Texas Code of Criminal Procedure - Article 56.542. Payments For Certain Disabled Peace Officers
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Art. 56.542. PAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN DISABLED PEACE
OFFICERS. (a) In this article, "peace officer":
(1) means an individual elected, appointed, or employed to
serve as a peace officer for a governmental entity under Article
2.12 or other law; and
(2) includes a former peace officer who because of an injury
suffered while performing duties as a peace officer is entitled to
receive payments under this article.
(b) If a peace officer employed by the state or a local
governmental entity in this state sustains an injury as a result of
criminally injurious conduct on or after September 1, 1989, in the
performance of the officer's duties as a peace officer and presents
evidence satisfactory to the attorney general that the officer's
condition is a total disability resulting in permanent incapacity
for work and that the total disability has persisted for more than
12 months, the officer is entitled to an annual payment equal to the
difference between:
(1) any amounts received by the officer on account of the
injury or disability from other sources of income, including
settlements related to the injury or disability, insurance
benefits, federal disability benefits, workers' compensation
benefits, and benefits from another governmental entity, if those
amounts do not exceed the amount described by Subdivision (2); and
(2) an amount equal to the officer's average annual salary
during the officer's final three years as a peace officer.
(c) The amount of the payment under Subsection (b) is
subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment computed by the
attorney general. The attorney general shall compute the amount of
the cost-of-living adjustment by multiplying the amount of the
annual payment received by the peace officer under this section
during the previous year times the percentage by which the Consumer
Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, or its
successor index, increased during the previous calendar year.
(d) The attorney general shall compute the amount of an
initial payment based on an injury suffered after September 1,
1989, by:
(1) computing the amount to which the officer is entitled
under Subsection (b); and
(2) adding to that amount the cumulative successive
cost-of-living adjustments for the intervening years computed from
the date of the injury.
(e) To receive a payment under this section, a peace officer
must furnish to the attorney general:
(1) proof that the injury was sustained in the performance
of the applicant's duties as a peace officer and is a total
disability resulting in permanent incapacity for work; and
(2) other information or evidence the attorney general
requires.
(f) The attorney general may approve the application
without a hearing or may conduct a hearing under Article 56.40. The
decision of the attorney general is subject to judicial review
under Article 56.48.
(g) The attorney general may appoint a panel of physicians
to periodically review each application for assistance under this
article to ensure the validity of the application and the necessity
of continued assistance to the peace officer.
(h) The attorney general shall notify the comptroller of the
attorney general's determination that a claim under this section is
valid and justifies payment. On receipt of the notice, the
comptroller shall issue a warrant to or in behalf of the claimant in
the proper amount from amounts in the compensation to victims of
crime fund. A payment under this section to or in behalf of a peace
officer is payable as soon as possible after the attorney general
notifies the comptroller.
(i) The attorney general and the comptroller by rule shall
adopt a memorandum of understanding to establish procedures under
which annual payments continue to a peace officer until continued
assistance is no longer necessary.
(j) Article 56.37 does not apply to the filing of an
application under this article. Other provisions of this chapter
apply to this article to the extent applicable and consistent with
this article.
(k) The limits on compensation imposed by Article 56.42 do
not apply to payments made under this article, but the total
aggregate amount of all annual payments made to an individual peace
officer under this section may not exceed $200,000.
(l) A peace officer who is entitled to an annual payment
under Subsection (b) may elect to receive the payment in:
(1) a single payment paid each year; or
(2) equal monthly installments.
Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1512, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2001;
Subsec. (l) added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 751, Sec. 1, eff.
June 17, 2005.
Article: 56.49 56.50 56.51 56.52 56.53 56.54 56.541 56.542 56.58 56.60 56.61 56.62 56.63 56.64 57.01
Last modified: August 11, 2007
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