331.385 - POWERS AND DUTIES RELATING TO EMERGENCY SERVICES. - Iowa Statutes

331.385 POWERS AND DUTIES RELATING TO EMERGENCY SERVICES. 1. A county may, by resolution, assume the exercise of the powers and duties of township trustees relating to fire protection service and emergency medical service for any township located in the unincorporated area of the county. 2. The board of supervisors shall publish notice of the proposed resolution, and of a public hearing to be held on the proposed resolution, in a newspaper of general circulation in the county at least ten days but no more than twenty days before the date of the public hearing. If, after notice and hearing, the resolution is adopted, the board of supervisors shall assume the exercise of the powers and duties of township trustees relating to fire protection service and emergency medical service as set forth in sections 359.42 through 359.45. 3. All of the real and personal township property used to provide fire protection service or emergency medical service shall be transferred to the county. The county shall assume all of the outstanding obligations of the township relating to fire protection service or emergency medical service. If the township provides fire protection outside of the county's boundaries, the county shall continue to provide fire protection to this area for at least ninety days after adoption of the resolution. 4. Fire protection service and emergency medical service shall be paid from the emergency services fund of the county authorized in section 331.424C. 5. a. Notwithstanding subsection 1, if as of July 1, 2006, a township has in force an agreement entered into pursuant to chapter 28E for a city or another township to provide fire protection service or fire protection service and emergency medical service for the township, or if a township is otherwise contracting with a city or another township for provision to the township of fire protection service or fire protection service and emergency medical service, the county board of supervisors shall, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2007, and subsequent fiscal years, negotiate for and enter into an agreement pursuant to chapter 28E providing for continued fire protection service, or fire protection service and emergency medical service, to the township, and shall certify taxes for levy in the township, pursuant to section 331.424C, in amounts sufficient to meet the financial obligations pertaining to the agreement. b. This subsection applies to a county with a population in excess of three hundred thousand. This subsection does not prohibit a county with a population in excess of three hundred thousand from also assuming the powers and duties of township trustees in accordance with the provisions of subsections 1 through 4, for those townships in the county that are not subject to paragraph "a".          Section History: Recent Form 2000 Acts, ch 1117, §18; 2004 Acts, ch 1146, §1, 2; 2005 Acts, ch 74, §1, 3, 4 Referred to in § 331.424C, 359.42          Footnotes 2005 amendment to subsection 5 is effective April 28, 2005, and applies retroactively to January 1, 2005; former subsection 5, as it appeared in Code 2005, is void and of no effect with regard to township fire protection service or emergency medical service agreements or contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2005; 2005 Acts, ch 74, §3, 4