By Moffat H.B. No. 3553
75R10216 GCH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to payments on the death in the line of duty of certain
1-3 public servants.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 615.003, Government Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 615.003. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to
1-8 eligible survivors or the estates of the following individuals:
1-9 (1) an individual elected, appointed, or employed as a
1-10 peace officer by the state or a political subdivision of the state
1-11 under Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, or other law;
1-12 (2) a paid probation officer appointed by the director
1-13 of a community supervision and corrections department who has the
1-14 duties set out in Section 2 and the qualifications set out in
1-15 Section 5, Article 42.131, Code of Criminal Procedure, or who was
1-16 appointed in accordance with prior law;
1-17 (3) a parole officer employed by the pardons and
1-18 paroles division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice who
1-19 has the duties set out in Section 2 and the qualifications set out
1-20 in Section 19, Article 42.18, Code of Criminal Procedure, or in
1-21 prior law;
1-22 (4) a paid jailer;
1-23 (5) a member of an organized police reserve or
1-24 auxiliary unit who regularly assists peace officers in enforcing
2-1 criminal laws;
2-2 (6) a member of the class of employees of the
2-3 institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
2-4 formally designated as custodial personnel under Section 615.006 by
2-5 the Texas Board of Criminal Justice or its predecessor in function;
2-6 (7) a jailer or guard of a county jail who is
2-7 appointed by the sheriff and who:
2-8 (A) performs a security, custodial, or
2-9 supervisory function over the admittance, confinement, or discharge
2-10 of prisoners; and
2-11 (B) is certified by the Texas Commission on Law
2-12 Enforcement Officer Standards and Education;
2-13 (8) a juvenile correctional employee of the Texas
2-14 Youth Commission;
2-15 (9) an employee of the Texas Department of Mental
2-16 Health and Mental Retardation who:
2-17 (A) works at the department's maximum security
2-18 unit; or
2-19 (B) performs on-site services for the Texas
2-20 Department of Criminal Justice;
2-21 (10) an individual who is employed by the state or a
2-22 political or legal subdivision and is subject to certification by
2-23 the Texas Commission on Fire Protection;
2-24 (11) an individual employed by the state or a
2-25 political or legal subdivision whose principal duties are aircraft
2-26 crash and rescue fire fighting; or
2-27 (12) a member of an organized volunteer fire-fighting
3-1 unit that:
3-2 (A) renders fire-fighting services without
3-3 remuneration;
3-4 (B) consists of not fewer than 20 active
3-5 members, a majority of whom [which] are present at each meeting;
3-6 and
3-7 (C) conducts a minimum of two drills each month,
3-8 each two hours long.
3-9 SECTION 2. The heading of Subchapter B, Chapter 615,
3-10 Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
3-11 SUBCHAPTER B. PAYMENTS TO ELIGIBLE SURVIVORS OR ESTATES
3-12 SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 615, Government Code, is
3-13 amended by adding Section 615.026 to read as follows:
3-14 Sec. 615.026. PAYMENT TO ESTATE. The state shall pay
3-15 $50,000 to the estate of an individual listed under Section 615.003
3-16 if the listed individual:
3-17 (1) died in the course of the individual's duty
3-18 performed in the individual's position as described by Section
3-19 615.003 as a result of exposure to a risk:
3-20 (A) that is inherent in the duty; or
3-21 (B) to which the general public is not
3-22 customarily exposed; and
3-23 (2) is not survived by an individual eligible to
3-24 receive payments under this subchapter.
3-25 SECTION 4. Section 615.044(a), Government Code, is amended
3-26 to read as follows:
3-27 (a) A person whose claim for payment to a surviving spouse,
4-1 minor child, or dependent parent or sibling or to an estate is
4-2 denied or the person's legal representative may appeal the denial
4-3 to a district court in [of] the county of residence of the
4-4 surviving spouse, minor child, or dependent parent or sibling, to a
4-5 district court in the county in which the decedent resided at the
4-6 time of death, if the claim is for payment to an estate, or to a
4-7 district court in Travis County.
4-8 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
4-9 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
4-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.