§ 12-83-104 - Recruitment -- Service -- Deployment -- Discharge. - Arkansas Statutes

12-83-104. Recruitment -- Service -- Deployment -- Discharge.

(a) (1) The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management shall establish a system to recruit personnel with special skills or experience related to emergency response and recovery operations and provide initial familiarization training and periodic proficiency training as necessary for members of the Emergency Volunteer Reserve Cadre to ensure their readiness for immediate deployment for response and recovery activities.

(2) The personnel shall be enrolled as emergency responder volunteers in accordance with 12-75-129, and shall be eligible for immunities and exemptions in accordance with 12-75-128 and workers' compensation benefits in accordance with 12-75-129.

(b) The department shall establish an administrative management system to recruit and maintain qualified personnel and establish a fiscal management system to ensure prompt and reasonable reimbursement of authorized expenses.

(c) Persons recruited for the cadre may provide, but are not limited to providing, services in disaster application centers, disaster field offices, disaster survey teams, and fixed or mobile emergency operating centers and communications facilities, and may utilize other specific skills for which they may qualify or be trained to assume.

(d) Members are subject to deployment within the State of Arkansas and may, upon invocation of mutual aid agreements with other states, accompany state employees at host state or federal expense on out-of-state services.

(e) When called into active service by the Director of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, members of the cadre shall be under the operational and administrative management of the department and such employees of that office who may be designated to supervise their duties.

(f) (1) The director shall have the authority to immediately relieve members of the cadre for actual misconduct, perceived incompetence, or inability to perform their assigned duties.

(2) When relieved by authority other than the director's, members shall have the right of appeal to the director for reinstatement.