Minnesota Statutes 424A.003 – Certification of Service Credit
(a) When a municipal fire department, a joint powers fire department, or an independent nonprofit firefighting corporation is directly associated with the volunteer firefighters relief association, the fire chief shall certify annually by March 31 the service credit for the previous calendar year of each volunteer firefighter rendering active service with the fire department.
Terms Used In Minnesota Statutes 424A.003
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Fire department: includes a municipal fire department, an independent nonprofit firefighting corporation, and a fire department established as or operated by a joint powers entity under section 471. See Minnesota Statutes 424A.001
- Municipal: means of a city or township. See Minnesota Statutes 424A.001
- Municipal clerk: means the person elected or appointed to the position of municipal clerk, the chief financial official or chief administrative official designated to perform such function, or, if there is no such person or designation, the chief financial official, the chief administrative official, or the person primarily responsible for managing the finances of a municipality. See Minnesota Statutes 424A.001
- Municipality: means a city or township which has established a fire department with which the relief association is directly associated, a city or township which has entered into a contract with the independent nonprofit firefighting corporation of which the relief association is directly associated, or a city or township that has entered into a contract with a joint powers entity established under section 471. See Minnesota Statutes 424A.001
- Volunteer firefighter: means a person who is a member of the applicable fire department or the independent nonprofit firefighting corporation and is eligible for membership in the applicable relief association and:
(i) is engaged in providing emergency response services or delivering fire education or prevention services as a member of a fire department;
(ii) is trained in or is qualified to provide fire suppression duties or to provide fire prevention duties under subdivision 8; and
(iii) meets any other minimum firefighter and service standards established by the fire department or specified in the articles of incorporation or bylaws of the relief association. See Minnesota Statutes 424A.001
- volunteer firefighters relief association: means a volunteer firefighters relief association or a volunteer firefighters division or account of a partially salaried and partially volunteer firefighters relief association that is:
(1) organized and incorporated as a nonprofit corporation to provide retirement benefits to volunteer firefighters under chapter 317A and any laws of the state;
(2) governed by this chapter and sections 424A. See Minnesota Statutes 424A.001
(b) The certification shall be made to an officer of the relief association’s board of trustees and to the municipal clerk or clerk-treasurer of the largest municipality in population served by the associated fire department.
(c) The fire chief shall notify each volunteer firefighter rendering active service with the fire department of the amount of service credit rendered by the firefighter for the previous calendar year. Upon request, the fire chief shall provide the firefighter with a written explanation and documentation to support the determination of service credit. The service credit notification and a description of the process and deadlines for the firefighter to challenge the fire chief’s determination of service credit must be provided to the firefighter at least 21 days prior to its certification to the relief association and municipality. If the service credit amount is challenged, the fire chief shall accept and consider any additional pertinent information and shall make a final determination of service credit.
(d) The service credit certification must be expressed as the number of completed months of the previous year during which an active volunteer firefighter rendered at least the minimum level of duties as specified and required by the fire department under the rules, regulations, and policies applicable to the fire department. No more than one year of service credit may be certified for a calendar year.
(e) If a volunteer firefighter who is a member of the relief association leaves active firefighting service to render active military service that is required to be governed by the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, as amended, the firefighter must be certified as providing service credit for the period of the military service, up to the applicable limit of the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. If the volunteer firefighter does not return from the military service in compliance with the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, the service credits applicable to that military service credit period are forfeited and canceled at the end of the calendar year in which the time limit set by federal law occurs.