The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) The provision of fire protection services, rescue services, emergency medical services, hazardous material response services, ambulance services, and other services related to the protection of lives and property is a matter of public safety and critical to the public peace, health, and safety of the state.

Terms Used In California Government Code 53100.5

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Person: includes any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, limited liability company, business trust, corporation, or company. See California Government Code 17
  • Process: includes a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings of either a civil or criminal nature. See California Government Code 22
  • Public agency: as used in this article , means the state, and any city, county, city and county, municipal corporation, public district, or public authority located in whole or in part within this state which provides or has authority to provide firefighting, police, ambulance, medical, or other emergency services. See California Government Code 53101
  • State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Government Code 18

(b) It is in the public interest that emergency services be deployed quickly and efficiently in the interest of saving lives and reducing the damage or destruction of property.

(c) The establishment of a uniform, statewide policy regarding a public agency‘s ability to receive and process emergency calls is a matter of statewide concern and an interest to all inhabitants and citizens of this state.

(d) The purpose of the act that added this section is to affirm and clarify a public agency’s duty, responsibility, and jurisdiction to establish and improve emergency communication procedures and quickly respond to any person calling the telephone number “911” seeking fire, medical, rescue, or other emergency services.

(Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 389, Sec. 1. (SB 438) Effective January 1, 2020.)

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