S99 - Appropriations Act of 2018. (SL 2018-5)

Overview: Sec. 35.29 amends the title of Article 12A of Chapter 143 to "Public Safety Employees' Death Benefits Act" and expands death benefit coverage to include dependents of noncustodial employees of the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice (DACJJ) of the Department of Public Safety, who are killed by an individual or individuals in the custody of the DACJJ. The amount awarded by the Industrial Commission to any covered person who is killed in the line of duty is increased to $100,000. Additionally, the payment section is amended to specify that when there is no surviving spouse, surviving dependent child, or surviving parent, the payment must be made to the estate of the deceased covered person. The section makes a number of other amendments to the Article and makes conforming changes to other statutes. The amended statutes specify that provisions in the Article apply to noncustodial employees of the DACJJ who are killed in the line of duty on or after April 1, 2017.

This section became effective retroactively to April 1, 2017, and applies to qualifying deaths occurring on or after that date.