{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-95.500","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 95.500","heading":"Powers and duties of chief of fire department -- Hours of work and annual","body":"leave of firefighters -- Applicable to urban -county governments and cities on\nDLG's registry of cities that belonged to the second class on August 1, 2014.\n(1) The chief of the fire department in cities or urban-county governments, or an officer\nacting under his or her authority:\n(a) Shall be present at all fires and investigate their cause;\n(b) May examine witnesses, compel the production of testimony, administer\noaths, make arrests, and enter any building for the purpose of examination\nthat, in his or her opinion, is in danger from fires; and\n(c) Shall report his or her proceedings to the city legislative body when required.\n(2) The chief shall:\n(a) Direct and control the operations of the members of the fire department in the\ndischarge of their duties;\n(b) Have access to and use of all cisterns, fireplugs, the waters of the waterworks,\nand the cisterns of private persons, for the purpose of extinguishing fires;\n(c) Have the right to examine all cisterns, and all plugs and pipes of the\nwaterworks, to see that they are in condition for use in case of fire;\n(d) Have control of all buildings, hose, engines, and other equipment provided for\nthe fire department; and\n(e) Perform such other duties as the legislative body shall, by ordinance,\nprescribe.\n(3) (a) The fire department of each city listed on the registry pursuant to subsection\n(5) of this section or urban -county government shall be divided into three (3)\nplatoons of firefighters. Each platoon, excluding the chief, the assistant chief,\nclerical employees, maintenance employees, fire inspectors, fire investigators,\nand arson investigators, in fire departments in the cities listed on the registry\nor in urban-county governments, shall be on duty for:\n1. Twenty-four (24) consecutive hours, after which the p latoon serving\ntwenty-four (24) hours shall be allowed to remain off duty for forty -\neight (48) consecutive hours;\n2. Unless otherwise provided in a collective bargaining agreement, be on\nforty-eight (48) consecutive hours, after which the platoon serving forty-\neight (48) consecutive hours shall be allowed to remain off duty for the\nfollowing ninety-six (96) consecutive hours; or\n3. Unless otherwise provided in a collective bargaining agreement, twenty -\nfour (24) hours, after which the platoon serving twenty -four (24) hours\nshall be allowed to remain off duty for seventy -two (72) hours, after\nwhich that platoon shall be on duty again for forty-eight (48) hours, then\nshall be allowed to remain off duty again for seventy-two (72) hours;\nexcept in cases of dire emergency. The chief of the fire department shall\narrange the schedule of working hours to comply with the provisions of this\nsection. The pay, rank, or benefits of the members and officers of the fire\ndepartment shall not be reduced as a result of this subsection.\n(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, any city or urban -county\ngovernment that maintains a collective bargaining agreement with members\nof its fire department may reach an agreement with the bargaining unit to\nestablish an alterna tive staffing and scheduling plan for the operation of its\nfire department.\n(c) Any change in a work schedule made pursuant to this subsection shall not\nresult in a decrease in the compensation of firefighters, exclusive of\nunscheduled overtime.\n(4) In each city or urban-county government listed on the registry, all employees of the\nfire department shall be given not less than two (2) weeks leave of absence\nannually, with full pay.\n(5) On or before January 1, 2015, the Department for Local Government shall create a\nregistry of cities that shall be required to comply with the provisions of subsections\n(3) and (4) of this section. The Department for Local Government shall include\neach of those cities on the registry that were classified as cities of the second  class\non August 1, 2014. The Department for Local Government shall make the\ninformation included on the registry available to the public by publishing it on its\nwebsite.","path":["KRS Chapter 95"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56119","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:55Z","sha256":"e9d120ec9418eb1c6127f8cbb1d218149b5e6c1abacd1a95386352d305cead2d","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-95.497","next":"us-ky/krs-95.505"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}