(A) A joint emergency medical services district shall be governed by a board of trustees composed of an equal number of representatives, not to exceed three, as specified in the joint resolution creating the district, appointed by the board of county commissioners of each county participating in the district. Each person appointed to the board shall be a resident of the district. Any member of an appointing board of county commissioners may be appointed to serve on the district's board of trustees.

Membership on the board does not constitute the holding of an incompatible public office or employment in violation of any statutory or common law prohibition against the simultaneous holding of more than one public office or employment. Members of the board are not disqualified from holding any other public office by reason of that membership, and do not forfeit by reason of that membership the public office or employment held when appointed to the board, notwithstanding any contrary disqualification or forfeiture requirement under a section of the Revised Code or the common law of this state.

Each member of the board shall serve a one-year term. The resolution creating the district shall provide for any qualifications for appointment to the district's board of trustees in addition to the residency requirement. Members of the board of trustees shall receive no compensation but may be reimbursed for all necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties.

(B) For the purposes of sections 102.03, 102.04, and 2921.42 of the Revised Code, a member of the board of a joint emergency medical services district shall not be considered to be directly or indirectly interested in, or improperly influenced by, any of the following:

(1) A contract entered into pursuant to sections 307.052 to 307.058 of the Revised Code between the district and any county participating in the district or any municipal corporation, township, or other political subdivision located within the district, but only to the extent that any interest or influence could arise from the member's public office or employment with that political subdivision;

(2) An expenditure of money by the district for the benefit of any county participating in the district or any municipal corporation, township, or other political subdivision located within the district, of which a member of the district's board of trustees is also an official or employee, but only to the extent that any interest or influence could arise from the member's public office or employment with that political subdivision;

(3) An expenditure of money made for the benefit of the district by any county participating in the district or any municipal corporation, township, or political subdivision located within the district, of which a member of the district's board of trustees is also an official or employee, but only to the extent that any interest or influence could arise from the member's public office or employment with that political subdivision.

For the purposes of sections 102.03, 2921.42, and 2921.43 of the Revised Code, no joint emergency medical services district and no county, municipal corporation, or township located within that district shall be considered the business associate of any member of the district's board of trustees where the member is also an official or employee of that municipal corporation, county, or township.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to exempt any board member of a conflict of interest arising because of a personal or private business interest.

(C) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, no member of the district's board of trustees who is also an official or employee of a municipal corporation, county, or township located within that district shall be disqualified from participating in deliberations concerning, or from voting on or otherwise participating in the approval or disapproval of, any contract or expenditure of funds described in divisions (B)(1) to (3) of this section either in the member's role as a member of the district's board or in the member's role as an official or employee of the county, municipal corporation, or township.

(D) The board of trustees shall adopt a code of regulations that provides for the annual election of a president and any other officers the board desires. That code shall also provide for the appointment of both a treasurer and a fiscal officer in one of the following ways:

(1) By designating the county auditor, or the official acting in that capacity in a participating charter county, as the district's fiscal officer and designating the county treasurer, or the official acting in that capacity in a participating charter county, of that same county as the district's treasurer. Each such designated official shall perform for the district any applicable duties the official performs for the county, except as otherwise provided in any bylaws or resolutions adopted by the district's board of trustees. The board may pay to the county in which the designated officials serve any amount agreed upon by both the district's board and the board of county commissioners of that county to reimburse that county for the services of its officials as fiscal officer and treasurer of the district.

(2) By employing or appointing one individual who is not a county auditor to serve as the fiscal officer of the district and appointing or electing one individual who is not a county treasurer, but may be a member of the board of trustees, to serve as the treasurer of the district. The fiscal officer shall maintain all the district's accounts and establish a general fund and any other necessary funds for the district. The treasurer shall act as custodian of the district's funds and, unless restricted by the board, may invest any moneys of the district in any instruments or accounts in which the county treasurer is authorized to invest county funds.

Effective Date: 10-01-1996.