Committee passes agency bill creating deputy state fire post and updating fire-safety processes

The Public Safety Committee unanimously passed Senate Bill 501, an agency bill the Insurance Commissioner's Office described as streamlining administration and strengthening fire-safety oversight.

Bryce Ralston, director of legislative affairs for the Georgia Insurance Commissioner's Office, told the committee the bill "creates a deputy commissioner of state fire" so the state fire marshal can focus on enforcement, establishes a consistent hearings process aligned with insurance-code hearings, and creates an appeal mechanism for parties aggrieved by local building-permit rulings. Ralston said the bill expands oversight of deputized local fire marshals and allows the commissioner to issue immediate evacuation orders for imminent life-safety dangers.

The office also said the measure enhances fire-fatality investigation reporting by authorizing receipt of certain coroner and medical-examiner reports, and it amends penalties under Title 25 to add up to 12 months' imprisonment and fines of up to $1,000 per violation.

Committee members identified a Scrivener error on line 96; the committee adopted a minor amendment to strike the stray letter 'b' and then passed the bill unanimously.