34 USC 10281 - Payment of death benefits

View all text of Part A [§ 10281 - § 10288]

§ 10281. Payment of death benefits

(a) Amount; recipientsIn any case in which the Bureau of Justice Assistance (hereinafter in this subchapter referred to as the “Bureau”) determines, under regulations issued pursuant to this subchapter, that a public safety officer has died as the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty, a benefit of $250,000, adjusted in accordance with subsection (h), and calculated in accordance with subsection (i), shall be payable by the Bureau, as follows (if the payee indicated is living on the date on which the determination is made)—

(1) if there is no child who survived the public safety officer, to the surviving spouse of the public safety officer;

(2) if there is at least 1 child who survived the public safety officer and a surviving spouse of the public safety officer, 50 percent to the surviving child (or children, in equal shares) and 50 percent to the surviving spouse;

(3) if there is no surviving spouse of the public safety officer, to the surviving child (or children, in equal shares);

(4) if there is no surviving spouse of the public safety officer and no surviving child—

(A) to the surviving individual (or individuals, in shares per the designation, or, otherwise, in equal shares) designated by the public safety officer to receive benefits under this subsection in the most recently executed designation of beneficiary of the public safety officer on file at the time of death with the public safety agency, organization, or unit; or

(B) if there is no individual qualifying under subparagraph (A), to the surviving individual (or individuals, in equal shares) designated by the public safety officer to receive benefits under the most recently executed life insurance policy of the public safety officer on file at the time of death with the public safety agency, organization, or unit;

(5) if there is no individual qualifying under paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4), to the surviving parent (or parents, in equal shares) of the public safety officer; or

(6) if there is no individual qualifying under paragraph (1), (2), (3), (4), or (5), to the surviving individual (or individuals, in equal shares) who would qualify under the definition of the term “child” under section 10284 of this title but for age.

(b) Benefits for permanent and total disability

(d) Deduction of interim payment

(e) Repayment of interim payment; waiver

(f) Reductions from final benefit paymentThe benefit payable under this subchapter shall be in addition to any other benefit that may be due from any other source, except—

(1) payments authorized by section 12(k) of the Act of September 1, 1916;

(2) benefits authorized by section 8191 of title 5, such that beneficiaries shall receive only such benefits under such section 8191 as are in excess of the benefits received under this subchapter; or

(3) payments under the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note; Public Law 107–42).

(g) Execution or attachment prohibited

(h) Consumer Price Index adjustment

(i) Amount payableThe amount payable under subsections (a) and (b), with respect to the death or permanent and total disability of a public safety officer, shall be the greater of—

(1) the amount payable under the relevant subsection as of the date of death or of the catastrophic injury of the public safety officer; or

(2) in any case in which the claim filed thereunder has been pending for more than 365 days at the time of final determination by the Bureau, the amount that would be payable under the relevant subsection if the death or the catastrophic injury of the public safety officer had occurred on the date on which the Bureau makes such final determination.

(j) Limitations on benefits

(1) No benefit is payable under this subchapter with respect to the death of a public safety officer if a benefit is paid under this subchapter with respect to the disability of such officer.

(2) No benefit is payable under this subchapter with respect to the disability of a public safety officer if a benefit is payable under this subchapter with respect to the death of such public safety officer.

(k) Death by heart attack, stroke, or vascular rupture; presumptionAs determined by the Bureau, a heart attack, stroke, or vascular rupture suffered by a public safety officer shall be presumed to constitute a personal injury within the meaning of subsection (a), sustained in the line of duty by the officer and directly and proximately resulting in death, if—

(1) the public safety officer, while on duty—

(A) engages in a situation involving nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical law enforcement, fire suppression, rescue, hazardous material response, emergency medical services, prison security, disaster relief, or other emergency response activity; or

(B) participates in a training exercise involving nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical activity;

(2) the heart attack, stroke, or vascular rupture commences—

(A) while the officer is engaged or participating as described in paragraph (1);

(B) while the officer remains on that duty after being engaged or participating as described in paragraph (1); or

(3) the heart attack, stroke, or vascular rupture directly and proximately results in the death of the public safety officer,

unless competent medical evidence establishes that the heart attack, stroke, or vascular rupture was unrelated to the engagement or participation or was directly and proximately caused by something other than the mere presence of cardiovascular-disease risk factors.

(l) Definition

(m) Suspension or end of collection action

(n) Confidentiality

(o) Post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, or trauma and stress related disorders

(1) DefinitionsIn this section:

(A) Mass casualty eventThe term “mass casualty event” means an incident resulting in casualties to not fewer than 3 victims, including—

(i) an incident that exceeds the normal resources for emergency response available in the jurisdiction where the incident takes place; and

(ii) an incident that results in a sudden and timely surge of injured individuals necessitating emergency services.

(B) Mass fatality event

(C) Mass shootingThe term “mass shooting” means a multiple homicide incident in which not fewer than 3 victims are killed—

(i) with a firearm;

(ii) during one event; and

(iii) in one or more locations in close proximity.

(D) ExposedThe term “exposed” includes—

(i) directly experiencing or witnessing an event; or

(ii) being subjected, in an intense way, to aversive consequences of the event (including a public safety officer collecting human remains).

(E) Traumatic eventThe term “traumatic event” means, in the case of a public safety officer exposed to an event, an event that is—

(i) a homicide, suicide, or the violent or gruesome death of another individual (including such a death resulting from a mass casualty event, mass fatality event, or mass shooting);

(ii) a harrowing circumstance posing an extraordinary and significant danger or threat to the life of or of serious bodily harm to any individual (including such a circumstance as a mass casualty event, mass fatality event, or mass shooting); or

(iii) an act of criminal sexual violence committed against any individual.

(2) Personal injury sustained in line of dutyAs determined by the Bureau—

(A) post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, or trauma and stress related disorders suffered by a public safety officer and diagnosed by a licensed medical or mental health professional, shall be presumed to constitute a personal injury within the meaning of subsection (a), sustained in the line of duty by the officer, if the officer was exposed, while on duty, to one or more traumatic events and such exposure was a substantial factor in the disorder;

(B) post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, or trauma and stress related disorders, suffered by a public safety officer who has contacted or attempted to contact the employee assistance program of the agency or entity that the officer serves, a licensed medical or mental health professional, suicide prevention services, or another mental health assistance service in order to receive help, treatment, or diagnosis for post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder, shall be presumed to constitute a personal injury within the meaning of subsection (a), sustained in the line of duty by the officer, if the officer, was exposed, while on duty, to one or more traumatic events and such exposure was a substantial factor in the disorder; and

(C) post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, or trauma and stress related disorders, suffered by a public safety officer who was exposed, while on duty, to one or more traumatic events shall be presumed to constitute a personal injury within the meaning of subsection (a), sustained in the line of duty by the officer if such exposure was a substantial factor in the disorder.

(3) Presumption of death or total disabilityA public safety officer shall be presumed to have died or become permanently and totally disabled (within the meaning of subsection (a) or (b)) as the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty, if (as determined by the Bureau) the officer either—

(A) took an action, which action was intended to bring about the officer’s death and directly and proximately resulted in such officer’s death or permanent and total disability and exposure, while on duty, to one or more traumatic events was a substantial factor in the action taken by the officer; or

(B) took an action within 45 days of the end of exposure, while on duty, to a traumatic event, which action was intended to bring about the officer’s death and directly and proximately resulted in such officer’s death or permanent and total disability, if such action was not inconsistent with a psychiatric disorder.

(4) Applicability of limitations on benefits

(A) Intentional actions

(B) Substance use

(Pub. L. 90–351, title I, § 1201, as added Pub. L. 98–473, title II, § 609F, Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2098; amended Pub. L. 100–690, title VI, § 6105(a)–(c), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4341; Pub. L. 101–647, title XIII, § 1301(a), Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4834; Pub. L. 102–520, § 1, Oct. 25, 1992, 106 Stat. 3402; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330001(e)(1), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2138; Pub. L. 107–56, title VI, § 613(a), Oct. 26, 2001, 115 Stat. 369; Pub. L. 107–196, § 2(b), June 24, 2002, 116 Stat. 719; Pub. L. 108–182, § 2, Dec. 15, 2003, 117 Stat. 2649; Pub. L. 109–162, title XI, § 1164(c)–(e), Jan. 5, 2006, 119 Stat. 3120, 3121; Pub. L. 112–239, div. A, title X, § 1086(b)(1)(B), Jan. 2, 2013, 126 Stat. 1964; Pub. L. 117–61, § 2, Nov. 18, 2021, 135 Stat. 1474; Pub. L. 117–172, § 3(a), Aug. 16, 2022, 136 Stat. 2099.)