West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 87 - Fire Commission › Title 87 - LEGISLATIVE RULE FIRE COMMISSION › Series 87-06 - Certification And Evaluation Of Local Fire Departments › Section 87-6-9 - Complaints and investigations

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
9.1. The procedures established in this rule
				for the investigation and disposition of complaints apply only to complaints
				falling within the State Fire Commission's authority and administrative
				function to certify and formally recognize local fire departments. These
				procedures do not apply to investigations by the State Fire Marshal of alleged
				crimes or suspected criminal activity, conducted under the authority of W. Va.
				Code §
									15A-10-3.
9.2. In proceedings involving the
				investigation and review of complaints against a local fire department or its
				members, the Commission shall act as the adjudicatory body determining whether
				evidence supports the complaint. The State Fire Marshal shall act as the
				investigating officer and the party presenting the facts regarding the
				complaint before the Commission.
9.3. Any person may make a complaint
				regarding a local fire department, including the State Fire Marshal, or a
				member of the Commission or the Commission's staff. Complaints must be made in
				writing and the Commission may provide a form for the purpose of submitting a
				complaint, but a complaint may be filed in any form as long as it is made in
				writing, signed by the complainant, and submitted to the Commission at its
				business office.
9.4. Upon receipt
				of a written complaint, the Commission will log and assign a number to the
				complaint. The complaint will then be delivered to the State Fire Marshal for
				investigation. The Fire Marshal shall have 7 days to review the complaint to
				determine if it describes any violation of the requirements or responsibilities
				of a local fire department.
9.4.1. If the
				State Fire Marshal determines that there is no violation described, he or she
				shall notify the complainant of this determination and that he or she will
				recommend that the Commission dismiss the complaint at its next meeting. The
				State Fire Marshal will have no duty to investigate further unless the
				complainant amends or updates the allegations. In providing notice to the
				complainant pursuant to this subsection, the State Fire Marshal shall advise
				the complainant of the date and time of the next meeting of the State Fire
				Commission in which the Commission will take up the complaint.
9.4.2. If the State Fire Marshal determines
				that the complaint appears to describe conduct regulated by the standards for
				local fire departments or describes a violation of law for which the Commission
				has the authority to sanction a local fire department, then the Fire Marshal
				shall either begin an investigation of the allegations stated in the complaint
				or, when the complaint involves a fire department administered by a
				municipality as an administrative unit of the municipal corporation, refer the
				complaint to the governing body having supervisory or administrative authority
				over the fire department identified in the complaint.