HB 1067 Summary

• Allows municipal fire departments to establish residency requirements for full-time, paid firefighters only if the department uses a combination of full-time paid and volunteer firefighters, is entirely volunteer, or uses part-time paid firefighters and appearance-fee-based firefighters.

• Exempts fire department chiefs or heads from residency requirements and protects currently employed firefighters from being affected by newly adopted residency rules.

• Permits municipal fire departments and fire protection districts to give hiring preference to applicants who are residents of Arkansas or an adjacent county during the recruitment process.

• Applies identical residency requirement provisions to fire protection districts organized under both Subchapter 1 and Subchapter 2 of Arkansas Code Title 14, Chapter 284.

• Does not restrict fire department policies regarding off-duty use of department vehicles or response time requirements for emergency calls based on firefighter assignment.