Introduced Version
HOUSE BILL No. 1331
_____
DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL
Citations Affected: IC 5-2-1-2; IC 36-8-3.
Synopsis: Police reserve officers. Provides that a county, city, or town
shall furnish without charge to a police reserve officer (officer) who is
injured or contracts an illness in the course of or as the result of
performing duties as an officer all necessary physician, surgical,
hospital, and nursing services and supplies and that this obligation
supersedes any obligations that another medical insurance carrier has
to pay the officer's medical expenses. Provides that an officer who is
unable to pursue the officer's usual vocation as the result of an injury
or illness occurring in the course of or as the result of the performance
of duties as an officer is entitled to receive a weekly amount equal to
the Indiana minimum wage computed on the basis of a 40 hour
workweek for a maximum of 260 weeks. Provides that an officer who
dies from or is totally and permanently disabled as the result of an
injury occurring in the course of or as the result of performing duties
as an officer is entitled to receive at least $150,000. Provides that, if a
disability prevents an officer from performing any reasonable
employment, a county, city, or town may pay a disability benefit for the
life of the officer and coordinate its payments with the officer's other
benefits. Provides that a county, city, or town may meet its obligations
by purchasing policies of group insurance, establishing a plan of
self-insurance, or participating in the medical treatment and burial
expense provisions of the worker's compensation and occupational
diseases law.
Effective: July 1, 2013.
Mayfield
January 15, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on Veterans Affairs and Public
Safety.
Introduced
First Regular Session 118th General Assembly (2013)
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HOUSE BILL No. 1331
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
public safety.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
SOURCE: IC 5-2-1-2; (13)IN1331.1.1. -->
SECTION 1. IC 5-2-1-2, AS AMENDED BY P.L.197-2011,
SECTION 26, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
JULY 1, 2013]: Sec. 2. For the purposes of this chapter, and unless the
context clearly denotes otherwise, the following definitions apply
throughout this chapter:
(1) "Law enforcement officer" means an appointed officer or
employee hired by and on the payroll of the state, any of the
state's political subdivisions, or a public or private postsecondary
educational institution whose board of trustees has established a
police department under IC 21-17-5-2 or IC 21-39-4-2 who is
granted lawful authority to enforce all or some of the penal laws
of the state of Indiana and who possesses, with respect to those
laws, the power to effect arrests for offenses committed in the
officer's or employee's presence. However, the following are
expressly excluded from the term "law enforcement officer" for
the purposes of this chapter:
(A) A constable.
(B) A special officer whose powers and duties are described
in IC 36-8-3-7 or a special deputy whose powers and duties are
described in IC 36-8-10-10.6.
(C) A county police reserve officer who receives compensation
for lake patrol duties under IC 36-8-3-20(f)(4).
IC 36-8-3-20(f)(3).
(D) A conservation reserve officer who receives compensation
for lake patrol duties under IC 14-9-8-27.
(E) An employee of the gaming commission whose powers
and duties are described in IC 4-32.2-9.
(F) A correctional police officer described in IC 11-8-9.
(2) "Board" means the law enforcement training board created by
this chapter.
(3) "Executive training program" means the police chief executive
training program developed by the board under section 9 of this
chapter.
(4) "Law enforcement training council" means one (1) of the
confederations of law enforcement agencies recognized by the
board and organized for the sole purpose of sharing training,
instructors, and related resources.
(5) "Training regarding the lawful use of force" includes
classroom and skills training in the proper application of hand to
hand defensive tactics, use of firearms, and other methods of:
(A) overcoming unlawful resistance; or
(B) countering other action that threatens the safety of the
public or a law enforcement officer.
(6) "Hiring or appointing authority" means:
(A) the chief executive officer, board, or other entity of a
police department or agency with authority to appoint and hire
law enforcement officers; or
(B) the governor, mayor, board, or other entity with the
authority to appoint a chief executive officer of a police
department or agency.
SOURCE: IC 36-8-3-20; (13)IN1331.1.2. -->
SECTION 2. IC 36-8-3-20 IS AMENDED TO READ AS
FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2013]: Sec. 20. (a) This section
applies to counties and towns as well as cities.
(b) A unit may provide by ordinance for any number of police
reserve officers.
(c) Police reserve officers shall be appointed by the same authority
that appoints regular members of the department.
(d) Police reserve officers may be designated by another name
specified by ordinance.
(e) Police reserve officers may not be members of the regular police
department but have all of the same police powers as regular members,
except as limited by the rules of the department. Each department may
adopt rules to limit the authority of police reserve officers.
(f) To the extent that money is appropriated for a purpose listed in
this subsection, police reserve officers may receive any of the
following:
(1) A uniform allowance.
(2) Compensation for time lost from other employment because
of court appearances.
(3) Insurance for life, accident, and sickness coverage.
(4) (3) In the case of county police reserve officers, compensation
for lake patrol duties that the county sheriff assigns and approves
for compensation.
(g) Police reserve officers are not eligible to participate in any
pension program provided for regular members of the department.
(h) A police reserve officer may not be appointed until he has
completed the training and probationary period specified by rules of the
department.
(i) A police reserve officer appointed by the department after June
30, 1993, may not:
(1) make an arrest;
(2) conduct a search or a seizure of a person or property; or
(3) carry a firearm;
unless the police reserve officer successfully completes a pre-basic
course under IC 5-2-1-9(f).
(j) A police reserve officer may be covered by the medical treatment
and burial expense provisions of the worker's compensation law (IC
22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6) and the worker's occupational diseases law
(IC 22-3-7). If compensability of the injury is an issue, the
administrative procedures of IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 and
IC 22-3-7 shall be used to determine the issue.
(k) (j) A police reserve officer carrying out lake patrol duties under
this chapter is immune from liability under IC 34-30-12,
notwithstanding the payment of compensation to the officer.
(k) A unit shall provide the coverage and pay the amounts
specified in sections 22, 23, and 24 of this chapter for a police
reserve officer who is injured or dies in the course of or as the
result of performing duties as a police reserve officer. A unit may
purchase policies of group insurance or establish a plan of
self-insurance to meet its obligations under sections 22, 23, and 24
of this chapter. Expenses incurred for premiums for insurance or
for other charges or expenses under sections 22, 23, and 24 of this
chapter shall be paid out of the unit's general fund in the same
manner as other expenses of the unit are paid.
SOURCE: IC 36-8-3-22; (13)IN1331.1.3. -->
SECTION 3. IC 36-8-3-22 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE
AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY
1, 2013]: Sec. 22. (a) This section applies to a police reserve officer
who after June 30, 2013, is injured or contracts an illness in the
course of or as the result of performing duties as a police reserve
officer.
(b) A unit shall furnish without charge to a police reserve officer
the physician, surgical, hospital, and nursing services and supplies
the physician or surgeon in charge determines is necessary,
including:
(1) medical and surgical care;
(2) medicines and laboratory, curative, and palliative agents
and means;
(3) x-ray, diagnostic, and therapeutic service, including during
a recovery period; and
(4) hospital and special nursing care if the physician or
surgeon in charge considers it necessary for proper recovery.
(c) A unit that has paid for the care of a police reserve officer
under subsection (b) has a cause of action for reimbursement of the
amount paid under subsection (b) against any third party against
whom the police reserve officer has a cause of action for an injury
sustained by or an illness caused by the third party. The unit's
cause of action is in addition to, and not in lieu of, a cause of action
of the police reserve officer against the third party.
(d) A unit's obligation under this section supersedes any
obligations that another medical insurance carrier has to pay the
police reserve officer's expenses.
(e) A unit may meet its obligation under this section by covering
police reserve officers under the medical treatment and burial
expense provisions of the worker's compensation law (IC 22-3-2
through IC 22-3-6) and the worker's occupational diseases law
(IC 22-3-7). If compensability of the injury is an issue, the
administrative procedures of IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 and
IC 22-3-7 shall be used to determine the issue.
SOURCE: IC 36-8-3-23; (13)IN1331.1.4. -->
SECTION 4. IC 36-8-3-23 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE
AS A
NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY
1, 2013]:
Sec. 23. (a) This section applies to a police reserve officer
who after June 30, 2013, is unable to pursue the officer's usual
vocation as the result of an injury or illness occurring in the course
of or as the result of the performance of duties as a police reserve
officer.
(b) A unit shall pay a police reserve officer a weekly amount
that may not be less than the Indiana minimum wage computed on
the basis of a forty (40) hour workweek.
(c) A unit shall pay the police reserve officer the weekly amount
described in subsection (b) for the lesser of:
(1) the period the police reserve officer is unable to pursue the
officer's usual vocation; or
(2) two hundred sixty (260) weeks.
SOURCE: IC 36-8-3-24; (13)IN1331.1.5. -->
SECTION 5. IC 36-8-3-24 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE
AS A
NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY
1, 2013]:
Sec. 24. (a) This section applies to a police reserve officer
who after June 30, 2013, dies from or is totally and permanently
disabled as the result of an injury occurring in the course of or as
the result of performing duties as a police reserve officer.
(b) A unit shall pay an amount not less than one hundred fifty
thousand dollars ($150,000) to the beneficiary, beneficiaries, or the
estate of a police reserve officer who dies from an injury occurring
in the course of or as the result of performing duties as a police
reserve officer.
(c) A unit shall pay an amount that totals not less than one
hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) to a police reserve
officer who becomes totally and permanently disabled for a
continuous period of at least two hundred sixty (260) weeks from
an injury occurring in the course of or as the result of performing
duties as a police reserve officer.
(d) For purposes of this section, a unit shall pay an amount
determined as a percentage of the whole person for a partial and
permanent disability or impairment.
(e) If a disability prevents a police reserve officer from
performing any reasonable employment, a unit may:
(1) pay a benefit amount under subsection (c) beyond two
hundred sixty (260) weeks for the life of a police reserve
officer; and
(2) coordinate the unit's payments with the police reserve
officer's other benefits.