62-1-5.2. Requirements for volunteer firefighters to become eligible for workers' compensation--Amount of benefits--Limitation on eligibility.
Any firefighter who is a member of any county, municipal, special purpose district, township, or private nonprofit corporation operating as a fire department that has on file a cooperative fire suppression agreement with the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, and has been approved by the governing body for assignment to the state, is eligible for workers' compensation benefits from the state if injured during a period of time commencing from the time dispatched by the secretary of public safety until the time the firefighter returns to the location from which the firefighter was originally dispatched by the secretary of public safety. In the event of injury or death, the firefighter shall, for the purpose of computing compensation, be considered to be earning a wage that would entitle that person to the maximum compensation for death or injury allowable under this title; but in no event may payments to any firefighter exceed the maximum limitations for benefits as set out in this title.
For purposes of determining compensation any remuneration received by a member who voluntarily serves the department may not be considered.
No firefighter under this section may be deemed a state employee for any purpose other than eligibility to receive workers' compensation from the state under this section.
No workers' compensation benefits may be provided by the state if the claim arises while dispatched to a wildland fire outside the state, unless the fire is a threat to resources within South Dakota.
Source: SL 1991, ch 417, §§1, 2; SL 1995, ch 295; SL 1997, ch 303, §2; SL 2002, ch 245, §1; SL 2002, ch 252 (Ex. Ord. 02-1), §18; SL 2005, ch 284, §1; SL 2006, ch 270, §1; SL 2021, ch 1 (Ex. Ord. 21-3), §§ 14, 68, eff. Apr. 19, 2021.