S.B. No. 482




AN ACT
relating to certain benefits provided to the survivors of public employees and chaplains killed in the line of duty. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 615.003, Government Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 615.003. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to eligible survivors of the following individuals: (1) an individual elected, appointed, or employed as a peace officer by the state or a political subdivision of the state under Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, or other law; (2) a paid probation officer appointed by the director of a community supervision and corrections department who has the duties set out in Section 76.002 and the qualifications set out in Section 76.005, or who was appointed in accordance with prior law; (3) a parole officer employed by the pardons and paroles division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice who has the duties set out in Section 508.001 and the qualifications set out in Section 508.113 or in prior law; (4) a paid jailer; (5) a member of an organized police reserve or auxiliary unit who regularly assists peace officers in enforcing criminal laws; (6) a member of the class of employees of the institutional division or the state jail division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice formally designated as custodial personnel under Section 615.006 by the Texas Board of Criminal Justice or its predecessor in function; (7) a jailer or guard of a county jail who is appointed by the sheriff and who: (A) performs a security, custodial, or supervisory function over the admittance, confinement, or discharge of prisoners; and (B) is certified by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education; (8) a juvenile correctional employee of the Texas Youth Commission; (9) an employee of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation who: (A) works at the department's maximum security unit; or (B) performs on-site services for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; (10) an individual who is employed by the state or a political or legal subdivision and is subject to certification by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection; (11) an individual employed by the state or a political or legal subdivision whose principal duties are aircraft crash and rescue fire fighting; (12) a member of an organized volunteer fire-fighting unit that: (A) renders fire-fighting services without remuneration; (B) consists of not fewer than 20 active members, a majority of whom are present at each meeting; and (C) conducts a minimum of two drills each month, each two hours long; [or] (13) an individual who: (A) performs emergency medical services or operates an ambulance; (B) is employed by a political subdivision of the state or is an emergency medical services volunteer as defined by Section 773.003, Health and Safety Code; and (C) is qualified as an emergency care attendant or at a higher level of training under Section 773.046, 773.047, 773.048, 773.049, or 773.0495, Health and Safety Code; or (14) an individual who is employed or formally designated as a chaplain for: (A) an organized volunteer fire-fighting unit or other fire department of this state or of a political subdivision of this state; (B) a law enforcement agency of this state or of a political subdivision of this state; or (C) the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. SECTION 2. Section 615.021, Government Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows: (a) A survivor of an individual listed under Section 615.003 is eligible for the payment of assistance under this chapter if: (1) the listed individual died as a result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty [in the course of the individual's duty performed] in the individual's position as described by Section 615.003 [as a result of exposure to a risk: [(A) that is inherent in the duty; or [(B) to which the general public is not customarily exposed]; and (2) the survivor is: (A) the surviving spouse of the listed individual; (B) a surviving child of the listed individual, if there is no surviving spouse; or (C) a surviving parent of the listed individual, if there is no surviving spouse or child. (c) An individual employed by the state or a political or legal subdivision who is subject to certification by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection or whose principal duties are aircraft crash and rescue fire fighting is considered to have died as a result of a personal injury sustained in the line of [in the course of performing the individual's] duty in the individual's position as described by Section 615.003 [as a result of exposure to a risk that is inherent in the duty or to which the general public is not customarily exposed] if the individual died while actually performing an activity that the individual was certified to perform by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection, without regard to whether the individual was actually performing the activity during the individual's compensable hours at work. (d) In a determination of whether the survivor of an individual listed under Section 615.003 is eligible for the payment of assistance under this chapter, any reasonable doubt arising from the circumstances of the individual's death shall be resolved in favor of the payment of assistance to the survivor. (e) In this section: (1) "Personal injury" means an injury resulting from an external force, an activity, or a disease caused by or resulting from: (A) a line-of-duty accident; or (B) an illness caused by line-of-duty work under hazardous conditions. (2) "Line of duty" means an action an individual listed under Section 615.003 is required or authorized by rule, condition of employment, or law to perform. The term includes an action by the individual at a social, ceremonial, athletic, or other function to which the individual is assigned by the individual's employer. SECTION 3. Section 615.072, Government Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 615.072. ELIGIBLE SURVIVORS. (a) A survivor of an individual listed under Section 615.071 is eligible for the health insurance benefits provided under this subchapter if: (1) the listed individual died as a result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty [in the course of the individual's duty performed] in the individual's position as described by Section 615.071 [as a result of exposure to a risk: [(A) that is inherent in the duty; or [(B) to which the general public is not customarily exposed]; and (2) the survivor is: (A) the surviving spouse of the listed individual; or (B) a dependent of the listed individual. (b) In a determination of whether the survivor of an individual listed under Section 615.071 is eligible for the payment of assistance under this subchapter, any reasonable doubt arising from the circumstances of the individual's death shall be resolved in favor of the payment of assistance to the survivor. (c) In this section: (1) "Personal injury" means an injury resulting from an external force, an activity, or a disease caused by or resulting from: (A) a line-of-duty accident; or (B) an illness caused by line-of-duty work under hazardous conditions. (2) "Line of duty" means an action an individual listed under Section 615.071 is required or authorized by rule, condition of employment, or law to perform. The term includes an action by the individual at a social, ceremonial, athletic, or other function to which the individual is assigned by the individual's employer. SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 615.105, Government Code, is amended to read as follows: (b) On the death of an individual listed in Subsection (a), regardless of whether the individual died as a result of a personal injury sustained in the line [in the course] of duty as a peace officer, the individual's next of kin may receive on request a state flag from the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education. SECTION 5. Section 615.121, Government Code, is amended by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows: (f) In this section, "line of duty" has the meaning assigned by Section 615.021. SECTION 6. Section 811.001, Government Code, is amended by amending Subdivision (12) and adding Subdivision (12-a) to read as follows: (12) "Occupational [death or] disability" means [death or] disability from an injury or disease that directly results from a specific act or occurrence determinable by a definite time and place, and directly results from a risk or a hazard peculiar to and inherent in a duty that arises from and in the course of state employment. (12-a) "Occupational death" means death from an injury resulting from an external force, an activity, or a disease caused by or resulting from a line-of-duty accident or from an illness caused by line-of-duty work under hazardous conditions. The term includes death from accidents or illnesses that directly result from an action a person is required or authorized by rule, condition of employment, or law to perform, including an action performed by the person at a social, ceremonial, athletic, or other function to which the person is assigned by the person's employer. SECTION 7. (a) The change in law made by this Act to Section 615.003, Government Code, relating to the death of certain chaplains applies only in relation to a death that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. Matters regarding eligibility, payment, and benefits under Chapter 615, Government Code, in relation to a death that occurs before the effective date of this Act are governed by the law in effect when the death occurs, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. (b) The changes in law made by this Act to Sections 615.021, 615.072, 615.105, 615.121, and 811.001, Government Code, relating to the death of certain public servants apply only in relation to a death that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. Matters regarding eligibility, payment, and benefits under Sections 615.021, 615.072, 615.105, 615.121, and 811.001, Government Code, in relation to a death that occurs before the effective date of this Act are governed by the law in effect when the death occurs, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
______________________________ ______________________________ President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 482 passed the Senate on March 27, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 31, 2003, by a viva-voce vote. ______________________________ Secretary of the Senate I hereby certify that S.B. No. 482 passed the House, with amendments, on May 24, 2003, by a non-record vote. ______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House Approved: ______________________________ Date ______________________________ Governor