Are Georgia inmates who fight fires treated as volunteer firefighters, and can the state require special training rules for departments that use them?

Plain-English summary

In rural parts of Georgia, county and municipal fire departments sometimes use prison inmates as part of their firefighting force, particularly for wildfire response. The Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council asked the Attorney General how to classify these inmate firefighters under state law and whether it could write training and certification rules specifically aimed at them.

Attorney General Sam Olens concluded that inmate firefighters fall within the existing statutory definition of "volunteer firefighter." A volunteer, under O.C.G.A. § 25-4-2(9), is someone "not employed for compensation but appointed and regularly enrolled to serve as a firefighter for any municipal, county, state, or private incorporated fire department." Inmates do not draw a paycheck, but they are appointed and enrolled, so they meet the definition. The full-time and part-time definitions both require employment "for compensation," which inmates lack.

Because the statute already gave the Council authority to set minimum standards for volunteer firefighters generally, the Council could regulate inmate firefighters by exercising that existing authority. The Council could not, however, create a separate inmate-only category, because the statute did not authorize one. The same reasoning applied to fire departments: the Council could set minimum standards for departments staffed wholly or partly by inmates, but only through the general fire-department rules, not through a department-by-department, who-staffs-them carve-out.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2012. 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.

Common questions

Q: Were inmate firefighters paid like ordinary volunteers?
A: No. Inmates fighting fires were not paid by the fire department. The opinion treated their lack of compensation as the reason they fit the volunteer category rather than the full-time or part-time category, both of which required employment for compensation.

Q: Could the Council create a separate certification track only for inmate firefighters?
A: The opinion concluded no. Nothing in the Code authorized a separate inmate category. The Council's authority ran to volunteer firefighters as a class, and inmates were a subset of that class.

Q: What about a fire department staffed entirely with inmates: were the rules different for that department?
A: No. O.C.G.A. § 25-3-23 set the minimum standards for any fire department to legally operate in Georgia, and § 25-3-22 gave the Council the certification power. The opinion read those provisions as not authorizing a separate set of standards keyed to who staffed the department.

Q: What did "appointed and regularly enrolled" mean for an inmate?
A: The opinion did not define those terms but appears to have read them as the same procedural acts that volunteer firefighters generally went through. An inmate could become a "volunteer firefighter" by being appointed and enrolled by the department, even though the surrounding context (incarceration, work-release status) was different.

Q: Did this opinion address worker's compensation, line-of-duty death benefits, or other benefits for inmate firefighters?
A: It did not. The opinion was limited to the Council's regulatory authority over training and minimum-standards questions. Other questions about benefits, liability, and the legal status of inmates injured or killed while firefighting were not addressed.

Background and statutory framework

Georgia's firefighter regulatory structure sits in O.C.G.A. Title 25. Chapter 3 (organization and operation of fire departments) requires that any "fire department" legally operating in Georgia meet minimum standards in § 25-3-23 and any further requirements set by the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council. Chapter 4 (firefighter certification) gives the Council authority under § 25-4-7(4) to set uniform minimum standards for the employment and training of full-time, part-time, and volunteer firefighters.

The statute defines all three categories by reference to compensation and enrollment. A full-time firefighter is "employed for compensation on a basis of at least 40 hours per week." A part-time firefighter is "employed for compensation on less than a full-time basis." A volunteer is "not employed for compensation by but appointed and regularly enrolled to serve as a firefighter."

When the Council asked whether inmates were a separate category, the AG looked at the text and concluded the statute provided for only three: full-time, part-time, and volunteer. There was no fourth slot. Because inmates were neither paid nor unaffiliated bystanders, they fit the volunteer slot.

Citations and references

Statutes:
- O.C.G.A. § 25-3-21 (fire department definition)
- O.C.G.A. § 25-3-22 (Council certification of fire departments)
- O.C.G.A. § 25-3-23 (minimum fire department standards)
- O.C.G.A. § 25-4-2 (firefighter definitions)
- O.C.G.A. § 25-4-7 (Council powers)

Source

• Landing page: https://law.georgia.gov/opinions/2012-4

Original opinion text

You have requested my opinion on the authority of the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council (hereinafter "the Council") to address minimum requirements for inmates functioning as firefighters and the Council's authority to establish minimum requirements for fire departments operating in this state staffed solely or partially with inmate firefighters. Specifically, you have asked (1) whether the Council has the authority to set minimum requirements for inmates serving as firefighters on fire departments as defined in O.C.G.A. § 25-3-21(2)(B), (2) whether the Council has the authority to establish and modify by rule and regulation minimum requirements for such fire departments that are staffed solely or partially with inmate firefighters, and (3) whether inmate firefighters should be considered volunteer firefighters or a separate category. Pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 25-4-7(4) (Supp. 2011), the Council is vested with the power to "establish uniform minimum standards for the employment and training of full-time, part-time, or volunteer firefighters, airport firefighters, fire and life safety educators, fire inspectors, and fire investigators, including qualifications, certifications, recertifications, decertifications, and probations for certified individuals and suspensions for noncertified individuals, and requirements, which are consistent with this chapter . . . ." I understand that in various locations in the state inmates are trained and serve as firefighters along with paid and volunteer firefighters. Inmate firefighters are not specifically defined in the statute, and they do not meet the definition of full-time or part-time firefighters since they are not employed for compensation. O.C.G.A. § 25-4-2 (Supp. 2011) defines full-time as "employed for compensation on a basis of at least 40 hours per week by any municipal, county, state, or private incorporated fire department" and part-time as "employed for compensation on less than a full-time basis by any municipal, county, state, or private incorporated fire department." Id . at subsections (7) and (8). "Volunteer" is defined as "not employed for compensation by but appointed and regularly enrolled to serve as a firefighter for any municipal, county, state, or private incorporated fire department." O.C.G.A. § 25-4-2(9) (Supp. 2011). Since inmate firefighters are not employed for compensation but are appointed and regularly enrolled to serve as firefighters for municipal, county, state, or private incorporated fire departments, they meet the definition of volunteer firefighter and, consequently, they should be considered volunteer firefighters so long as they have the requisite duty and training requirements listed in O.C.G.A. § 25-4-2(6) (Supp. 2011). Since inmates meeting the duty and training requirements are volunteer firefighters, the Council is exercising its authority to set minimum standards for them when it establishes minimum standards for volunteer firefighters generally. Nothing in the Code authorizes the Council to establish a separate set of minimum standards for inmate firefighters apart from those standards that apply to any volunteer firefighter. O.C.G.A. § 25-3-21 defines fire department as "any department, agency, organization, or company operating in this state with the intent and purpose of carrying out the duties, functions, powers, and responsibilities normally associated with a fire department. These duties, functions, powers, and responsibilities include but are not limited to the protection of life and property against fire, explosions, or other hazards." Minimum standards of fire departments are set forth in O.C.G.A. § 25-3-23 (Supp. 2011), and the Council's authority to regulate is set forth in O.C.G.A. § 25-3-22: In order for a fire department to be legally organized to operate in the State of Georgia, the chief administrative officer of the fire department shall notify the executive director that the organization meets the minimum requirements specified in Code Section 25-3-23 and the rules and regulations of the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council to function as a fire department. If the council is satisfied that the fire department meets the minimum requirements contained in Code Section 25-3-23 and the rules and regulations of the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council, he or she shall recommend to the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council that a certificate of compliance be issued by the council to the fire department. If the council issues such certificate of compliance, the fire department shall be authorized to exercise the general and emergency powers set forth in Code Sections 25-3-1 and 25-3-2. O.C.G.A. § 25-3-22. Thus, in order for a fire department to legally operate in Georgia, the department must meet minimum standards set forth in O.C.G.A. § 25-3-23 (Supp. 2011) and rules and regulations established by the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council. The Code, however, does not provide for establishing a separate set of minimum standards applicable to a fire department staffed solely or partially with inmate firefighters. Therefore, it is my official opinion that inmate firefighters should be considered volunteer firefighters as defined in O.C.G.A. § 25-4-3(9) (Supp. 2011) and not a separate category. The Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council has the authority to set minimum requirements for volunteer firefighters, the category to which inmates belong, serving as firefighters on fire departments as defined in O.C.G.A. § 25-3-21(2)(B) and to establish and modify by rule and regulation minimum requirements for such fire departments generally, regardless of whether they are staffed solely or partially with inmate firefighters. Prepared by: Angelique B. McClendon Assistant Attorney General