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Committee advances bill letting State Fire Marshal seek cost recovery from negligent parties
Summary
The Public Safety Subcommittee moved Senate Bill 863 to Ways and Means on June 4. The measure would let the Department of the State Fire Marshal recover fire suppression costs from people found willful, malicious or negligent; revenue impact was described as indeterminate.
The Public Safety Subcommittee voted June 4 to move Senate Bill 863 to the Ways and Means Committee, recommending authority for the Department of the State Fire Marshal to recover suppression costs from a person who was willful, malicious or negligent in the origin or spread of a fire.
The measure defines “actual cost” as the cost incurred or payments made by the Department to control or extinguish a fire and includes legal authority for investigation and collection. The LFO told the committee that anticipated implementation costs are minimal and can be absorbed in the department's budget, but that the revenue impact is indeterminate because the number of qualifying fires and the collectability and timing of recoveries are unknown.
The bill does not designate a disposition for potential revenue, allowing the department to deposit any recovered funds into the same fund where original expenses were recorded so revenue matches expense consistent with generally accepted accounting principles, the LFO said.
Formal action: the committee moved SB 863 to Ways and Means with a due‑pass recommendation. The transcript records no objections in committee and notes Senator Brock Smith was excused during the vote.
Discussion in committee focused on the statutory definition of recoverable costs and the practical limits of collection; the LFO emphasized the uncertain revenue picture.
Next step: SB 863 will be carried forward to the full Ways and Means Committee.
