State Rep. Michael Meredith introduced a bill that if passed would improve complex and expensive auditing requirements for volunteer fire departments statewide. Several of Warren County’s volunteer fire department chiefs along with two county magistrates met with Meredith in the fall and asked him to sponsor the legislation that is now House Bill 122. The bipartisan bill would exempt volunteer fire departments from having to report annually to the Department for Local Government and instead require departments to file annual reports and be subject to audits that would be handled by the Fire Commission, which uses a simpler process and will be free to volunteer fire departments.