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Title 500 | Chapter 001 | Regulation 010REG

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JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY CABINET
(Amended at ARRS Committee)

500 KAR 1:010.Definitions for 500 KAR Chapter 1.

RELATES TO:

KRS 61.315, 83A.087, 87A.088, 183.881, 446.010

STATUTORY AUTHORITY:

KRS 61.315(4)

NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:

KRS 61.315(2) authorizes payment to the surviving spouse and surviving children or parents of a police officer who dies in the line of duty. KRS 61.315(4) authorizes the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations establishing criteria and procedures for death benefits for police officers as defined in KRS 61.315(1)(a) who die in the line of duty. KRS 61.315(4) authorizes the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations applicable to the administration of payments, including defining when one has died in the line of duty. This administrative regulation establishesprovides the definitions of certain terms used in 500 KAR Chapter 1 which pertain to criteria and procedures applicable to the administration of benefits paid on death of police officers who have died in the line of duty, as required by KRS 61.315(4) to be promulgated by the Justice Cabinet.

Section 1.

Definitions. The following definitions shall apply in this chapter:

(1)

"Act in the line of duty" means an activity or an action performed by a police officer, related to public safety, and that the police officer is obligated or authorized by statute, rule, administrative regulation, condition or policy of employment or service with the public safety agency, official mutual-aid agreement, or other law to perform, including any social, ceremonial, or athletic functions, any official training programs of the public agency to which the police officer is assigned or for which the police officer is compensated by, under the auspices of the public safety agency, organization, or unit he or she serves, and the public safety agency, organization, or unit legally recognizes that activity or action to have been so obligated or authorized at the time performed. This definition shall include authorized commuting.

(2)

"Authorized commuting" means travel, not being a frolic or detour, by a police officer within the scope of his or her employment duties asto and from an official training program authorized or required by the police officer's public safety agency, organization, or unit.

(3)

"Cabinet" means the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet.

(4)

"Child" means any natural, adopted, or posthumous child or child born out of wedlock of the deceased police officer who, at the time of the officer's death, is living or later is born alive.

(5)

"Claim administrator" means the individual at the cabinet assigned by the secretary to review and process line of duty death benefits claims.

(6)

"Claimant" means an individual who has filed a claim for death benefits pursuant to KRS 61.315 on his or her own behalf or on whose behalf a claim has been filed.

(7)

"Death" means the death of the police officer as a result of an act in the line of duty, including a death that is a direct result of a traumatic injury, wound, condition of the body, disease, or medical treatment received as a direct result from an act in the line of duty. This definition shall not include a death resulting from:

(a)

A nonwork-related disease or condition or a routine work-related disease or condition common to the officer's occupation;

(b)

Intentional misconduct of the police officer;

(c)

The police officer's intention to bring about his or her death;

(d)

The police officer's willfulness or wanton disregard that brings about his or her death; or

(e)

Voluntary intoxication of the police officer thatwhich is a contributing factor of the death.

(8)

"Determination" means the approval or denial of a claim.

(9)

"Direct result" or "direct and proximate cause" means something that is a substantial factor in bringing a condition about.

(10)

"Eligible survivor" means a spouse, child, or parent:

(a)

Described in KRS 61.315(2) as being entitled to a benefit for the death of a police officer in the line of duty; and

(b)

Who meets the requirements for payment described in KRS 61.315(2).

(11)

"Heart attack" means:

(a)

A myocardial infarction; or

(b)

A cardiac event including cessation, interruption, arrest, or other similar disturbance of heart function that is:

1.

Acute; and

2.

Directly and proximately caused by a pathology, or pathological condition of the heart or of the coronary arteries.

(12)

"Nonroutine strenuous physical activity" means an act in the line of duty that:

(a)

Is not of a clerical, administrative, or nonmanual nature;

(b)

Is not performed as a matter of routine; and

(c)

Entails an unusually high level of physical exertion.

(13)

"Nonroutine stressful physical activity" means an act in the line of duty that:

(a)

Is not of a clerical, administrative, or nonmanual nature;

(b)

Is not performed as a matter of routine;

(c)

Entails non-negligible physical exertion; and

(d)

Occurs under circumstances that objectively and reasonably:

1.

Pose or simulate, in a realistic fashion, situations that pose significant dangers, threats, or hazards not faced by similarly-situated members of the public in the ordinary course; and

2.

Provoke an unusually high level of alarm, fear, or anxiety.

(14)

"Office of the Secretary" means the office of the secretary of the cabinet at 125 Holmes St, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601.

(15)

"Officer" or "police officer" is defined by KRS 61.315(1)(a).

(16)

"Parent" means a natural or adoptive parent of the police officer living at the time of the police officer's death.

(17)

"Posthumous child" means a biological child of the officer, and the officer is:

(a)

Alive at the time of the child's conception; and

(b)

Deceased at or before the time of the child's birth.

(18)

"Secretary" means the secretary of the cabinet.

(19)

"Spouse" means the lawfully wedded husband or wife of the deceased police officer living at the time of the officer's death and includes a spouse living apart from the officer at the time of the officer's death for any reason or a spouse involved in divorce proceedings if a final divorce decree has not been entered at the time of the police officer's death.

(20)

"Stroke" means a cerebrovascular incident.

(21)

"Substantial factor" means a factor that substantially brings about an event, if:

(a)

The factor alone was sufficient to have caused the event; or

(b)

No other factor or combination of factors contributed to the event to so great a degree as the factor in question."Secretary" means the Secretary of the Justice Cabinet.

(2)

"Cabinet" means the Justice Cabinet.

(3)

"Police officer" means every paid police officer, sheriff or deputy sheriff, or any auxiliary police officer appointed pursuant to KRS 95.445, or any citation or safety officer appointed pursuant to KRS Chapter 83A, elected to office or employed by any Kentucky county or city, or by the state, or by an airport board created pursuant to KRS Chapter 183, or any member of the Kentucky National Guard on state active duty pursuant to KRS 38.030.

(4)

"Claimant" means spouse, child or parent who files a claim for death benefits pursuant to KRS 61.315 with the Justice Cabinet.

(5)

"Spouse" means the lawfully wedded husband or wife of the deceased police officer living at the time of the officer's death, and includes a spouse living apart from the officer at the time of the officer's death for any reason or a spouse involved in divorce proceedings if a final divorce decree has not been entered.

(6)

"Children" means any natural, adopted or posthumous child or child born out of wedlock of the deceased police officer who, at the time of the officer's death is living or later is born alive.

(7)

"Parent" means a natural or adoptive parent of the police officer living at the time of the police officer's death.

(8)

"Death as a direct result of an act" means that the antecedent act, omission to act or event inflicted upon the police officer was the substantial factor in the result of the police officer's death.

(9)

"Death" means the immediate death of the police officer from an act in the line of duty that resulted in his death, as well as a traumatic injury, wound, condition of the body or disease resulting therefrom or medical attention therefor that directly causes the death of the office.

(10)

"Act in the line of duty" means an act or omission to act by the police officer or event involving the police officer or external force upon the police officer while the officer is engaged in any action or duty which the officer is obligated or authorized by rule, administrative regulation, condition of employment or service, or law to perform for the public agency or office the police officer serves. Specifically, an act is not in the line of duty if the death was caused by:

(a)

A nonwork-related disease or condition or a routine work-related disease or condition common to the officer's occupation;

(b)

Intentional misconduct of the police officer;

(c)

The police officer's intention to bring about his death;

(d)

The police officer's willfulness or wanton disregard that brings about his death;

(e)

Voluntary intoxication of the police officer which is a contributing factor of the death; or

(f)

If the actions or omissions of the beneficiary was a substantial factor in the death of the police officer, recovery being precluded as to that beneficiary only.

(11)

"Office of the Secretary" as used herein means the person designated by the secretary of the cabinet to receive, process and make eligibility determinations on claims for benefits to be paid on death of a police officer pursuant to KRS 61.315. The address of the Office of the Secretary for filing claims is: Assistant General Counsel, Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, Office of Legal Services, Department of Criminal Justice Training, Funderburk Building, 521 Lancaster Avenue, Richmond, Kentucky 40475-3102.
FILED WITH LRC: December 9, 2024
CONTACT PERSON: Nathan Goens, Staff Attorney, Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, 125 Holmes Street, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601, phone (502) 564-8216, fax (502) 564-6686, email Justice.RegsContact@ky.gov.

7-Year Expiration: 2/25/2027

Last Updated: 12/17/2024

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