Senate panel amends St. George fire district bill after firefighters, residents raise representation concerns

A Senate committee on Thursday amended and reported favorably on SB191, a bill that changes how commissioners of the St. George Fire Protection District are appointed now that the area has become the city of St. George.

The committee adopted amendment set 13‑56, offered by Sen. Foyle, to allocate four of the five commissioner appointments to the city of St. George (three appointed by the city council and one appointed by the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council) with the four selecting the fifth commissioner. Senator Richie Edmonds, the bill’s author, said the change updates appointment authority now that St. George is an incorporated city with its own mayor and seven-member council.

The amendment was contested at the hearing by the St. George Professional Firefighters Association and other firefighters, who urged a board makeup that preserves representation for taxpayers who live in the fire district but outside the new city limits. Jason Turner, president of the St. George Professional Firefighters Association, said the firefighters wanted parity between the city and parish: “All we want is what’s fair … two people being appointed by East Baton Rouge and two people being appointed by the city of Saint George and then having to come together to pick a fifth member,” Turner said.

Chad Major, representing Professional Firefighters of Louisiana, told the committee the existing statute historically provided for two appointees from the metro council, two from the local municipal authority and a fifth selected by those four — a structure he called fair to taxpayers throughout the district. “We just want a board that’s not biased, that wants to do what’s best by the department, by the men and women that work in the department and… by the constituents that are served by that department,” Major said.

Concerned citizen Jake Morgan said the timing of the change and the new city’s control over appointments risked “taxation without representation” for residents outside city limits who pay fire district taxes but could lose board influence. Morgan also referenced litigation involving the department and a public dispute over an unbuilt fire station, saying those issues heightened local mistrust of board control.

Senator Edmonds and supporters said the district’s tax base and roughly 90% of the district’s population now lie inside the city, arguing the 3–1–selection approach (as amended) reflects that distribution. Edmonds said letters of support from St. George’s mayor and council were provided to the committee and that the bill was intended to correct statutory language that predated the city’s creation.

The committee adopted the amendment and, on a motion to report SB191 favorably as amended, the panel approved the bill without recorded objection.

The change now moves to the full Senate for further consideration.