H. B. 109
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chambers, and Delegate Ashley)
[By Request of the Executive]
[Introduced July 16, 1996]

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 the requirements for an enhanced emergency telephone system; and describing the territory which may be included in an 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;: Provided, That if a portion of the county or a portion of a municipal corporation within the county is already being served by an enhanced emergency telephone system, that portion of the county or municipality may be excluded from the county enhanced emergency telephone 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 West Virginia State Police shall seek the advice of both the telephone companies providing local exchange service within the county and the local emergency providers.
(d) As a condition of continued employment, persons employed to dispatch emergency calls shall successfully complete a forty- hour nationally recognized training course for dispatchers within one year of the date of their employment; except that persons employed to dispatch emergency calls prior to the effective date of this subsection, as a condition of continuing employment, shall successfully complete such a course not later than the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five.
(e) Each county or municipality shall appoint for each answering point an enhanced emergency telephone system advisory board consisting of at least six members to monitor the operation of the system. The board shall be appointed by the county or municipality and shall include at least one member from affected fire service providers, law-enforcement providers, emergency medical providers and emergency services providers participating in the system and at least one member from the county or municipality. The board may make recommendations to the county or municipality concerning the operation of the system.
In addition, the director of the county or municipal enhanced telephone system shall serve as an ex officio member of the advisory board. The initial advisory board shall serve staggered terms of one, two and three years. The initial terms of these appointees shall commence on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four. All future appointments shall be for terms of three years, except that an appointment to fill a vacancy shall be for the unexpired term. All members shall serve without compensation. The board shall adopt such policies, rules and regulations as are necessary for its own guidance. The board shall meet monthly on the day of each month which the board may designate. The board may make recommendations to the county or municipality concerning the operation of the system.
(f) Any advisory board established prior to the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, shall have three years to meet the criteria of subsection (e) of this section.
(g) Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prohibit or discourage in any way the establishment of multijurisdictional or regional systems, or multijurisdictional or regional agreements for the establishment of enhanced emergency telephone systems, and any system established pursuant to this article may include the territory of more than one public agency, or may include only a portion of the territory of a public agency.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify the section of the code which establishes the requirements for enhanced emergency telephone systems.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.