The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us)



STATE OF MICHIGAN

FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL


Opinion No. 6774

November 12, 1993

FIREMEN AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS:

Examinations for firemen

An individual serving as the chief of a township fire department or as a township fire fighter on October 1, 1988, is not required to pass an examination administered by the Fire Fighters Training Council if the individual leaves either of these positions and then returns to either position as a volunteer or paid on-call fire fighter.

Honorable Allen Lowe

State Representative

The Capitol

Lansing, MI 48909

You have asked whether an individual serving as the chief of a township fire department or as a township fire fighter on October 1, 1988, is required to pass an examination administered by the Fire Fighters Training Council if the individual leaves either of these positions and then returns to either position as a volunteer or paid on-call fire fighter.

Section 9 of the Fire Fighters Training Council Act of 1966, 1966 PA 291, MCL 29.361 et seq; MSA 4.560(1) et seq, requires persons hired as fire fighters to pass an examination developed and administered by the Fire Fighters Training Council within twelve months after being hired in the case of full-time personnel and within twenty-four months after being appointed in the case of volunteers or paid on-call personnel. However, section 9(7) exempts persons who were serving as fire fighters on October 1, 1988, as follows:

(7) The examination described in this section shall not apply to a person who is employed or under appointment as a fire fighter on October 1, 1988, unless a person subsequently changes his or her status from a volunteer or paid on-call fire fighter to a full-time fire fighter. [ Emphasis supplied.]

It is clear from section 2 of the same statute that "fire fighter" includes the chief of a fire department because "fire fighter" is defined to include:

[A] member, including volunteer members and members paid on call, of a fire department ... of a ... township ... who is responsible for, or is in a capacity which includes responsibility for, the extinguishment of fires, the directing of the extinguishment of fires, the prevention and detection of fires, and the enforcement of the general fire laws of this state. [ Emphasis supplied.]

OAG, 1991-1992, No 6681, p 36, 38 (May 17, 1991), concluded that the provision for fire fighter examinations specified in section 9 of the Fire Fighters Training Council Act of 1966 does not apply to those employed or appointed as fire fighters prior to October 1, 1988, who change their department (not status) after that date. The reference to a change in status is to the provisions of section 9(7) which describe a change in status from volunteer or paid on-call fire fighter to a full-time fire fighter.

The primary rule of statutory construction is to give effect to the intention of the Legislature, and when a statute is plain and unambiguous, no further interpretation is necessary. Owendale-Gagetown School Dist v State Bd of Educ, 413 Mich 1, 8; 317 NW2d 529 (1982). Section 9(7) is clear in providing an exemption from the testing requirement for those fire fighters who were employed or under appointment as fire fighters on October 1, 1988. The exemption from testing continues irrespective of whether the individual changes departments or leaves the department in which the individual is serving and later returns, provided that the individual continues in the previous status of volunteer or paid on-call fire fighter and does not acquire the status of a full-time fire fighter.

It is my opinion, therefore, that an individual serving as the chief of a township fire department or as as township fire fighter on October 1, 1988, is not required to pass an examination administered by the Fire Fighters Training Council if the individual leaves either of these positions and then returns to either position as a volunteer or paid on-call fire fighter.

Frank J. Kelley

Attorney General