more existing fire protection districts subject to the following procedure, or pursuant to an election for consolidation as provided in section 31-1414…

31-1414. Election for the consolidation of districts. (1) Any two (2) or more fire districts may, in the discretion of the fire district commissioners, or shall, upon a petition signed by ten percent (10%) or more of the electors in the last general election residing in each of t…

31-1415. Organization of board — Meetings — Officers — Official bonds. Immediately after qualifying, the board of fire protection commissioners shall meet and organize as a board, and at that time, and whenever thereafter vacancies in the respective offices may occur, they shall …

31-1416. Fire protection districts are governmental subdivisions of idaho and bodies politic and corporate. Every fire protection district upon being organized as provided by this chapter shall be a governmental subdivision of the state of Idaho and a body politic and corporate, …

31-1417. Corporate powers and duties of board of fire protection commissioners. A board of fire protection commissioners shall have discretionary powers to manage and conduct the business and affairs of the district. The discretionary powers shall include, but not be limited to, …

31-1419. Fire protection district has legal title to property. The legal title to all property acquired under the provisions of this chapter shall immediately and by operation of law, vest in such fire protection district, and shall be held by such district in trust for and is he…

31-1420. Procedure for sale, conveyance and disposition of property. Real or personal property of a fire protection district may be sold, conveyed and disposed of by its board of commissioners whenever the board finds and by resolution declares that the district no longer has use…

31-1421. Compensation and benefits — Expenses — Liability. (1) Fire protection district commissioners may receive reasonable compensation for their services as commissioners. The fire protection board shall fix commissioner benefits and compensation for the fiscal year. Compensat…

31-1422. Budget and hearing — Notice of hearing — Public inspection. (1) The fire protection district board shall adopt a budget and shall cause a public hearing to be held upon such budget, prior to certifying a tax levy to the board of county commissioners of each county within…

31-1423. Levy — recommended levy — election. (1) Each year, immediately prior to the annual county levy of taxes, the board of commissioners of each fire protection district, organized and existing under this chapter, may levy a tax upon all the taxable property within the bounda…

31-1424. Duties of county commissioners. The board of county commissioners, at the time of making the annual county levies, shall make a levy upon all the taxable property not exempt from taxation within each district within the county in the same amount as the levy made by the b…

31-1425. Exemptions. (1) All public utilities, as defined in section 61-129, Idaho Code, shall be exempt from taxation under the provisions of this chapter and shall not be entitled to the privileges or protection hereby provided without their consent in writing filed with the cl…

31-1426. Handling of district funds. (1) The tax receipts collected by the county as provided for in section 31-1424, Idaho Code, and other funds shall immediately be paid over by the county treasurer to the treasurer of the fire protection district, who shall deposit the same in…

31-1427. Indebtedness prohibited — Exceptions. The board of commissioners of a fire protection district organized pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall have no power to incur any debt or liability, except to the extent for the purposes and in the manner hereinafter pro…

31-1428. Carry over — Fund balance. The board of commissioners of a fire protection district may accumulate fund balances at the end of a fiscal year and carry over those fund balances into the ensuing fiscal year budget for equipping and maintaining the district. A "fund balance…

31-1429. Inclusion, annexation or withdrawal of area in cities. Except as otherwise provided in section 50-224, Idaho Code, any area embraced within the limits of any city may, with the consent of the governing boards of such city and the respective fire protection district, expr…

31-1430. Cooperation and reciprocating use of firefighting forces and apparatus of districts and cities. (1) Fire protection districts shall have all of the powers given to political subdivisions of the state of Idaho as set forth in section 67-2339, Idaho Code, and sections 67-2…

31-1431. Contracts between fire protection districts and individual property owners outside of district. Fire protection districts subject to the conditions hereinafter set forth may, pursuant to the discretion of the fire protection board, contract with individual property owner…

31-1432. Construction of chapter. The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to effect the purposes thereof.

31-1433. Continuation of existing districts — Validating acts of officers. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as impairing the legality or organization of any fire protection district heretofore organized pursuant to law, nor the legality of any act of such district done …

31-1434. Any dissolution. Dissolution of any fire protection district organized under this chapter may be initiated by a petition signed by at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the holders of title, or evidence of title, to the real property within the fire protection district, …

31-1435. Separability. The several parts and provisions of this chapter are hereby declared independent and severable and the invalidity of any part or feature thereof shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder of said section, or any part thereof.

31-1436. Nonliability of agency for delay in report of fire — Exception. No person, corporation, partnership or association which is authorized by any city fire department, fire protection district or by any volunteer fire company to receive any report of fire or which agrees to …

31-1437. Liability for indebtedness of fire protection districts after boundary changes. Territory withdrawn from any fire protection district shall continue to be subject to taxation for the payment of the principal of and interest on any indebtedness, whether evidenced by bonds…