A city or town that has adopted a certain fire code ordinance may, together with its county, ask the state fire marshal's office to approve an intergovernmental agreement so the city or town's fire code is enforced for county-owned buildings, and the state must decide within 30 days or the request is automatically approved.
Official title: fire code; municipalities; county buildings
- September 12, 2026
What changes
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NowA city or town that has adopted an ordinance under section 37-1383, subsection A, paragraph 5 may ask the assistant director of the state fire marshal's office to enter into an intergovernmental agreement (a formal agreement between government bodies) with a county, on behalf of the office, to enforce the city or town's fire code for county-owned buildings.
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NowThe city or town must submit the request together with the county. Enforcing the state-adopted fire code must be unduly burdensome for the city, town or county. Evidence of any of these is enough: it requires hiring more staff, it requires more staff training, or review by the state fire marshal's assistant director substantially exceeds the city, town or county's own review time.
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NowThe city or town's current fire code and enforcement, including occupancy and hazard rules for county-owned buildings, must not be substantially less strict than the current state fire code. The assistant director and the city or town's official decide this jointly.
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NowThe assistant director must act on a request within 30 days after receiving it and must give the reason for approving or denying it. If no action is taken within 30 days, the request is automatically approved.
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NowA city or town in such an agreement is solely responsible for fire code inspection and enforcement in all county-owned buildings in its jurisdiction, and must give the state fire marshal's office the certificate of occupancy, all applicable fire code inspection reports and an updated building inventory, in a manner the office decides.
Who it affects
- Cities and towns that have adopted the specified fire code ordinance
- Counties with county-owned buildings in those cities and towns
- Office of the state fire marshal
What you need to do
Nothing.
What the law doesn't answer
- What kind of ordinance section 37-1383, subsection A, paragraph 5 refers to
- Who currently inspects county-owned buildings for fire code compliance
- Whether an approved agreement can be ended or changed later, and how
- What happens if the assistant director and the city or town official disagree about whether the local code is substantially less strict
- Whether a denied request can be appealed or resubmitted
- How often the required records must be sent to the state fire marshal's office
This summary describes the law as enacted. Later laws, court rulings or referendum petitions can change the picture. Check the official text for the current wording.