78R13883 YDB-D
By: Madla, et al. S.B. No. 482
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 482:
By: Hopson C.S.S.B. No. 482
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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 a traumatic injury
resulting from an external force or a disease caused by or resulting
from a traumatic injury from an external force.
(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 a traumatic injury
resulting from an external force or a disease caused by or resulting
from a traumatic injury from an external force.
(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. Section 615.105(b), 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 a
traumatic injury resulting from an external force or a disease
caused by or resulting from a traumatic injury from an external
force that directly results from any action a person is required or
authorized by rule, condition of employment, or law to perform. The
term includes 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.