Bill > A06845

This bill amends the town law to provide more flexibility for fire departments in scheduling their leadership elections. Specifically, the bill allows the board of fire commissioners to adopt a resolution that permits fire districts to hold the election for chief and assistant chiefs on the same day as the fire department's election of administrative officers, instead of being required to hold these elections on the Thursday following the first Tuesday in April. The bill maintains existing requirements that nominees must be fire department members, and potentially must be residents of the fire district if the board of fire commissioners passes a resolution requiring this. The bill also preserves existing language about disqualifying candidates or chiefs who have been convicted of arson. Additionally, the bill updates some gendered language (changing "his" to "such person's" or "they") to be more gender-neutral. The legislation aims to provide fire departments with more administrative flexibility while maintaining the core process of nominating and appointing leadership through a structured election process.

Government Affairs

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A6845