Legislature Expands Places Where Civil Service Public Safety Officers May Live
Massachusetts Law (Chapter 31, Section 58) provides that civil service fire and police officers must live within 10 miles of the community where they work. Massachusetts Law also provides (under Chapter 41, Section 99A) that fire fighters and police officers must live (in or out of the Commonwealth) within 15 miles of the community where they work. The latter law further states that any local ordinance requiring public safety employees to live in town can be overruled by a collective bargaining agreement.
These two laws, enacted within one day of each other, for years have created confusion and headaches for public safety employers, employees, and unions. Many Civil Service employers have told public safety employees that they could live as far as 15 miles away. As a result, many public safety employees bought property and established families in communities between 10 and 15 miles of where they work.
In January, the Civil Service Commission shocked the Massachusetts public safety world when it declared that fire and police in Civil Service communities must live within 10 miles of the community that employs the public safety employee. This decision relied exclusively on Section 58 and completely ignored 99A. More shocking, the decision suggested that concerns about residency of employees could be raised at any time by any one.
The Legislature made a necessary and modest fix to this problem. Section 50 of the FY 2014 Budget amended the Civil Service law (Chapter 31, Section 58) to allow a city or town to "increase the 10 mile residency limit under a collective bargaining agreement negotiated under chapter 150E." This change, however, did not refer to Chapter 41, Section 99A, which provides a cap of 15 miles. The amendment also did not change the requirement that Civil Service public safety officers are required to live in Massachusetts. Gov. Patrick did not veto this provision when he signed the budget into law.
As a result of this amendment, public safety unions in Civil Service communities are able and encouraged to negotiate contract language that permits employees to live as far away as permitted by law. There is no doubt that Civil Service public safety unions can increase residency limits up to 15 miles. Unions seeking to expand residency limits beyond 15 miles are well advised to consult independent union counsel and/or state union representatives.
