2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FIVE - Internal Security (§§ 1 — 3356) › Subtitle 1 - Generally (§§ 1 — 1973) › PART IV - Retirement and Relief (§§ 361-374 — 406) › Chapter 44 - Scholarships for Relatives of Firefighters Corps Members and Special Investigation Negotiation (§ 406) › § 406 - Scholarships for relatives of Firefighters Corps members and Special Investigation Negotiation

(a) The award of scholarships for the payment of tuition in any duly accredited educational institution of Puerto Rico is hereby authorized for the immediate family of the members of the Firefighters Corps of Puerto Rico, as well as of the employees of the Bureau of Special Investigations (N.I.E.), attached to the Department of Justice, who were killed in the line of duty, or died as a result of work-related health conditions or accidents, or while off-duty as a result of their intervention to maintain order and safeguard public safety. Immediate family members entitled to receive the aforementioned scholarship are the surviving spouse, while he/she remains unmarried; his/her children under the age of twenty-one (21); and any adult children up to the age of twenty-five (25) who is pursuing graduate studies.
(b) The scope of the scholarships awarded to pay tuition and purchase text books shall be limited to a maximum of six (6) years on a full-time student program for the completion of a bachelor’s degree or to the maximum term required by the institution to obtain said academic degree as a part-time student.
(c) The scholarships awarded shall be used exclusively for the payment of tuition and the purchase of textbooks; therefore, the same shall not be applied towards any other obligation with the academic institution. Scholarships shall be awarded for any academic session, including summer sessions.
(d) Students receiving said scholarships shall meet any admission requirement and shall comply with the policies of the educational institution, which shall be duly accredited, in accordance with the laws of Puerto Rico.
(e) The scholarships awarded for the payment of tuition and purchase of textbooks shall be in addition to other compensations and benefits that may be granted by virtue of other state and federal laws.
(f) The Fire Chief and the Secretary of the Department of Justice, in regards to the Bureau of Special Investigations (N.I.E.), are hereby empowered to adopt regulations as are necessary to enforce this section. The regulations shall contain the scholarship programs that are available for the payment of tuition and the purchase of textbooks. These Regulations shall be submitted to the Department of State not later than January 2, 2012.
(g) A special fund for the Firefighters Corps of Puerto Rico, designated as the “Children and Surviving Spouse of Firefighters Corps Members Scholarship Fund”, is hereby created in the books of the Department of the Treasury, without fiscal year limitation and different and separate from any other money or funds of the Government of Puerto Rico.
The “Children and Surviving Spouses of Members of the Firefighters Corps Scholarship Fund” shall be used to award educational scholarships for the benefit of the persons identified in subsection (a) of this section when the relative who was a member of the Firefighters Corps is killed in the line of duty, or dies as a result of work-related health conditions or accidents, or while off-duty as a result of their intervention to maintain order and safeguard public security.
(h) The “Children and Surviving Spouses of Members of the Firefighters Corps Scholarship Fund” shall also be nourished from:
(1) Appropriations made by the Legislative Assembly.
(2) Any other funds donated, transferred, or assigned by any public or private entity.
(i) A special fund for the Bureau of Special Investigations, designated as the “Children and Surviving Spouses of Members of the N.I.E. Scholarship Fund,” is hereby created in the books of the Department of the Treasury, without fiscal year limitation, and different and separate from any other money or funds of the Government of Puerto Rico.
The “Children and Surviving Spouses of Members of the Bureau of Special Investigations (N.I.E.) Scholarship Fund” shall be used to award scholarships for the benefit of the persons identified in subsection (a) of this section, when the relative who was a member of the N.I.E. is killed in the line of duty, or dies as a result of work-related health conditions or accidents, or while off-duty, as a result of their intervention to maintain order and safeguard public security.
(j) The “Children and Surviving Spouses of Members of the N.I.E. Scholarship Fund” shall also be nourished from:
(1) Appropriations made by the Legislative Assembly.
(2) Any other funds donated, transferred, or assigned by any public or private entity.
(k) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Department of Justice and the Fire Chief to request, establish, and include an item in the fiscal budget of their respective agencies for the Fiscal Year 2012-13 to be used to achieve the purposes of this section.
History —Aug. 30, 2012, No. 215, §§ 1--11, retroactive to July 1, 2012.