2023 Indiana Code › Title 36. Local Government › Article 8. Public Safety › Chapter 8. 1977 Police Officers' and Firefighters' Pension and Disability Fund › 36-8-8-13.3. Disability Benefits; Benefit for Catastrophic Physical Personal Injury

Sec. 13.3. (a) This section applies only to a fund member who:
(1) is hired for the first time before January 1, 1990; and
(2) does not choose coverage by sections 12.5 and 13.5 of this chapter under section 12.4 of this chapter.
This section does not apply to a fund member described in section 12.3(c)(2) of this chapter.
(b) A fund member:
(1) who became disabled before July 1, 2000;
(2) is determined to have a covered impairment; and
(3) for whom it is determined that there is no suitable and available work within the fund member's department, considering reasonable accommodation to the extent required by the Americans with Disabilities Act;
is entitled to receive during the disability a benefit equal to the benefit that the fund member would have received if the fund member had retired. If the fund member with a disability does not have at least twenty (20) years of service or is not at least fifty-two (52) years of age, the benefit is computed and paid as if the fund member had twenty (20) years of service and was fifty-two (52) years of age.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a fund member:
(1) who becomes disabled after July 1, 2000;
(2) who is determined to have a covered impairment that is:
(A) the direct result of:
(i) a personal injury that occurs while the fund member is on duty;
(ii) a personal injury that occurs while the fund member is off duty and is responding to an offense or a reported offense, in the case of a police officer, or an emergency or reported emergency for which the fund member is trained, in the case of a firefighter; or
(iii) an occupational disease (as defined in IC 22-3-7-10), including a duty related disease that is also included within clause (B);
(B) a duty related disease (for purposes of this section, a "duty related disease" means a disease arising out of the fund member's employment. A disease is considered to arise out of the fund member's employment if it is apparent to the rational mind, upon consideration of all of the circumstances, that:
(i) there is a connection between the conditions under which the fund member's duties are performed and the disease;
(ii) the disease can be seen to have followed as a natural incident of the fund member's duties as a result of the exposure occasioned by the nature of the fund member's duties; and
(iii) the disease can be traced to the fund member's employment as the proximate cause); or
(C) a disability presumed incurred in the line of duty under IC 5-10-13 or IC 5-10-15; and
(3) for whom it is determined that there is no suitable and available work within the fund member's department, considering reasonable accommodation to the extent required by the Americans with Disabilities Act;
is entitled to receive during the disability a benefit equal to the benefit that the fund member would have received if the fund member had retired. If the fund member with a disability does not have at least twenty (20) years of service or is not at least fifty-two (52) years of age, the benefit is computed and paid as if the fund member had twenty (20) years of service and was fifty-two (52) years of age.
(d) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a fund member:
(1) who becomes disabled after July 1, 2000;
(2) who is determined to have a covered impairment that is not a covered impairment described in subsection (c)(2); and
(3) for whom it is determined that there is no suitable and available work within the fund member's department, considering reasonable accommodation to the extent required by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act;
is entitled to receive during the disability a benefit equal to the benefit that the fund member would have received if the fund member had retired. If the fund member with a disability does not have at least twenty (20) years of service or is not at least fifty-two (52) years of age, the benefit is computed and paid as if the fund member had twenty (20) years of service and was fifty-two (52) years of age.
(e) Notwithstanding section 12.3 of this chapter and any other provision of this section, a member who:
(1) has had a covered impairment;
(2) recovers and returns to active service with the department; and
(3) within two (2) years after returning to active service has an impairment that except for section 12.3 of this chapter would be a covered impairment;
is entitled to the benefit under this subsection if the impairment described in subdivision (3) results from the same condition or conditions (without an intervening circumstance) that caused the covered impairment described in subdivision (1). The member is entitled to receive the monthly disability benefit amount paid to the member at the time of the member's return to active service plus any adjustments under section 15 of this chapter that would have been applicable during the member's period of reemployment.
(f) As used in this subsection, "catastrophic physical personal injury" means a physical personal injury that results in a degree of impairment to the fund member of at least sixty-seven percent (67%). Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a fund member who has a permanent and total covered impairment that is the direct result of a catastrophic physical personal injury that:
(1) occurs in the line of duty after July 1, 2008; and
(2) permanently prevents the fund member from performing any gainful work;
shall receive, after July 1, 2017, a disability benefit equal to the monthly salary of a first class patrolman or firefighter at the commencement of the disability. The disability benefit provided under this subsection is paid instead of the disability benefit otherwise determined under this section. The disability benefit determined under this subsection is payable for the remainder of the fund member's life. The disability benefit provided under this subsection must be increased at a rate equal to the increases in the monthly salary of a first class patrolman or firefighter.
As added by P.L.311-1989, SEC.12. Amended by P.L.4-1992, SEC.49; P.L.213-1995, SEC.11; P.L.22-1998, SEC.23; P.L.118-2000, SEC.25; P.L.62-2006, SEC.8; P.L.99-2007, SEC.220; P.L.161-2017, SEC.5.