MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1999 Regular Session

To: Appropriations

By: Representatives Capps, Foster

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE PAYMENT OF DEATH BENEFITS TO THE SURVIVORS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY; TO CREATE THE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS BENEFITS CONTINGENCY FUND; TO PROVIDE FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE FUND; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) Whenever used in this section, the term:

(a) "Employer" means a state board, commission, department, division, bureau, agency, county, municipality or other political subdivision of the state, which employs, appoints or otherwise engages the services of law enforcement officers.

(b) "Law enforcement officer" means any lawfully sworn officer or employee of the state or any political subdivision of the state whose duties require such officer or employee to investigate, pursue, apprehend, arrest, transport or maintain custody of persons who are charged with, suspected of committing, or convicted of a crime.

(c) "Fresh pursuit" means the pursuit of a person who has committed or is reasonable suspected of having committed a felony, misdemeanor, traffic infraction or violation of a county or municipal ordinance. The term does not imply instant pursuit but pursuit without unreasonable delay.

(2) (a) The sum of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) shall be paid as provided in this section when a law enforcement officer, while engaged in the performance of the officer's law enforcement duties, is accidentally killed or receives accidental bodily injury which results in the loss of the officer's life, provided that such killing is not the result of suicide and that such bodily injury is not intentionally self-inflicted.

(b) The sum of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) shall be paid as provided in this section if a law enforcement officer is accidentally killed as specified in subsection (2)(a) and the accidental death occurs as a result of the officer's response to fresh pursuit or to the officer's response to what is reasonably believed to be an emergency. This sum is in addition to any sum provided for in subsection (2)(a).

(c) If a law enforcement officer, while engaged in the performance of the officer's law enforcement duties, is unlawfully and intentionally killed or dies as a result of such unlawful and intentional act, the sum of Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) shall be paid as provided in this section.

(d) Such payments, pursuant to the provisions of subsection (2)(a) and (b), shall be made to the beneficiary designated by such law enforcement officer in writing, signed by the officer and delivered to the employer during the officer's lifetime. If no such designation is made, then it shall be paid to the officer's surviving child or children and spouse in equal portions, and if there is no surviving child or spouse, then to the officer's parent or parents. If a beneficiary is not designated and there is no surviving child, spouse or parent, then it shall be paid to the officer's estate.

(e) Such payments, pursuant to the provisions of subsection (2)(a) and (b) are in addition to any workers' compensation or pension benefits and are exempt from the claims and demands of creditors of such law enforcement officer.

(f) If a full-time law enforcement officer who is employed by a state agency is killed in the line of duty, the sum of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) shall be paid, as provided for in subsection (2)(d), toward the funeral and burial expenses of such officer. Such benefits are in addition to any other benefits which employee beneficiaries and dependents are entitled to under the provisions of the Workers' Compensation Law or any other state or federal statutes.

(3) The Law Enforcement Officers Benefits Contingency Fund shall be established in the State Treasury by an initial appropriation of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00) and the Legislature shall make such additional appropriations as needed to maintain a minimum balance of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00) in said fund. Any interest accruing in the fund shall remain in the fund. At the end of a fiscal year, any funds remaining in the fund shall not lapse to the general fund but shall remain in the fund.

(4) The Department of Public Safety shall adopt rules and regulations necessary to implement and standardize the payment of death benefits under this section and necessary to administer the fund created by this act and to carry out the purposes of this act. The Department of Public Safety shall be responsible for the management of the death benefits fund and disbursement of death benefits authorized under this section.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1999.