1997 Minnesota Statutes

     424A.04 Volunteer relief associations; board of trustees.

    Subdivision 1.    Membership.  Every relief association 
 directly associated with a municipal fire department shall be 
 managed by a board of trustees consisting of nine members.  Six 
 trustees shall be elected from the membership of the relief 
 association and three trustees shall be drawn from the officials 
 of the municipalities served by the fire department to which the 
 relief association is directly associated.  The bylaws of a 
 relief association may provide that one of the six trustees 
 elected from the relief association may be a retired member 
 receiving a monthly pension who is elected by the membership of 
 the relief association.  The three ex officio trustees shall be 
 the mayor, the clerk, clerk-treasurer or finance director, and 
 the chief of the municipal fire department.  

    Every relief association that is a subsidiary of an 
 independent nonprofit firefighting corporation shall be managed 
 by a board of trustees consisting of ten members.  Six trustees 
 shall be elected from the membership of the relief association, 
 three trustees shall be drawn from the officials of the 
 municipalities served by the fire department to which the relief 
 association is directly associated, and one trustee shall be the 
 fire chief.  The bylaws of a relief association may provide that 
 one of the six trustees elected from the relief association may 
 be a retired member receiving a monthly pension who is elected 
 by the membership of the relief association.  The three ex 
 officio trustees who are the elected officials shall be selected 
 as follows:  

    (1) if only one municipality contracts with the independent 
 nonprofit firefighting corporation, the ex officio trustees 
 shall be three elected officials of the contracting municipality 
 who are designated by the governing body of the municipality; 

    (2) if two municipalities contract with the independent 
 nonprofit firefighting corporation, the ex officio trustees 
 shall be two elected officials of the largest municipality in 
 population and one elected official of the next largest 
 municipality in population who are designated by the governing 
 bodies of the applicable municipalities; or 

    (3) if three or more municipalities contract with the 
 independent nonprofit corporation, the ex officio trustees shall 
 be one elected official of each of the three largest 
 municipalities in population who are designated by the governing 
 bodies of the applicable municipalities.  An ex officio trustee 
 shall have all the rights and duties accorded to any other 
 trustee except the right to be an officer of the board of 
 trustees.  A board shall have at least three officers, which 
 shall be a president, a secretary and a treasurer.  These 
 officers shall be elected from among the elected trustees by 
 either the full board of trustees or by the membership, as 
 specified in the bylaws, and in no event shall any trustee hold 
 more than one officer position at any one time.  The terms of 
 the elected trustees and of the officers of the board shall be 
 specified in the bylaws of the relief association, but shall not 
 exceed three years.  If the term of the elected trustees exceeds 
 one year, the election of the various trustees elected from the 
 membership shall initially and shall thereafter continue to be 
 staggered on as equal a basis as is practicable. 

    Subd. 2.    Fiduciary duty.  The board of trustees shall 
 undertake their activities consistent with chapter 356A.  

    HIST: 1979 c 201 s 14; 1980 c 607 art 15 s 12; 1981 c 224 s 
 210; 1983 c 219 s 8; 1989 c 319 art 8 s 27