Proposed legislation aims to identify county road crews as first responders

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – County road crews are moving closer to becoming designated as first responders.

Lowndes County supervisors passed a resolution supporting the idea.

The Mississippi Association of Road Managers is pushing for legislation to make county road crews a first responder.

Often during a natural disaster, those crews are first on the scene to clear a path for other responders.

County crews often take their vehicles home with them on days when impactful weather is predicted.

However, if they aren’t called out in the middle of the night to help clear a road they must claim personal use of a county vehicle on their taxes.

The county has helped out by providing some extra pay.

This proposed legislation could help alleviate the problem in the future.

“We’ve tried to help them some with their taxes, but of course, that’s not a one-to-one help. So, we think that this is a good initiative. A bill has not dropped, obviously. The session is not in session. So, when we see that bill we might have to do that again in support of that particular bill when it drops, but we wanted to go on record now,” said Lowndes County Board of Supervisors President Tripp Hairston.

The legislative session begins on January 2.

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