2023 Texas Statutes › Vernon's Civil Statutes › Title 109 - Pensions › Article 6243a-1. Pension System for Police Officers and Firefighters in Certain Cities › Part 6. Benefits › Section 6.03. Disability Benefits

Sec. 6.03. DISABILITY BENEFITS.  (a)  If a member who is on active service, other than a member participating in DROP, becomes disabled to the extent that the member cannot perform the member's duties with the member's department, the member may apply for a disability pension, subject to any uniform and nondiscriminatory disability application procedure and recall and review procedure adopted by the board and in effect from time to time.
(b)  No disability pension may be paid until a member has been prevented, by a disability, from performing the member's duties with the member's department for a period of at least 90 consecutive calendar days, and no disability benefits may be paid for any portion of the 90-day period.  The board may waive the waiting period on request by the member, if the request is supported by credible evidence acceptable to the board that the disability is wholly and immediately incapacitating.  The board may request from the city such information, including any employment application and any related physical test and medical examination records, as may be desirable in evaluating the disability application.
(c)  No disability pension may be paid for any disability if the disability was a result of the member's commission of a felony, except that this restriction may be waived by the board if it believes that facts exist that would mitigate the denial of the member's application for a disability pension.
(d)  No disability pension may be paid to a member for any disability if the disability was a result of an intentionally self-inflicted injury or a chronic illness resulting from an addiction by the member through a protracted course of indulgence in alcohol, narcotics, or other substance abuse that was not coerced.
(e)  No disability pension may be paid until the health director has either examined the member or reviewed reports of the member's physical or mental condition submitted to the health director by competent outside medical practitioners.
(f)  No disability pension may be paid if the chief of the member's department is able to provide the member with duties that are within the member's physical or mental capabilities, even though the duties are different from the duties the member performed before the disability.
(g)  Written application for a disability pension must be filed with the executive director not later than the 180th day after the date the member leaves active service.  The application must be accompanied by a recommendation from the health director.  This recommendation shall contain a statement indicating whether the member became disabled while the member was on duty or off duty and whether the disability was service-connected or was not service-connected.
(h)  The recommendation from the health director shall also contain a statement indicating the date the member became disabled or indicating that the disability prevented the member from performing the member's duties for a period of not less than 90 days.
(i)  An application for disability retirement will be considered at the meeting of the board held during the month the disability pension is to become effective or as soon after the effective date of the disability pension as possible.  No disability pension may be paid, however, until the board has approved the application.
(j)  If a person who became a Group B member pursuant to Section 5.01(a)(2)(E) of this article withdraws the person's contributions pursuant to Section 4.04 of this article and leaves active service with vested rights in the old plan, Plan A, or the combined pension plan in existence before January 1, 1993, the Group B member must, on return to active service, earn five years of pension service after the date of return to receive a Group B disability pension.  If the Group B member is disabled before earning five years of pension service following a return to active service, the person may receive only a Group A disability pension.
(k)  For purposes of Sections 6.04 and 6.05 of this article and this section:
(1)  longevity pay and incentive pay are the amounts in effect on the date the benefits are to begin, without subsequent adjustment; and
(2)  except as provided by Section 6.05(b-1) of this article, base pay is the amount in effect on the date benefits are to begin, without subsequent adjustment.
(l)  Notwithstanding any other law, Subchapter B, Chapter 607, Government Code, applies to all members without regard to the employing department or job assignment.