TITLE 31

COUNTIES AND COUNTY LAW

CHAPTER 48

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS ACT

31-4815.  Creation of the Idaho public safety communications commission — Terms. (1) There is hereby created in the military division an Idaho public safety communications commission (hereinafter referred to as "the commission") with the purposes identified in section 31-4801(2)(d), Idaho Code.

(2)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the commission shall, upon being constituted, exercise its powers and duties in accordance with the provisions of this section relative to consolidated emergency communications and interoperable public safety communications and data systems in this state established by enactment of the legislature or by private act.

(3)  All members of the commission will be appointed by the governor and will serve at the pleasure of the governor.

(4)  The commission shall be composed of eighteen (18) voting members. The statewide interoperability coordinator of the Idaho office of emergency management will not be a member of the commission, but shall report quarterly to the commission.

(5)  Appointment by the governor will include the following voting members:

(a)  The director of the Idaho office of emergency management or a designated representative and the director of the Idaho state police or a designated representative.

(b)  The chair of the Idaho technology authority and one (1) legislator selected by joint approval from the speaker of the house of representatives and the president pro tempore of the senate.

(c)  The governor will receive suggested names of candidates and alternates for representation from the following and will appoint at his own discretion one (1) representative as a voting member from each: one (1) member representing the association of Idaho cities, one (1) member representing the Idaho association of counties, two (2) members representing the Idaho sheriffs’ association, one (1) member representing the Idaho chiefs of police association, one (1) member representing the Idaho fire chiefs association, one (1) member representing the Idaho health and welfare department’s state emergency medical services communications center, and one (1) member representing the Native American tribes of the state.

(d)  Six (6) district interoperable governance board (DIGB) representatives. Each district shall select from the following to represent its district: a county commissioner, sheriff, mayor, chief of police, fire service chief, public safety answering point manager, public safety technology manager or emergency medical services manager.

(6)  Commission representatives shall be appointed by the governor as follows:

(a)  Each association, entity or DIGB shall select one (1) primary and one (1) alternate candidate to represent the association, entity or DIGB. Following administrative procedures guidelines, both names shall be submitted to the administrative agency responsible for these tasks, which is the Idaho office of emergency management, within thirty (30) days after a term expires or a vacancy occurs. The Idaho office of emergency management will then forward each entity’s names to the governor for consideration and appointment to the commission.

(b)  Should any association, entity or DIGB fail to submit the names of the candidate and the alternate as directed in this subsection, the commission shall select a candidate and alternate from the association, entity or district and submit those names to the governor for consideration and appointment to the commission.

(7)  Except as provided in this subsection, members of the commission shall be appointed to a term of four (4) years. The following members shall be appointed to an initial term of two (2) years: the member representing the Idaho fire chiefs association, the member representing the Idaho chiefs of police association, one (1) member representing the Idaho sheriffs’ association, the member representing the Idaho department of health and welfare emergency medical services communications center, the member representing the Native American tribes, the member from the state legislature, the chair of the Idaho technology authority, and the representatives of DIGBs one, three and five. The remaining members appointed by the governor shall be appointed for an initial term of four (4) years. Thereafter, all terms shall be for a period of four (4) years.

(8)  The commission shall recommend to the governor a list of candidates to be appointed to a four (4) year term as chair. The governor shall appoint the chair from the list of candidates. The commission shall elect a vice chair and such officers as it may deem necessary and appropriate. The commission shall meet at least annually and at the call of the chair. Members of the commission shall be compensated as provided in section 59-509(b), Idaho Code. Compensation shall be paid from the emergency communications fund created in section 31-4818, Idaho Code.

History:

[31-4815, added 2004, ch. 325, sec. 2, p. 974; am. 2007, ch. 292, sec. 1, p. 828; am. 2016, ch. 127, sec. 5, p. 369; am. 2022, ch. 111, sec. 19, p. 379.]