Summary: HF 265 (fire fighter training and certification)
Status: Withdrawn
Introduced: February 6, 2025
Sponsor: Dunwell (primary)
Committee actions: Subcommittee recommended passage (Feb 19, 2025); Committee report recommending passage (Feb 26, 2025); Committee report and renumbering as HF 793 (Mar 5, 2025); Withdrawn (Mar 21, 2025)
Overview
HF 265 would have updated the rules governing fire fighter training and certification to add a specific eligibility restriction: an adult who has been required to be listed on a sex offender registry due to committing a crime as an adult would not be certified as a fire fighter, including volunteer firefighters. The bill directs the Department of Public Safety to revise its rules accordingly by January 1, 2026.
Purpose and intent
- Enhance public safety by ensuring fire department personnel (including volunteers) are not certified if they are required to be on a sex offender registry due to an adult criminal conviction.
- Create a uniform eligibility standard within the certification process for fire fighters.
Key provisions
- Rulemaking directive: By January 1, 2026, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) must revise the rules related to fire fighter training and certification.
- Eligibility prohibition: The revised rules would prohibit certification of any person who committed an adult crime that resulted in the person being listed on a sex offender registry.
- Scope: Applies to all certified fire fighters, including volunteer fire fighters.
- Authority: The DPS would set the specific criteria and processes within its rulemaking to implement this prohibition.
Who is affected
- Individuals: Adults who are listed on or required to be listed on a sex offender registry due to an adult criminal conviction (i.e., the trigger is an adult crime).
- Fire departments and training providers: Certification processes for paid and volunteer firefighters would need to align with the new rule.
- Public safety administration: DPS would implement and enforce the rule changes.
Procedural and timeline aspects
- Rulemaking deadline: January 1, 2026, for DPS to revise relevant rules.
- Legislative path: Introduced Feb 6, 2025; referred to Public Safety; subcommittee discussions in February; subcommittee recommended passage Feb 19; committee report approved Feb 26 (renumbered as HF 793); subsequent withdrawal announced March 21, 2025.
- Status changes: The bill was ultimately withdrawn from consideration on March 21, 2025. It was associated with a renumbering to HF 793 during committee activity.
Notes
- The text specifies adult crimes; it does not indicate applicability to juvenile offenses or offenses committed before adulthood.
- The bill’s explicit policy lever is procedural rulemaking by the DPS, rather than a statutory bar in statute, though the intended effect is a certification prohibition.
