2023 Iowa Code › Title I - STATE SOVEREIGNTY AND MANAGEMENT › Chapter 34A - 911 EMERGENCY TELEPHONE SYSTEMS › Section 34A.3 - Joint 911 service board — 911 service plan — implementation — waivers.

34A.3 Joint 911 service board — 911 service plan — implementation — waivers.
1. Joint 911 service boards — plans.
a. The board of supervisors of each county shall maintain a joint 911 service board.
(1) Each political subdivision of the state having a public safety agency serving territory within the county and each local emergency management agency as defined in section 29C.2 operating within the area is entitled to voting membership on the joint 911 service board. For the purposes of this section, a township that operates a volunteer fire department providing fire protection services to the township, or a city which provides fire protection services through the operation of a volunteer fire department not financed through city government, shall be considered a political subdivision of the state having a public safety agency serving territory within the county. Each private safety agency operating within the area is entitled to nonvoting membership on the board.
(2) A township that does not operate its own public safety agency, but contracts for the provision of public safety services, is not entitled to membership on the joint 911 service board, but its contractor is entitled to membership according to the contractor’s status as a public or private safety agency.
(3) The sheriff of each county, or the sheriff’s designee, is entitled to voting membership on the joint 911 service board.
(4) The chief of police of each city operating a public safety answering point, or the chief of police’s designee, is entitled to voting membership on the joint 911 service board of the county where the city is located.
b. The joint 911 service board shall maintain a 911 service plan encompassing at minimum the entire county, unless an exemption is granted by the program manager permitting a smaller 911 service area.
(1) The program manager may grant a discretionary exemption from the single county minimum service area requirement based upon a joint 911 service board’s or other 911 service plan operating authority’s presentation of evidence which supports the requested exemption if the program manager finds that local conditions make adherence to the minimum standard unreasonable or technically infeasible and that the purposes of this chapter would be furthered by granting an exemption. The minimum size requirement is intended to prevent unnecessary duplication of public safety answering points and minimize other administrative, personnel, and equipment expenses.
(2) The program manager may order the inclusion of a specific territory not serviced by surrounding 911 service plan areas in an adjoining 911 service plan area upon request of the joint 911 service board representing the territory to avoid the creation by exclusion of a territory smaller than a single county.
c. The 911 service plan operating authority shall submit proposed changes to the plan to all of the following:
(1) The program manager.
(2) Public and private safety agencies in the 911 service area.
(3) Local exchange service providers affected by the 911 service plan.
2. Compliance waivers available in limited circumstances.
a. The program manager may extend the time period for plan implementation by issuing a compliance waiver.
b. The compliance waiver shall be based upon a joint 911 service board’s presentation of evidence which supports an extension if the program manager finds that local conditions make implementation financially unreasonable or technically infeasible by the originally scheduled plan of implementation.
c. The compliance waiver shall be for a set period of time, and subject to review and renewal or denial of renewal upon its expiration.
d. The waiver may cover all or a portion of a 911 service plan’s 911 service area to facilitate phased implementation when possible.
e. The granting of a compliance waiver does not create a presumption that the identical or similar waiver will be extended in the future.
f. Consideration of compliance waivers shall be on a case-by-case basis.
3. Chapter 28E agreement — alternative to joint 911 service board.
a. A legal entity created pursuant to chapter 28E by a county or counties, other political divisions, and public or private agencies to jointly plan, implement, and operate a countywide, or larger, 911 service system may be substituted for the joint 911 service board required under subsection 1. An alternative legal entity created pursuant to chapter 28E as a substitute for a joint 911 service board, as permitted by this subsection, may be created by either:
(1) Agreement of the parties entitled to voting membership on a joint 911 service board.
(2) Agreement of the members of a joint 911 service board.
b. An alternative chapter 28E entity has all of the powers of a joint 911 service board and any additional powers granted by the agreement. As used in this chapter, “joint 911 service board” includes an alternative chapter 28E entity created for that purpose, except as specifically limited by the chapter 28E agreement or unless clearly provided otherwise in this chapter. A chapter 28E agreement related to 911 service shall permit the participation of a private safety agency or other persons allowed to participate in a joint 911 service board, but the terms, scope, and conditions of participation are subject to the chapter 28E agreement.
4. Local emergency management commission — alternative to 911 service board.
a. Subject to section 29C.9, subsection 10, a local emergency management commission may be substituted for the joint 911 service board required under subsection 1 by the board of supervisors of the county in which the joint 911 service board is maintained.
b. A commission shall have all of the powers of a joint 911 service board if a commission is substituted for the joint 911 service board pursuant to paragraph “a”.
c. As used in this chapter, “joint 911 service board” includes a commission if a commission is substituted for the joint 911 service board pursuant to paragraph “a”.
5. Participation in joint 911 service board required. A political subdivision having a public or private safety agency within its territory or jurisdiction shall participate in a joint 911 service board and cooperate in maintaining the 911 service plan.
88 Acts, ch 1177, §3
C89, §477B.3
89 Acts, ch 168, §1, 2
C93, §34A.3
93 Acts, ch 125, §2; 98 Acts, ch 1101, §6, 16; 2004 Acts, ch 1175, §447; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, §143; 2008 Acts, ch 1070, §1; 2012 Acts, ch 1111, §2; 2017 Acts, ch 136, §5; 2018 Acts, ch 1026, §15; 2019 Acts, ch 71, §1; 2022 Acts, ch 1073, §2
Referred to in §29C.9, 34A.11
NEW subsection 4 and former subsection 4 renumbered as 5