A. The mayor, the clerk and the treasurer of every incorporated municipality are, in addition to the duties now required of them, hereby created and constituted, together with three members from the fire department of such municipality, a local firefighters pension and retirement board of each such municipality, which board shall be known as the Local Firefighters Pension and Retirement Board. The fire department of each such municipality shall elect, by ballot, three members of such fire department, one of whom shall serve for the term of one (1) year, and one for the term of two (2) years, and one for the term of three (3) years, and thereafter such fire department shall, every year, elect by ballot one of its members to serve for the term of three (3) years upon the local board; provided, the provisions of this article shall not apply to any municipality where no regularly organized fire department is maintained, nor to any municipality where the fire department has firefighting apparatus of less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) value.

B. Local firefighter pension and retirement boards of participating employers of the System shall be terminated on December 31, 2016, and all powers, duties and functions shall be assumed by the Executive Director unless a majority of the active firefighters of an affected fire department elect to continue their local firefighter pension and retirement board before the termination date prescribed by this subsection, provided that an election shall be held within twenty (20) days of the date a petition is presented to the fire chief of a fire department signed by at least ten percent (10%) of the active firefighters on the rolls as of the petition date requesting an election to continue the local firefighter pension and retirement board.

Added by Laws 1977, c. 256, § 49-103, eff. July 1, 1980. Amended by Laws 1980, c. 352, § 10, eff. Jan. 1, 1981; Laws 2000, c. 327, § 7, eff. July 1, 2000; Laws 2016, c. 36, § 1, eff. July 1, 2016.