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Court rules that ful �-time firefii hters were to entit �d to service credit ;t us �onsi iptions ; to the magazine n, publisher, kson Drive, VJI 54873 -0911 ibership mber of the Fire Chiefs contact: im �irector, kson Drive, WI 54873 -0911 � Editorl eases ;, editor, mag�azine Lake Road �I 56465 ) 765-3038 nerd.net under volunteer association bylaws by B�fan F. RICe and Ann E. Walther, Rice, Michels & Johnson, LLP represented the Hastings Fire Department Relief Association and the Indlvlduaf inembers In this lawsuit On November 9, 2000, Ramsey County District Court Judge Louise Dovre Bjorkman ruled that salaried firefighters who were employed full-time and who were also mem- bers of a volunteer relief association were entitled to service credit at the same time they eamed PERA credit from 1991 to 1997. The decision, Hastings Fire Deuartment Relief Associat�on et al. v State of Minnesota. Office of the State Auditor et al Ramsey County Court File No. C6-00-3453, awarded service earned between the years 1991-1997. The individuals lost the service credit after State Auditor Judi Dutcher threatened to withhold state fire aid from Hastings unless the Relief Association removed the pre- viously granted service credit. The State Auditor claimed that the fire- fighters, who earned PERA credit for each of those years, were not entitled to also eam volunteer service credit because it would constitute "double dipping" in violation of a 1989 PERA law. The Relief Association and its members filed a lawsuit argu- ing that its bylaw provisions then in effect required the Relief Association to provide service credit to all mem- bers, including those who were full- time firefighters. District Court Judge Bjorlcmnn agreed. First, she rejected the State's argument that the 1989 amendment to the PBRA statue (Minn. Ch. 353), which precluded.volunteer firefight- ers from obtairung PERA pension credit, also precluded salaried fire- fighters from eaming a volunteer service pension under Volunteer Relief Association Statute (Minn. Ch. 424A). Instead, Judge B�orkman held that these two pensions systems operate independently and base thci� service credit on different factors. The Judge then held that, since Minn. Ch. 424A is silent as to whether a salaried firefightcr may also receive volunteer service pen- sion credit, one must look to the relief association's particular bylaws to determine the rights of its mem- bers. Rejecting the State's argument that the Hastings Rehef Association's bylaws made no dis- tinction between the duties and responsibilities of a salaried and a volunteer firefighter, meaning that a full-time firefighter could not also be a "volunteer," Judge Bjorkman held that [the State's] argument overlooks the fact that the Plaintiffs' mem- bership in the Hastings Relief Association is governed by fac- tors other than the number of hours they actually worked as volunteers during the relevant years. It is the volunteer's prox- imity to a fire and his or her almost conhnuous a�ailability that lies at the heart of the volun- teer firefighter system. Judge Bjorkman acknowledged in her ruling that while there could be merit on the State's "double dip- ping" argument, it was the province of the Legislature, not the Courts, to prohibit this practice. The Court's ruling restores between one and eight years of serv- ice credit to the five firefighters.