Introduced Version
House Bill 2867 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2867
(By Delegates Ashley, Boggs, Staggers, Williams, Moye,
Caputo, Kump and Barill)
[Introduced March 8, 2013; referred to the
Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §15-2A-9 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to awarding qualified disabled
state troopers the Purple Heart by the Superintendent of the
State Police and a Wounded in the Line of Duty registration by
the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §15-2A-9 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2A. WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§15-2A-9. Awards and benefits for disability -- Incurred in
performance of duty.
(a) Any An employee of the agency who has not yet entered
retirement status on the basis of age and service and who becomes
partially disabled by injury, illness or disease resulting from any
an occupational risk or hazard inherent in or peculiar to the
services required of employees of the agency or incurred pursuant to or while the employee was engaged in the performance of his or
her duties as an employee of the agency shall, if, in the opinion
of the board, he or she is, by reason of that cause, unable to
perform adequately the duties required of him or her as an employee
of the agency but is able to engage in other gainful employment in
a field other than law enforcement, be retired from active service
by the board. The retirant thereafter is entitled to receive
annually from the fund in equal monthly installments during his or
her lifetime or until the retirant attains the age of fifty-five or
until the disability eligibility sooner terminates, one or the
other of two amounts, whichever is greater:
(1) An amount equal to six tenths of the base salary received
in the preceding twelve-month employment period. Provided, That
If the member had not been employed with the agency for twelve
months prior to the disability, the amount of monthly salary shall
be annualized for the purpose of determining the benefit; or
(2) The sum of $6,000. The first day of the month following
the date in which the retirant attains age fifty-five, the retirant
shall receive the benefit provided in section six of this article
as it would apply to his or her final average salary based on
earnings from the agency through the day immediately preceding his
or her disability. The recalculation of benefit upon a retirant
attaining age fifty-five shall be considered to be a retirement
under the provisions of section six of this article for purposes of determining the amount of annual annuity adjustment and for all
other purposes of this article: Provided, That a retirant who is
partially disabled under this article may not, while in receipt of
benefits for partial disability, be employed as a law-enforcement
officer: Provided, however, That a retirant on a partial
disability under this article may serve as an elected sheriff or
appointed chief of police in the state without a loss of disability
retirement benefits as long as the elected or appointed position is
shown, to the satisfaction of the board, to require the performance
of administrative duties and functions only, as opposed to the full
range of duties of a law-enforcement officer.
(b) Any A member who has not yet entered retirement status on
the basis of age and service and who becomes physically or mentally
disabled by injury, illness or disease on a probable permanent
basis resulting from any occupational risk or hazard inherent in or
peculiar to the services required of employees of the agency or
incurred pursuant to or while the employee was or is engaged in the
performance of his or her duties as an employee of the agency to
the extent that the employee is incapacitated ever to engage in any
gainful employment, the employee is entitled to receive annually,
and there shall be paid from the fund in equal monthly installments
during his or her lifetime or until the disability sooner
terminates, an amount equal to the base salary received by the
employee in the preceding full twelve-month employment period. Until a member has worked twelve months, the amount of monthly base
salary shall be annualized for the purpose of determining the
benefit.
(c) The superintendent of the agency may expend moneys from
funds appropriated for the agency in payment of medical, surgical,
laboratory, X-ray, hospital, ambulance and dental expenses and fees
and reasonable costs and expenses incurred in the purchase of
artificial limbs and other approved appliances which may be
reasonably necessary for any a retirant who is temporarily,
permanently or totally disabled by injury, illness or disease
resulting from any occupational risk or hazard inherent in or
peculiar to the service required of employees of the agency or
incurred pursuant to or while the employee was or shall be engaged
in the performance of duties as an employee of the agency.
Whenever the superintendent determines that any a disabled retirant
is ineligible to receive any of the benefits in this section at
public expense, the superintendent shall, at the request of the
disabled retirant, refer the matter to the board for hearing and
final decision. In no case will the compensation rendered to
health care providers for medical and hospital services exceed the
then current rate schedule approved by the West Virginia Insurance
Commission. Upon termination of employment and receipt of properly
executed forms from the agency and the member, the board shall
process the member's disability retirement benefit and commence annuity payments as soon as administratively feasible.
(d) If a uniformed member, while in active service of the
agency, becomes partially or totally disabled on a probable
permanent basis to the extent the member cannot adequately perform
the duties required of a member of the agency by any cause other
than the result of habits, intemperance or willful misconduct of
the member or caused by improper actions by the member, the member
shall be awarded a Purple Heart by the Superintendent of the State
Police and a Wounded in the Line of Duty registration by the
Department of Motor Vehicles. A previously medically retired
member who meets the same requirements shall, upon request, be
awarded the Purple Heart by the Superintendent of the State Police
and a Wounded in the Line of Duty registration by the Department of
Motor Vehicles. The Superintendent of the State Police and the
Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles shall cause the
awards to be made within ninety days of a retirant's departure from
the agency or, when concerning a former medically discharged
member, from the date of written request. Only members deemed at
fault for their medical condition as a result of an internal
investigation shall be denied the awards.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for an award of
the Purple Heart by the Superintendent of the State Police and a
Wounded in the Line of Duty registration by the Department of Motor
Vehicles to qualified, disabled state troopers.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.