Senate Bill No. 124
(By Senators Dalton and Blatnik)
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[Introduced February 25, 1993; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article six, chapter
twenty-four of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to local emergency
telephone systems; and requiring the public service
commission to appoint a committee to monitor the enhanced
emergency telephone system.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article six, chapter twenty-four of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. LOCAL EMERGENCY TELEPHONE SYSTEM.
§24-6-5. Enhanced emergency telephone system requirements.
(a) An enhanced emergency telephone system, at a minimum,
shall provide that:
(1) All the territory in the county, including every
municipal corporation in the county, which is served by telephone
company central office equipment that will permit such a system
to be established shall be included in the system;
(2) Every emergency service provider that provides emergency
service within the territory of a county participate in the
system;
(3) Each county answering point be operated constantly;
(4) Each emergency service provider participating in the
system maintain a telephone number in addition to the one
provided for in the system; and
(5) If the county answering point personnel reasonably
determine that a call is not an emergency the personnel provide
the caller with the number of the appropriate emergency service
provider.
(b) To the extent possible, enhanced emergency telephone
systems shall be centralized.
(c) In developing an enhanced emergency telephone system,
the county commission or the department of public safety shall
seek the advice of both the telephone companies providing local
exchange service within the county and the local emergency
providers.
(d) The public service commission shall appoint a committee
to monitor the operations of the enhanced emergency telephone
system. The committee shall consist of the department head or
designee of each emergency organization represented or
participating in the enhanced emergency telephone system. The
committee shall meet once a month to determine policy, promulgate
rules and regulations conducive to the efficient operation of the
enhanced emergency system. The committee may employ a directorof communications director of 911 to be a pensioned law-
enforcement officer or pensioned firefighter and additional
personnel as needed to effectively staff the enhanced emergency
telephone system. The director or his or her designee, shall
report to the committee during monthly meetings and will advise
the committee of the day to day operations of the enhanced
emergency telephone system. The director serves in an advisory
capacity when testifying before the committee and he or she may
make recommendations for change whenever possible as a pensioned
law officer or pensioned firefighter will be placed in charge of
each respective 911 shift supervising all civilian employees.
The committee may make recommendations to each county
commission president, mayor of a municipality involved, and if
applicable, the superintendent of division of public safety,
concerning any request for additional revenue. The president of
a county commission and the mayor of a municipality, and if
applicable, the superintendent of the division of public safety
shall present the revenue increase before the public service
commission.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the Public
Service Commission to appoint a committee to monitor the
requirements of the Enhanced Emergency Telephone System.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.