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| Home > Statutes > Usa Arizona |
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USA Statutes : arizona
Title : Cities and Towns
Chapter : POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS
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9-901 Definitions
In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Classification" means the names of the positions, and the ranks and classes
thereof, in the police and fire departments and peace officers' units subject to this
article.
2. "Month" means thirty days.
3. "Peace officers" include regularly salaried deputy sheriffs, policemen and
police officers of duly organized police departments.
4. "Professional firefighter" means a member of an organized and paid fire
department.
9-903 Coverage of article
This article shall not be construed to apply to a person holding a courtesy or
honorary commission in the police, peace officers or fire forces of a city or town, or to
persons not appointed in accordance with the rules, regulations, ordinances, charter
provisions or statutes concerning appointments to the police, peace officers or fire
department to which appointment is claimed, or to those officers employed in part time
service.
9-904 Violations; classification
A person, municipal corporation or other political subdivision of the state
violating any provision of this article is guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor.
9-911 Definitions
In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Board" means the police pension board.
2. "Department" means the police department.
3. "Departmental member" means a member of the police pension board chosen from
among the members of the department other than the chief of police.
4. "Fund" means the police pension fund.
5. "Governing body" means the city commission, city or town council, board of
trustees or other governing body of the municipality.
6. "Member" or "member of the department" means a member of the police department,
duly commissioned and sworn as a peace officer with all the powers and duties thereof,
and includes all ranks and both sexes. Any person employed in the police department who
has actually contributed to the police pension fund prior to the first day of January,
1964, and who is not included within this definition, shall be allowed to continue to
contribute to the police pension fund and to receive the benefits conferred by this
article but all other persons are excluded.
9-912 Police pension fund
In each city having a population, according to the last federal census, of not less
than twenty thousand inhabitants, there is created, and in each incorporated city or town
having a population of less than twenty thousand inhabitants, there may be created by
ordinance, a police pension fund, which shall be managed, controlled and distributed in
accordance with the provisions of this article.
9-913 Administration of fund; police pensionboard; membership
A. The police pension fund shall be administered by a police pension board. In
cities in which the provisions of this article are or shall hereafter become mandatory,
the board shall be composed of the president of the civil service commission, if there is
one, and if there is none, then the head of the governing body of the municipality, and
the clerk, the treasurer, the chief of police and three subordinate members of the police
department. In cities or towns in which the fund is established by ordinance, the board
shall consist of the mayor, or other head of the governing body of the municipality, the
clerk, the treasurer and two members of the department.
B. The president of the civil service commission, mayor or other head of the
governing body, as the case may be, shall be ex officio chairman, the clerk shall be ex
officio secretary, and the treasurer shall be ex officio treasurer of the board.
9-914 Election of departmental members ofboard
The governing body of a municipality, within thirty days after the provisions of
this article become effective as to the municipality, shall call an election for the
purpose of selecting departmental members of the board. The election shall be held at
the city or town hall or such other convenient place as the governing body may determine,
and during such hours as will enable all qualified persons to cast their
ballots. Balloting shall be secret and each permanent member of the police department,
regularly appointed and qualified, shall be entitled to vote for as many candidates as
there are places to be filled. The vote shall be canvassed and the result announced by
the governing body within one week after the election. The members of the department, to
the number of places to be filled, successively receiving the highest number of votes,
shall be declared elected. Thereafter a regular election shall be held annually on the
second Monday in January of each year.
9-915 Terms of departmental members
The terms of office of departmental members of the board shall end at noon on the
third Monday in January of the year following the year in which they are elected, but the
members shall continue to serve until their successors are elected and qualify.
9-916 Vacancies in departmentalmembership
A vacancy occurring in the departmental membership of the board shall be filled at a
special election. Notice of the election shall be given not less than one week prior
thereto. The election shall be called by the governing body upon occurrence of the
vacancy.
9-917 Oath of office
The oath of office shall be administered to departmental members by the presiding
officer of the board.
9-918 Compensation of pension board members;liability on bonds
No member of the board shall receive compensation for services performed as a member
or employee of the board. The ex officio members shall be liable on their official bonds
for any misconduct in connection with the performance of their duties as such.
9-919 Organizational meeting
Within one week after declaration of the result of the first election held as
prescribed in section 9-914, the chairman ex officio of the board shall call a meeting
for the purpose of organization, the adoption of rules and such other action as may be
necessary to carry out the purposes of this article.
9-920 Meetings of pension board
The board shall hold regular monthly meetings on a date fixed by its rules, and such
other meetings, after due notice to each member, as the board deems necessary. A
majority of the members shall constitute a quorum, but no retirement shall be ordered,
application for pension approved, warrant authorized or money paid out of the fund except
upon the affirmative votes of a majority of the members taken by roll call, and entered
in the official record of proceedings of the meeting at which such action is taken. All
meetings shall be public.
9-921 Powers and duties of the board;audit
A. The police pension board shall have exclusive control and management of the
police pension fund, subject to the provisions of this article. It shall make rules, not
inconsistent with the provisions of this article, for its government, the conduct of its
proceedings and the management of the fund, and shall do all things necessary to carry
out the provisions of this article. It may compel witnesses to attend hearings, or
produce records and papers, and testify with respect to applications for pensions, or
upon any matter connected with the fund, and any member of the board may administer oaths
to such witnesses.
B. The board may invest or reinvest, in the name of the board, that portion of the
fund which in its judgment is available for investment in such interest-bearing
securities as follows:
1. Bonds of the United States.
2. Federal housing insured mortgage bonds of the United States.
3. Bonds, debentures or other obligations issued by the federal land banks, the
federal intermediate credit banks or the banks for cooperatives.
4. Any bonds upon which the payment of interest and principal are guaranteed by the
United States.
5. Bonds issued by any United States government instrumentality or federal agency
that qualify and are acceptable as security for public funds of the United States
government.
6. General obligation bonds of the state or of the counties, incorporated cities
and towns and school districts.
7. Revenue bonds of the incorporated cities and towns of this state, ARIZONA board
of regents, ARIZONA power authority or any other legally constituted state authority or
agency authorized by law to issue revenue bonds, except revenue bonds for recreational
purposes issued by cities and towns.
8. Bonds of agricultural improvement districts and agricultural improvement and
power districts organized under the laws of this state when issued or guaranteed, with
the approval of the secretary of the interior, by corporations operating a United States
reclamation project within the state.
9. Bonds of incorporated cities or towns of this state issued under the provisions
of sections 9-692 through 9-707.
10. First lien bonds of sanitary districts issued pursuant to title 48, chapter 14.
11. Registered warrants of the state, or registered county or school
district warrants when offered as security for monies of the county or school district
by which they are issued.
12. Interest bearing savings accounts or certificates of deposit in banks doing
business in this state whose accounts are insured by the federal deposit insurance
corporation, but only if such deposits in excess of the insured amount are secured by the
depository to the same extent and in the same manner as required by the general
depository law of the state.
13. Interest bearing savings accounts or certificates of deposit in savings and loan
associations doing business in this state whose accounts are insured by the federal
savings and loan insurance corporation, but only if such deposits in excess of the
insured amount are secured by the depository to the same extent and in the same manner as
required by the general depository law of the state.
C. The board shall cause an annual audit and report of the fund to be made by a
certified public accountant, and shall also cause actuarial studies of the fund to be
made periodically, but not less than once in each three years, by a qualified actuary who
is a member of the society of actuaries. The actuary shall make specific recommendations
as to the contributions to be made to the fund in accordance with the provisions of
section 9-923, subsection A, paragraph 10 in order to maintain the fund on an actuarily
sound basis.
9-922 Annual report of board
The board shall submit a written report to the governing body on the first Monday in
January of each year, showing in detail the condition of the fund and transactions of the
board during the preceding year.
9-923 Contents of fund; choice of method ofpayment by municipality
A. The police pension fund shall consist of:
1. Five per cent of the compensation paid to each member of the department to be
deducted from each salary warrant issued in payment for the services of a member, which
shall be refunded to any member who is discharged or otherwise separated from the
service, with interest at the rate of two per cent per annum.
2. An equal amount to be paid by the city or town in which the pension fund is
established, and not to be refunded.
3. All monies received from fines imposed upon members of the department for
violation of the rules.
4. All rewards given or paid to members of the department.
5. Ten per cent of all monies received from municipal licenses or permit fees for
keeping places wherein spirituous, malt, or other intoxicating liquors are sold in cities
or towns within the provisions of this article.
6. Twenty-five per cent of all monies received from the licensing of pawnbrokers,
second-hand dealers, junk dealers, billiard-hall keepers, pool or pigeon-hole table
keepers and card-room keepers, in cities and towns within the provisions of this article.
7. Twelve and one-half per cent of all monies collected as fines for violating city
or town ordinances in cities or towns within the provisions of this article.
8. Earnings upon the deposit, loan or investment of the fund.
9. Monies received from taxes levied by the state for support of the fund.
10. Contributions which shall be made to the fund by the municipality annually
pursuant to the advice and as recommended by the actuary provided for in section
9-921. The governing body shall provide for the payment of the contributions from the
general fund of the municipality.
B. The governing body may elect to place the percentages of annual monies received
under this section into the general fund of the municipality. If the governing body so
elects, then upon the basis of each actuarial determination and appraisal provided for in
this article, the board shall prepare an estimate of the amounts necessary to be
appropriated by the municipality to provide for the payment in full of all obligations
accruing during the ensuing fiscal year. The governing body shall cause to be included
annually in the budget a sum sufficient to provide for such obligations of the city or
town.
C. The treasurer or other comptroller of the municipality shall pay annually from
the general fund of the municipality such sums into the police pension fund as shall be
determined by actuarial determination.
9-924 Payment of pensions
Pensions shall be paid from the fund in cases specified in this section and sections
9-925 through 9-928. It is the intention to restrict the operation of this article to
situations not covered by the workers' compensation law and to prohibit payments from the
fund to persons receiving, or for whose benefit there is being paid, compensation under
the workers' compensation law. This limitation shall not apply to a retired member who
suffers an occupational disease, or an injury or death as the result of an industrial
accident arising out of employment after retirement.
9-925 Computation of pension upon voluntaryretirement or upon mandatory retirement; limitation
A. A member of the police department whose membership began prior to July 1, 1952
and who serves the department twenty years in the aggregate may, upon application, be
retired, and shall be paid during his lifetime a monthly pension equal to fifty per cent
of the average monthly compensation received by him during the period of five years
immediately prior to the date of application for retirement. A member of the police
department whose membership begins on or after July 1, 1952, and who serves the
department twenty-five years in the aggregate may, upon application made after he has
reached the age of fifty-five years, be retired, and shall be paid during his lifetime a
monthly pension equal to fifty per cent of the average monthly compensation received by
him during the period of five years immediately prior to the date of application for
retirement.
B. In the case of a member of the police department continuing in active service
after the date when he is eligible to make application for retirement under the
provisions of this section, upon his retirement the percentage of his average monthly
compensation applicable in computing his monthly pension shall be increased by two per
cent for each full year of service beyond the date when he was eligible to make
application for retirement, but in no case shall the percentage of his average monthly
compensation applicable in computing his monthly pension exceed sixty per cent. In the
absence of an application for retirement by a member eligible to make application under
the provisions of this section, the board may, when it deems such action to be for the
best interests of the department, on its own motion propose any such member for
retirement, and upon certification of the city or town physician that the member is
physically unfit for further police service he shall be retired, and shall thereafter
receive the pension prescribed in this section. Nothing in this section shall prohibit
the governing body of a municipality from setting a mandatory retirement age by ordinance
to be applicable to persons eligible for pensions under this article.
9-926 Computation of pension upon permanent ortemporary retirement for injury or disease
A. Any member who has served in the department an aggregate of five years, and who,
within the hours he is required to be on active duty, and while engaged in the
performance of his duty, contracts a disease or sustains an injury due to his occupation,
not compensable under the workers' compensation law, and is found, upon physical
examination held as provided in section 9-932, to be unfit physically or mentally for
police service by reason of the disease or injury, shall, if the disability is permanent,
be retired, and shall be paid, during his lifetime, a monthly pension equal to fifty per
cent of the average monthly compensation received by him during the period of five years
immediately prior to the order of retirement.
B. If the disability resulting from the disease or injury is temporary, he shall be
temporarily retired, and shall be paid, during the period of retirement, one-half the
monthly compensation being received by him at the time of his retirement, and he shall
submit to a physical examination every six months from the date of retirement, or more
often if required by the board, in order to be eligible for the temporary pension.
9-927 Benefits to dependents upon death ofmember
A. If upon the death, from any cause, of a member retired under the provisions of
section 9-925, or of a member after ten years' service and while in the service, or if
upon the death of a member retired under the provisions of section 9-926 resulting from
disease contracted or injury sustained as provided in section 9-926, the member leaves
surviving a spouse, a dependent child under the age of eighteen years, or a dependent
parent, a monthly pension shall be paid:
1. To the surviving spouse, until death or remarriage, if the spouse is the widow
or widower of a retired member, an amount equal to two thirds of the monthly pension
being paid the retired member at the time of death, or if the surviving spouse is the
widow or widower of a member dying after ten years' service and while in the service, an
amount equal to one third of the monthly compensation of the deceased at the time of
death.
2. To the guardian of each dependent child who survives in addition to the
surviving spouse, until such child is eighteen years of age, or until his dependency
shall earlier terminate, ten dollars per month, but if the total of the pensions to the
surviving spouse and dependent children would exceed the amount of the pension to which
deceased, if living and retired, would be entitled, then an amount equal to one third of
the amount of the pension shall be prorated among the children.
3. To the guardian of the dependent child or children, if there is no surviving
spouse entitled to a pension, the amount a surviving spouse so entitled would receive
shall be prorated among the children.
4. To the dependent parent, if there is no surviving spouse or dependent child
entitled to a pension, the amount a surviving spouse so entitled would receive, and if
there are two dependent parents, the pension shall be paid to the one the board shall
determine, or it may be prorated.
B. A pension shall not be payable to the surviving spouse of a retired member whose
marriage to the decedent occurred subsequent to such member's retirement, or to any issue
of such marriage.
C. For the purpose of this section, the term "dependent parent" means a parent over
half of whose support at the time of the death of the member was received by the parent
from the member.
9-928 Effect of service as public officer uponpension
A. A person who has been retired from service under the provisions of this article
and awarded compensation in accordance therewith, and who after retirement receives a
salary as an officer or employee of the municipality from which he was retired shall
forfeit and shall not at any time receive compensation for the period during which he
receives a salary as such officer or employee, but upon termination of service as such
officer or employee all the rights of the pensioner, other than the right to receive
compensation for the period after retirement during which he receives a salary as an
officer or employee of the municipality from which he was retired, shall be
recognized. In no event shall any person ever be entitled to draw a pension from more
than one fund provided for under this article.
B. This section shall not be construed to exclude a person retiring from serving on
a board or commission the services for which are paid on a per diem basis.
C. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to amend, modify or repeal the
provisions of this article relating to death benefits.
9-929 Fund requirements precedent to payment ofpensions
A retirement shall not be ordered, or an application for pension allowed, or a
warrant or check drawn upon the fund until there is to the credit of the fund a sum equal
to one hundred and fifty dollars for each member of the department.
9-930 Payments from fund
Monies paid from the fund shall be paid by the treasurer only upon warrants signed
by the chairman and countersigned by the secretary of the board.
9-931 Exemption of pensions from process;prohibition on assignments; exception
A. No pension allowed under this article shall be subject to garnishment,
attachment, judgment, execution or other legal process. No person entitled to a pension
shall have the right to assign it, nor shall the board recognize an attempted assignment
of the pension or pay over any sum which has been assigned or attempted to be assigned.
B. Nothing in this section exempts property from court orders which are the result
of a judgment for arrearages of child support or for a child support debt.
9-932 Physical examination of active ortemporarily retired member
A member, whether active or temporarily retired, ordered by the board to undergo a
physical examination, shall submit himself for examination before the chief medical
officer of the municipality, or such other regularly licensed and practicing physician as
the board designates, but the member shall have the right to be represented at the
examination by a physician of his own choice, whose fee shall be paid from the fund.
9-933 Effect of military service
A member of a police department who served in the military establishment of the
United States during a period of national emergency immediately following service as
a member of the police department, shall not be required to contribute to the police
pension fund by salary deduction or otherwise for the period covered by his military
service, but in computing the length of service of a member of a police department for
the purpose of determining eligibility for retirement, the period of military service, as
prescribed by this section, shall be included.
9-934 Inapplicability of article
A. Effective from and after June 30, 1968, this article shall be amended, and
employees employed after June 30, 1968, shall be covered by the provisions of the public
safety retirement personnel system in those cities which have established a pension
system under the provisions of this article prior to the effective date of this section,
subject to the right of election provided for in section 38-854.
B. All funds accumulated and all liabilities for benefits created by authority of
title 9, chapter 8, article 2, sections 9-911 to 9-934, inclusive, through June 30, 1968,
shall be transferred to the fund maintained under the public safety personnel retirement
system on July 1, 1968, and accounted for by each employer. Each employee employed after
June 30, 1968, shall be covered by the provisions of the public safety personnel
retirement system which continues and amends this section.
9-951.01 Definition
As used in this article, "volunteer fire company" includes "volunteer fire
district".
9-951 Disposition of fire insurance premium taxproceeds; composition of fund
A. The proceeds of the annual tax provided by law on the gross amount of all
premiums received on policies and contracts of fire insurance covering property within
this state, after deducting cancellations, return premiums, dividends and the amount
received as reinsurance on business in this state, are appropriated and set aside for
distribution to cities and towns and legally organized fire districts which procure the
services of private fire companies and for the payment of benefits pursuant to this
article, article 4 of this chapter or title 38, chapter 5, article 4.
B. Not later than April 30, the state fire marshal shall certify to the state
treasurer the incorporated cities and towns having organized fire departments, the
incorporated cities and towns and legally organized fire districts which procure the
services of a private fire company and the areas served by legally organized fire
districts, the department of insurance shall certify to the state treasurer the
respective amounts of tax on fire premiums paid in the previous year for properties
located in this state, and the department of revenue shall certify to the state treasurer
the full cash value of the real property and improvements for the previous year in each
incorporated city and town and legally organized fire district which procures the
services of a private fire company and in each area served by a department or a legally
organized fire district. The total amount of the tax proceeds shall then be prorated
among the several incorporated cities and towns and legally organized fire districts in
proportion to the full cash value of the real property and improvements in each
incorporated city and town and legally organized fire district which procures the
services of a private fire company and in each area served by a department or a legally
organized fire district to the total full cash value of all incorporated cities and towns
and legally organized fire districts which procure the services of a private fire company
and incorporated cities and towns which have a fire department and legally organized fire
districts in this state.
C. Each incorporated city or town having an organized fire department and each
legally organized volunteer fire district shall deduct five per cent from the salaries or
compensation of its fire fighters and add a like amount from its general revenues. The
employer or the employee may add a contribution greater than that specified in this
section to the fire fighters' relief and pension fund. The total of the two amounts
shall be paid each month into the fire fighters' relief and pension fund. The treasurer
of each board shall keep a record of the salary deductions. If a fire fighter dies under
circumstances not entitling his dependents to a benefit from the fire fighters' relief
and pension fund, or if he becomes separated from the service voluntarily or
involuntarily without having become eligible for retirement benefits thereunder, all
deductions previously made from his salary under this article shall become payable, plus
interest as determined by the board, to his beneficiary in the event of his death, or
otherwise to the fire fighter.
D. Payroll deductions made under the provisions of subsection C of this section,
plus any additional sums the board of trustees may add, shall be set aside in a permanent
reserve fund, the income of which, but no part of the principal, shall be used to pay
retirement benefits or relief, but, in order to pay the refunds provided for in
subsection C of this section, that portion of the principal which accrues from salary
deductions may be drawn upon when necessary.
E. For purposes of this section and section 9-952, full cash value of real property
and improvements for the previous year with respect to each incorporated city and town
which procures the services of a private fire company shall be limited to thirty per cent
of the amount certified by the department of revenue and the percentage shall be utilized
in computing the entitlement of an incorporated city or town which procures the services
of a private fire company.
9-952 Disposition of fire insurance premiumtax
Not later than July 1, the state treasurer, using the information provided by the
cities and towns and legally organized fire districts, the state fire marshal, the
department of insurance and the department of revenue as provided in section 9-951,
subsection B, shall distribute the fire insurance premium tax to the respective
incorporated cities and towns and legally organized fire districts in proportion to the
full cash value of the real property and improvements in each incorporated city and town
and legally organized fire district which procures the services of a private fire company
and in each area served by a department or legally organized fire district. The warrant
issued by the state treasurer to incorporated cities and towns and legally organized fire
districts having organized fire departments and to legally organized fire districts shall
be identified as "fire fighters' relief and pension fund". The warrant issued by the
state treasurer to an incorporated city or town or legally organized fire district
procuring the services of a private fire company which has a pension plan covering fire
fighting personnel shall be identified for deposit in the municipality's general fund or,
in the case of a fire district, in the fire fighters' relief and pension fund.
9-953 Fire districts or departments;certification by state fire marshal
The state fire marshal shall certify the existence of fire districts organized under
title 48 and fire departments of incorporated cities and towns. The state fire marshal
shall provide this information annually to the state treasurer pursuant to section 9-951,
subsection B.
9-954 Board of trustees of fund;membership
A. The mayor or the mayor's designee, the fire chief, the elected chief and
secretary-treasurer of a fire district or, if administered by a district board, a board
member and the fire chief, four members elected from the fire department or from the fire
district and one lay member appointed by the city, town or district constitute the board
of trustees of the fire fighters' relief and pension fund for that incorporated city or
town or fire district. The board of trustees shall provide for the disbursement of the
fund and designate the beneficiaries of the fund as directed in this article.
B. The fire department of each incorporated city or town and each fire district
shall elect by ballot from its membership four members of the board of trustees, or
number of members as, when added to the incumbent members thereof, will constitute four
members in addition to the chief. If two members in addition to the chief are already on
the board of trustees, two additional members shall be elected to hold office for the
same respective terms as the two incumbent members. At the expiration of the two shorter
terms, and thereafter biennially, two members shall be elected for terms of four years
each.
C. For an incorporated city or town, the mayor, with the council's consent, shall
appoint lay members to fill the elected positions on the board when active volunteers are
no longer available. For a fire district, the fire chief, with district board consent,
shall appoint lay members to fill the elected positions on the board when active
volunteers are no longer available.
9-955 Officers of board; meetings; procedurefor disbursements
A. The board of trustees shall elect from its members the president and secretary
of the board for the ensuing year. The city or town treasurer, or the county treasurer,
as the case may be, shall be treasurer, except that if the board of trustees of a fire
district assumes the responsibility for investing and reinvesting the funds pursuant to
section 9-957, subsection B, the board of trustees may elect from its members a treasurer
who is responsible for the custody of the cash and securities of the fund and for
executing the decisions of the board of trustees with respect to investments,
reinvestments, receipts and disbursements.
B. The board shall meet annually and at such other times as the president may
direct.
C. The board shall issue orders signed by the president and the secretary to the
beneficiaries of the amounts ordered paid to such beneficiaries from the fund stating the
conditions of the payment. The board of trustees of a fire fighters' relief and pension
fund of a fire district which procures the services of a private fire protection company
pursuant to section 48-805, subsection B, paragraph 8 may pay directly to the board of
the fire district an amount each year of not to exceed the cost of the private fire
protection company's pension plan but only to the extent monies are available in the
fund. The board shall keep a public record of its proceedings. At each regular meeting
it shall transmit to the city, town or county treasurer, as the case may be, a written
list of all persons entitled to benefits from the fund, stating the reason and amount of
the benefits. The list shall be certified and signed by the president and secretary and
attested under oath. The treasurer of the city or town, or in the case of unincorporated
towns, the county treasurer, shall thereupon enter a copy of the list upon a book kept
for that purpose. The fund shall not be disbursed without a majority vote of the members
of the board, the vote to be entered upon the minutes.
D. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections A and C of this section, if the
board of trustees of a fire district assumes the responsibility for investing and
reinvesting the funds pursuant to section 9-957, subsection B, the duties of the
treasurer may be performed by a member of the board elected by the board. If the duties
of the treasurer are performed by a member of the board he shall be bonded for an amount
determined by the board which amount shall not be less than the maximum amount of funds
in the account at any one time during the previous year.
9-956 Annual audit; report of secretary;sanction
A. The board shall cause an annual audit and report of the fund.
B. The secretary shall report, using a form approved by the state fire marshal,
annually on or before January 1 to the board the condition of the fund and the receipts
and disbursements, with a complete list of its beneficiaries and the amounts paid.
C. The board shall send a copy of the annual audit and report of the fund to the
state fire marshal and the ARIZONA state library, archives and public records.
D. If the annual pension fund report is not received by January 31 by the state
fire marshal the participating fire district is not eligible to receive its share of fire
insurance premium tax monies under section 9-952.
9-957 Powers and duties of board; investments;review of decisions
A. The board may compel witnesses to attend and testify upon any matter pertaining
to this article, and its president or any member may administer oaths. The board may
provide for payment of its necessary expenses, except that no compensation is payable to
members of the board for duties performed under this article.
B. Funds which are not immediately required for the payment of pensions or benefits
under this article may be invested or reinvested, at the discretion of the board of
trustees, by the county treasurer or by the board of trustees, as follows:
1. In bonds of the United States.
2. In federal housing insured mortgage bonds of the United States.
3. In federal land bank bonds.
4. Any bonds upon which the payment of interest and principal are guaranteed by the
United States.
5. Bonds issued by any United States government instrumentality or federal agency
that qualify and are acceptable as security for public funds of the United States
government.
6. General obligation bonds of this state or of the counties, incorporated cities
and towns and school districts of this state.
7. Revenue bonds of the incorporated cities and towns of this state, ARIZONA board
of regents, ARIZONA power authority, or any other legally constituted state authority or
agency authorized by law to issue revenue bonds, except revenue bonds for recreational
purposes issued by cities and towns.
8. Bonds of agricultural improvement districts and agricultural improvement and
power districts organized under the laws of this state when issued or guaranteed, with
the approval of the secretary of the interior, by corporations operating a United States
reclamation project within the state.
9. Bonds of incorporated cities or towns of this state issued under the provisions
of sections 9-692 through 9-707.
10. First lien bonds of sanitary districts issued pursuant to title 48, chapter 14.
11. Registered warrants of the state, or registered county or school district
warrants when offered as security for monies of the county or school district by which
they are issued.
12. Interest bearing savings accounts or certificates of deposit in banks doing
business in this state whose accounts are insured by the federal deposit insurance
corporation, but only if such deposits in excess of the insured amount are secured by the
depository to the same extent and in the same manner as required by the general
depository law of the state.
13. Interest bearing savings accounts or certificates of deposit in savings and loan
associations doing business in this state, whose accounts are insured by the federal
savings and loan insurance corporation, but only if such deposits in excess of the
insured amount are secured by the depository to the same extent and in the same manner as
required by the general depository law of this state.
C. All matters pertaining to the benefits granted by this article to fire fighters
and their dependents shall be presented to the board, and any person aggrieved by a
decision of the board may at any time within thirty days after its decision petition for
a writ of certiorari, and the court may on final hearing reverse or affirm, wholly or
partly, or may modify, the decision reviewed.
9-963 Grant of temporary relief by board;procedures for immediate pension relief
A. The board of trustees may grant temporary relief and assistance from the fund to
any qualified member of a legally organized volunteer fire district or department, or to
such member's surviving spouse or surviving dependents.
B. The president, secretary and board shall provide procedures to expedite regular
pension payments for immediate distribution to a qualified surviving spouse or dependents
of a member who dies as a result of or in the performance of his duties as a fire
fighter.
9-965 Termination of benefits
If a beneficiary is declared to be an incapacitated person, pursuant to section
14-5101, or disobeys any requirement of this article, the board may order his pension or
allowance discontinued. Thereafter his benefit is payable to his immediate dependents or
to his guardian.
9-967.01 Paid fire fighters who are also volunteers; eligibility for pension benefits
Any person who is a paid member of a fire department and an active member of the
public safety personnel retirement system is not eligible to receive pension benefits
under this article from that same department.
9-967 Pension for volunteer firefighter
A. A person duly appointed and having served either as a member of a legally
organized fire district or as a member of a fire department of any incorporated city or
town for twenty-five years or more, or who has reached sixty years of age, and served
twenty years or more, shall be paid a monthly pension not to exceed four hundred dollars
per month based on the benefits available to members of that fire department or district
as determined by the board of trustees. The pension shall be paid from the fire
fighters' relief and pension fund of his fire district or fire department. Such pension
if paid may be increased or decreased in amount, or discontinued at the discretion of the
board of trustees.
B. If the funds provided in the volunteer fire fighters' relief and pension fund
are insufficient to pay fully the pensions authorized pursuant to this section, the fund
shall be prorated among those entitled thereto. 9-968 Exemption of pension from process;prohibition of assignments; exception
A. No portion of the pension fund or the distributive portions thereof shall be
subject to attachment, execution or other judicial process for the satisfaction of a debt
or claim against the member or his beneficiaries, and assignments or transfers of any
distributive portion shall be void.
B. Nothing in this section exempts property from court orders which are the result
of a judgment for arrearages of child support or for a child support debt.
9-969 Applicability of workers' compensationlaw
This article shall be supplemental and in addition to the workers' compensation law,
but firemen and their beneficiaries receiving compensation under those provisions of law
shall not receive the benefits provided by this article during the period they receive
such compensation, except in the event such compensation is less than the benefits
provided by this article, then the relief and pension fund shall pay the deficiency as
determined by the board of trustees.
9-970 Effect of military service
A member of a fire department or district who has served as a member of the military
establishment of the United States during a period of national emergency, immediately
following service as a member of the fire department or district, shall not be required
to contribute to the fire fighters' relief and pension fund by salary deduction or
otherwise for the period during which the member was in military service. The period of
military service shall be included in computing the length of service of the firemen in
determining eligibility for retirement.
9-971 Reinstatement after militaryservice
A member of a fire district inducted into the military establishment of the United
States for military training shall, upon his discharge from such service, be reinstated
with his previous service credits.
9-972 Inapplicability of article
A. Effective from and after June 30, 1968, this article shall be amended as to all
full time paid firemen, and employees other than volunteer firemen employed after June
30, 1968, shall be covered by the provisions of the public safety personnel retirement
system in those cities which have established a pension system under the provisions of
this article prior to the effective date of this section, subject to the right of
election provided for in section 38-854. However, those employers presently
participating under the sections 9-912 to 9-971 shall not come under the provisions of
the social security act as to their employees.
B. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, effective from and after
June 30, 1968, this article shall apply only to volunteer firemen and all amounts
accumulated under this article for full time paid firemen, as determined by actuarial
procedures prescribed by the fund manager of public safety personnel retirement system,
shall be transferred to the fund maintained under the public safety personnel retirement
system, and accounted for by each employer. Each full time paid fireman employed after
June 30, 1968, shall be covered by the provisions of the public safety personnel
retirement system which continues and amends this fund in regard to full time paid
employees.
9-973 Disability insurance for volunteer firefighters
In addition to the authority granted pursuant to other provisions of this article,
the board of trustees, with the approval of the mayor and council if for a volunteer fire
department or the board of trustees with the approval of the board of supervisors if for
a volunteer fire district, may purchase disability insurance for the volunteer firemen
with funds from the volunteer fire fighters' relief and pension fund.
9-981 Authority to purchase alternative pensionand benefit plan
A. In lieu of pension and relief benefits provided for under the provisions of
article 3 of this chapter, a city, town or fire district may provide for an alternative
pension and benefit program for fire fighters not covered under the provisions of article
3 of this chapter or under the public safety personnel retirement system.
B. The fire insurance premium tax received by the city, town or district under
section 9-952, contributions from the city, town or district, and deductions from the
salaries or compensation of firemen may be used to purchase a private pension or benefit
program for firemen. Firemen not covered under the public safety personnel retirement
system may elect to be covered under the provisions of the alternative pension and
benefit program upon filing a request in writing with the city, town or district.
C. The terms, conditions, benefits, eligibility requirements and contribution rates
of the alternative pension and benefit program shall be established by:
1. For a city or town, by the adoption of a resolution of the city or town council.
2. For a fire district with a board, by the adoption of a resolution of the board.
3. For a fire district without a board, by the adoption of a resolution of the
board of trustees of the firemen's relief and pension fund and the approval of the board
of supervisors.
D. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, pension and benefit programs
authorized under this article shall not be construed to be a contract between the
employee and employer and are subject to annual appropriations of the city, town or
district.
9-991 Training requirement
A professional fire fighter as defined in section 9-901 shall complete training
certified by the director of the department of health services on the nature of sudden
infant death syndrome as part of the basic training to become a fire fighter.
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