HB 1711 -- EMERGENCY SERVICES BOARD IN CHRISTIAN COUNTY

SPONSOR:  Weter

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass by consent" by the Committee on
Local Government by a vote of 10 to 0.

This bill requires Christian County, upon voter approval of a
county sales tax for central dispatching of emergency services,
to appoint a seven-member board including the heads of any of the
county's fire protection districts, any of the county's ambulance
districts, any of the police departments in the county, any of
the county's emergency management organizations, and the county
sheriff, or their respective designee, to administer the funds
and oversee the provision of emergency services.

FISCAL NOTE:  No impact on state funds in FY 2009, FY 2010, and
FY 2011.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that there are two separate 911 call
centers in Christian County which creates a lot of operational
confusion and is unnecessarily costly.  The bill will eliminate
the confusion and extra cost, and reconstituting the board with
persons already in the emergency services field only makes sense.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Weter; Rance Duffy,
Nixa Fire Protection District; James Bacon, Nixa Police
Department; Jeremy Whitehill, Christian County Sheriff's Office;
and Missouri State Council of Firefighters.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Missouri House of Representatives
94th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated October 15, 2008 at 3:11 pm