Did any past Connecticut emergency telecommunicator qualify for automatic certification under the 1990 law?

Plain-English summary

Connecticut's Bureau of Statewide Emergency Telecommunications asked two questions about a 1989 certification law. The Attorney General concluded that, beginning January 1, 1990, a public or private safety agency could employ an uncertified telecommunicator for no more than one year. Certification required completing a training program and demonstrating proficiency, or passing a written or oral examination developed by the bureau.

The law also automatically certified certain existing workers. Although its wording referred to permanent employment “on or before January 1, 1990,” the opinion read that provision as covering only people who were permanently employed as telecommunicators on January 1. Someone who had worked in the field earlier but no longer held that job on that date did not qualify. The opinion relied on the accompanying rule that automatic certification expired when the worker left permanent employment with the employing agency; a broader reading would make that expiration rule ineffective.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1990. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Historical summary

For telecommunicators employed on January 1, 1990: The opinion said permanent telecommunicators employed on that date qualified for automatic certification under the grandfather provision. The statute made that certification expire when permanent employment with the agency ended.

For safety agencies and later workers: The opinion read the law as allowing at most one year of telecommunicator employment without bureau certification after the 1990 effective date. Past service alone did not confer automatic certification on someone who was no longer employed on January 1.

Common questions

Could a Connecticut telecommunicator work without certification after January 1, 1990?

The opinion said an agency could employ a person for no more than one year without bureau certification under the 1989 act.

Was a person who had worked as a telecommunicator years earlier automatically certified?

No. The Attorney General concluded that the grandfather provision covered permanent telecommunicators employed on January 1, 1990, not former workers merely because they had worked earlier.

When did an automatically granted certification expire?

The statute quoted in the opinion made it expire when the person terminated permanent employment with the public or private safety agency that employed them.

How could someone obtain ordinary certification under this law?

The provision quoted in the opinion allowed certification after a training program and demonstrated proficiency, or after successfully completing a bureau-developed written or oral examination.

Background and statutory framework

Section 1(c) of 1989 Conn. Pub. Acts No. 89-259 imposed the one-year limit on employment without bureau certification beginning January 1, 1990. Section 1(e) automatically certified telecommunicators permanently employed by public or private safety agencies on or before that date, with expiration upon termination of that permanent employment.

The Attorney General read the two parts together. It said reading the grandfather language to cover anyone who had ever worked in the field before 1990 would leave the expiration clause without practical effect and could cover a person who left the field twenty years earlier. Its narrower reading required permanent employment on January 1, 1990.

Citations and references

The opinion quotes section 1(c) and 1(e) of 1989 Conn. Pub. Acts No. 89-259. It cites State v. White, 204 Conn. 410, 421, 528 A.2d 811 (1987), on plain statutory language and Beloff v. Progressive Casualty Ins. Co., 203 Conn. 45, 58, 523 A.2d 477 (1987), on rational construction.

Source

• Landing page: https://portal.ct.gov/AG/Opinions
• Opinion page: https://portal.ct.gov/ag/opinions/1990-formal-opinions/mr-james-f-blesso-bureau-of-statewide-emergency-1990034-formal-opinion-attorney-general-of-connectic

Original opinion text

Mr. James F. Blesso, Bureau of Statewide Emergency 1990-034 Formal Opinion, Attorney General of Connecticut

Attorney General's Opinion

Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal

October 17, 1990

Mr. James F. Blesso

Administrator

Bureau of Statewide Emergency

Telecommunications

20 Grand Street

Hartford, Connecticut 06106

Dear Mr. Blesso:

In your letter dated January 24, 1990, you request our advice on the Bureau's implementation of 1989 Conn. Pub. Acts No. 89-259. Public Acts No. 89-259 contains provisions for certification of telecommunicators as well as provisions for automatic certification of telecommunicators who meet special requirements. You seek our advice on the following questions relative to certification and automatic certification of telecommunicators:

1. For what period of time may a person be

employed as a telecommunicator after

January 1, 1990 without being certified

by the Bureau?

2. Are individuals who were employed as

telecommunicators for any period of time

prior to January 1, 1990, eligible for

automatic certification under Subsection (e)

of Section (1) of Public Acts No. 89-259?

In answer to your first question, it is our opinion that, after January 1, 1990, a person may not be employed as a telecommunicator for a period exceeding one year without being certified by the bureau.

With respect to your second question, it is our opinion that only those individuals who were employed as a telecommunicator on January 1, 1990 are eligible for automatic certification.

Subsection (c) of Section (1) of 1989 Conn. Pub. Acts No. 89-259 provides as follows:

On and after January 1, 1990, no person may be employed as a telecommunicator by any public safety agency or private safety agency for a period exceeding one year unless he has been certified by the bureau upon successfully completing a telecommunicator training program and demonstrating proficiency in the performance of telecommunicator program standards or successfully completing a written or oral examination developed by the bureau.

When a statute is clear and unambiguous, there is no need to search the legislative history as to the intent of the legislature. State v. White, 204 Conn. 410, 421, 528 A.2d 811 (1987). The intent is found in the words used. Sutton v. Lopes, 201 Conn. ll5, ll8, 513 A.2d l39 (1986).

Subsection (c) of Section (1) of 1989 Conn. Pub. Acts No. 89-259 is clear and unambiguous. It expressly provides that on and after January 1, 1990, no person may be employed as a telecommunicator for a period exceeding one year unless that person has been certified by the Bureau. Thus, we must conclude, as the statute directs, that on and after January 1, 1990 all persons employed as telecommunicators must become certified within one year of their employment.

With respect to your second question, Subsection (e) of Section (1) of 1989 Conn. Pub. Acts No. 89-259 states as follows:

Any telecommunicator employed by a public or private safety agency on a permanent basis on or before January 1, 1990, shall be deemed to have met all certification requirements and shall be automatically certified under the provisions of this section. Such certification shall expire when the person terminates his permanent employment with such agency.

This subsection authorizes automatic certification of persons who were employed on a permanent basis as telecommunicators with a public or private safety agency on or before January 1, 1990. It also provides that the automatic certification expires upon the person's termination from such agency. Your concern is with whether a person who had been employed as a telecommunicator at any time prior to January 1, 1990, is eligible for automatic certification.

Common sense must be used when construing a statute and it must be assumed that the legislature intended to accomplish a rational, not bizarre result. Beloff v. Progressive Casualty Ins. Co., 203 Conn. 45, 58, 523 A.2d 477 (1987). Moreover, statutes must be construed as a whole so as to reconcile all parts to the extent possible. Ganim v. Roberts, 204 Conn. 760, 763, 529 A.2d l94 (1987).

Subsection (e) must be construed to permit automatic certification of only those individuals employed on a permanent basis as a telecommunicator on January 1, 1990. If construed any other way, the portion of subsection (e) which permits automatic certification could not be reconciled with the portion which requires expiration of that automatic certification upon termination of employment with the employing public or private safety agency.

Stated differently, if automatic certification were permitted for anyone employed as a telecommunicator before January 1, 1990, regardless of whether that person was so employed on January 1, 1990, then that person's certification could never expire, even if he terminates his employment, because he would always have been employed as a telecommunicator before January 1, 1990. Moreover, if subsection (e) is construed to permit automatic certification of anyone employed as a telecommunicator prior to January 1, 1990, then a person who may have been a telecommunicator twenty years ago, but who has not been employed in the field since, would be eligible for automatic certification. Such a result would indeed be bizarre.

Accordingly, it is our opinion that subsection (e) must be construed to permit automatic certification of only those persons who were employed as telecommunicators on January 1, 1990.

Very truly yours,

CLARINE NARDI RIDDLE

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Henri Alexandre

Assistant Attorney General

CNR/HA/ec