The following terms as used in this Chapter shall have the following meanings:

(1)  “Emergency” means an actual or imminent threat to public health or safety which may result in loss of life, injury, or property damage.

(2)  “Emergency alert provider” means a third party which is designated by a parish office of homeland security and emergency preparedness to provide emergency alert services for that parish and which is certified as such by the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness¹.

(3)  “Emergency alert services” means the placement of telephone calls to notify the public of an emergency or to provide information relative to an emergency.

(4)  “Listed number” means an active telephone number which is published in a telephone directory.

(5)  “Parish office of homeland security and emergency preparedness” means an agency of local government established pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 29:727.

(6)  “Telephone company” means an entity which provides local telephone service to subscribers for a fee.

(7)  “Unlisted number” means an active telephone number which is not published in a telephone directory.

Acts 1997, No. 199, §2, eff. June 13, 1997; Acts 2003, No. 40, §4, eff. May 23, 2003; Acts 2006, 1^st Ex. Sess., No. 35, §8, eff. March 1, 2006.

¹See Acts 2006, 1^st Ex. Sess., No. 35, §8, which changes the term “state office of homeland security and emergency preparedness” to “Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness” and §10, which provides for the termination of the Act and the reversion to the law in effect prior to the Act on July 1, 2010.