Section 143.09. [Effective 3/23/2016] Payments to volunteer peace officers who are totally and permanently disabled; death benefits

(A) A volunteer peace officer who is totally and permanently disabled as a result of discharging the duties of a volunteer peace officer shall receive a benefit from the volunteer peace officers' dependents fund of three hundred dollars per month, except that no payment shall be made to a volunteer peace officer who is receiving the officer's full salary during the time of the officer's disability.

(B) Regardless of whether the volunteer peace officer received a benefit under division (A) of t his section, death benefits shall be paid from the fund to the surviving spouse or dependent children of a volunteer peace officer who is killed in the line of duty. Death benefits shall be paid as follows:

(1) To the surviving spouse of a volunteer peace officer killed in the line of duty, an award of one thousand dollars, and in addition, a benefit of three hundred dollars per month;

(2) To the parent, guardian, or other persons on whom a child of a volunteer peace officer killed in the line of duty is dependent for chief financial support, a benefit of one hundred twenty-five dollars per month for each dependent child under age eighteen, or under age twenty-two if attending an institution of learning or training pursuant to a program designed to complete in each school year the equivalent of at least two-thirds of the full-time curriculum requirements of the institution.

(C) An individual eligible for benefits payable under this section shall file a claim for benefits with the appropriate volunteer peace officers' dependents fund board on a form provided by the board. All of the following information shall be submitted with the claim:

(1) In the case of a totally and permanently disabled volunteer peace officer, the following:

(a) The name of the police or sheriff's department for which the officer was a volunteer peace officer;

(b) The date of the injury;

(c) Satisfactory medical evidence that the officer is totally and permanently disabled.

(2) In the case of a surviving spouse or a parent, guardian, or other person in charge of a dependent child, the following:

(a) The full name of the deceased volunteer peace officer;

(b) The name of the police or sheriff's department for which the deceased officer was a volunteer peace officer;

(c) The name and address of the surviving spouse, as applicable;

(d) The names, ages, and addresses of any dependent children;

(e) Any other evidence required by the board.

(D) All claimants shall certify that neither the claimant nor the person on whose behalf the claim is filed qualifies for other benefits from any of the following based on the officer's service as a volunteer peace officer: the public employees retirement system, Ohio police and fire pension fund, state highway patrol retirement system, Cincinnati retirement system, or Ohio public safety officers death benefit fund.

(E) Initial claims shall be filed with the volunteer peace officers' dependents fund board of t he fund member in which the officer was a volunteer peace officer. Thereafter, on request of t he claimant or the board, claims may be transferred to a board near the claimant's current residence, if t he boards concerned agree to the transfer.

Added by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, SB 11, §1, eff. 3/23/2016.