Illinois Compiled Statutes
Chapter 820 - EMPLOYMENT
820 ILCS 315/ - Line of Duty Compensation Act.

(820 ILCS 315/1)
(from Ch. 48, par. 281)
Sec. 1. This Act shall be known and may be cited as the Line of Duty

Compensation Act.

(Source: P.A. 93-1047, eff. 10-18-04.)
 
(820 ILCS 315/2)
(from Ch. 48, par. 282)
Sec. 2. As used in this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) "Law enforcement officer" or "officer" means any person employed
by the State or a local governmental entity as a policeman, peace
officer, auxiliary policeman or in some like position involving the
enforcement of the law and protection of the public interest at the risk of
that person's life. This includes supervisors, wardens, superintendents and
their assistants, guards and keepers, correctional officers, youth
supervisors, parole agents, aftercare specialists, school teachers and correctional counsellors
in all facilities of both the
Department of Corrections and the Department of Juvenile Justice, while within the facilities under the control
of the Department of Corrections or the Department of Juvenile Justice or in the act of transporting inmates
or wards from one location to another or while performing their official
duties, and all other Department of Correction or Department of Juvenile Justice employees who have daily
contact with inmates. For the purposes of this Act, "law enforcement officer" or "officer" also means a probation officer, as defined in Section 9b of the Probation and Probation Officers Act.
The death of the foregoing employees of the Department of Corrections or the Department of Juvenile Justice
in order to be included herein must be by the direct or indirect willful
act of an inmate, ward, work-releasee, parolee, aftercare releasee, parole violator, aftercare release violator, person
under conditional release, or any person sentenced or committed, or
otherwise subject to confinement in or to the Department of Corrections or the Department of Juvenile Justice.
(b) "Fireman" means any person employed by the State or a local
governmental entity as, or otherwise serving as, a member or officer of
a fire department either for the purpose of the prevention or control of fire
or the underwater recovery of drowning victims, including volunteer firemen.
(c) "Local governmental entity" includes counties, municipalities
and municipal corporations.
(d) "State" means the State of Illinois and its departments,
divisions, boards, bureaus, commissions, authorities and colleges and
universities.
(e) "Killed in the line of duty" means losing one's life as a result
of injury received in the active performance of duties as a law
enforcement officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member,
paramedic, fireman, or chaplain if the death occurs within
one year from the date
the injury was received and if that injury arose from violence or other
accidental cause. In the case of a State employee, "killed in the line
of duty" means losing one's life as a result of injury received in the
active performance of one's duties as a State employee, if the death occurs
within one year from the date the injury was received and if that injury
arose from a willful act of violence by another State employee committed
during such other employee's course of employment and after January 1,
1988. The term excludes death resulting from the willful
misconduct or intoxication of the officer, civil defense worker, civil
air patrol member, paramedic, fireman, chaplain, or State employee.
However,
the burden of proof of
such willful misconduct or intoxication of the officer, civil defense
worker, civil air patrol member, paramedic,
fireman, chaplain, or State employee is on the Attorney
General. Subject to the conditions set forth in subsection (a) with
respect to inclusion under this Act of Department of Corrections and Department of Juvenile Justice employees
described in that subsection, for the purposes of this Act, instances in
which a law enforcement officer receives an injury in the active
performance of duties as a law enforcement officer include but are not
limited to instances when:
In the case of an Armed Forces member, "killed in the line of duty" means
losing one's life while on active duty in connection with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Freedom's Sentinel, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn, or Operation Inherent Resolve.
(f) "Volunteer fireman" means a person having principal employment
other than as a fireman, but who is carried on the rolls of a regularly
constituted fire department either for the purpose of the prevention or
control of fire or the underwater recovery of drowning victims, the members
of which are under the
jurisdiction of the corporate authorities of a city, village,
incorporated town, or fire protection district, and includes a volunteer
member of a fire department organized under the "General Not for Profit
Corporation Act", approved July 17, 1943, as now or hereafter amended,
which is under contract with any city, village, incorporated town, fire
protection district, or persons residing therein, for fire fighting
services. "Volunteer fireman" does not mean an individual who
volunteers assistance without being regularly enrolled as a fireman.
(g) "Civil defense worker" means any person employed by the State or
a local governmental entity as, or otherwise serving as, a member of a
civil defense work force, including volunteer civil defense work forces
engaged in serving the public interest during periods of disaster,
whether natural or man-made.
(h) "Civil air patrol member" means any person employed by the State
or a local governmental entity as, or otherwise serving as, a member of
the organization commonly known as the "Civil Air Patrol", including
volunteer members of the organization commonly known as the "Civil Air Patrol".
(i) "Paramedic" means an Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic certified by
the Illinois Department of Public Health under the Emergency Medical
Services (EMS) Systems Act, and all other emergency medical personnel
certified by the Illinois Department of Public Health who are members of an
organized body or not-for-profit corporation under the jurisdiction of
a city, village, incorporated town, fire protection district or county, that
provides emergency medical treatment to persons of a defined geographical area.
(j) "State employee" means any employee as defined in Section
14-103.05 of the Illinois Pension Code, as now or hereafter amended.
(k) "Chaplain" means an individual who:
(l) "Armed Forces member" means an Illinois resident who is: a member of
the
Armed Forces of the United States; a member of the Illinois National Guard
while on active military service pursuant to an order of the President of the
United States; or a member of any reserve component of the Armed Forces of the
United States while on active military service pursuant to an order of the
President of the United States.

(Source: P.A. 102-221, eff. 1-1-22.)
 
(820 ILCS 315/3)
(from Ch. 48, par. 283)
Sec. 3. Duty death benefit.
(a) If a claim therefor is made within one
year of the date of death of a law enforcement officer, civil
defense worker, civil air patrol member, paramedic, fireman, chaplain, or
State employee killed in the line of duty,
or if a claim therefor is made within 2 years of the date of death of an Armed Forces member killed in the line of duty, compensation shall be paid to the person designated by the law
enforcement officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member, paramedic,
fireman, chaplain, State employee, or Armed Forces member. However, if the Armed Forces member was killed in the line of duty before
October 18, 2004, the
claim must be made within one year of October 18, 2004. In addition, if a death occurred after December 31, 2016 and before January 1, 2021, the claim may be made no later than December 31, 2022 notwithstanding any other deadline established under this Act with respect to filing a claim for a duty death benefit.
(b)
The amount of compensation, except for an Armed Forces member, shall be $10,000 if the death in the
line of duty occurred prior to January 1, 1974; $20,000 if
such death occurred after December 31, 1973 and before July 1, 1983;
$50,000 if such death occurred on or after July 1, 1983 and before January 1,
1996; $100,000 if the death occurred on or after January 1, 1996 and
before May 18, 2001; $118,000 if the death occurred on or after May
18, 2001 and before July 1, 2002; and $259,038 if the death occurred on or after July 1, 2002 and before January
1, 2003. For an Armed Forces member killed in the line of duty (i) at any time before January 1, 2005, the compensation is $259,038 plus amounts equal to the increases for 2003 and 2004 determined under subsection (c) and (ii) on or after January 1, 2005, the compensation is the amount determined under item (i) plus the applicable increases for 2005 and thereafter determined under subsection (c).
(c) Except as provided in subsection (b), for deaths occurring on or after January 1, 2003, the death
compensation rate for death in the line of duty occurring in a particular
calendar year shall be the death compensation rate for death occurring in the
previous calendar year (or in the case of deaths occurring in 2003, the rate
in effect on December 31, 2002) increased by a percentage thereof equal to
the percentage increase, if any, in the index known as the Consumer Price
Index for All Urban Consumers: U.S. city average, unadjusted, for all items,
as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics, for the 12 months ending with the month of June of that previous
calendar year.
(d) If no beneficiary is designated or if no designated beneficiary survives at the death of the law
enforcement officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member,
paramedic, fireman, chaplain, or State employee
killed in the line of
duty, the compensation shall be paid in accordance with a legally binding will left by the law
enforcement officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member,
paramedic, fireman, chaplain, or State employee. If the law
enforcement officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member,
paramedic, fireman, chaplain, or State employee did not leave a legally binding will, the compensation shall be paid as follows:
(d-1) For purposes of subsection (d), in the case of a person killed in the line of duty who was born out of wedlock and was not an adoptive child at the time of the person's death, a person shall be deemed to be a parent of the person killed in the line of duty only if that person would be an eligible parent, as defined in Section 2-2 of the Probate Act of 1975, of the person killed in the line of duty. This subsection (d-1) applies to any pending claim if compensation was not paid to the claimant of the pending claim before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly.
(d-2) If no beneficiary is designated or if no designated beneficiary survives at the death of the Armed Forces member killed in the line of duty, the compensation shall be paid in entirety according to the designation made on the most recent version of the Armed Forces member's Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance Election and Certificate ("SGLI").
If no SGLI form exists at the time of the Armed Forces member's death, the compensation shall be paid in accordance with a legally binding will left by the Armed Forces member.
If no SGLI form exists for the Armed Forces member and the Armed Forces member did not leave a legally binding will, the compensation shall be paid to the persons and in the priority as set forth in paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection (d) of this Section.
This subsection (d-2) applies to any pending case as long as compensation has not been paid to any party before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly.
(e) If there is no beneficiary designated or if no designated beneficiary survives at the death of the
law enforcement officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member,
paramedic, fireman, chaplain, State employee, or Armed Forces member
killed in the line of duty
and there is no other person or entity to whom compensation is payable under this Section, no compensation shall be payable
under this Act.
(f) No part of such compensation may be paid to any other person for any
efforts in securing such compensation.
(g) This amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly applies to claims made on or after October 18, 2004 with respect to an Armed Forces member killed in the line of duty.
(h) In any case for which benefits have not been paid within 6 months of the claim being filed in accordance with this Section, which is pending as of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, and in which there are 2 or more beneficiaries, at least one of whom would receive at least a portion of the total benefit regardless of the manner in which the Court of Claims resolves the claim, the Court shall direct the Comptroller to pay the minimum amount of money which the determinate beneficiary would receive together with all interest payment penalties which have accrued on that portion of the award being paid within 30 days of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly. For purposes of this subsection (h), "determinate beneficiary" means the beneficiary who would receive any portion of the total benefit claimed regardless of the manner in which the Court of Claims adjudicates the claim.
(i) The Court of Claims shall ensure that all individuals who have filed an application to claim the duty death benefit for a deceased member of the Armed Forces pursuant to this Section or for a fireman pursuant to this Section, or their designated representative, shall have access, on a timely basis and in an efficient manner, to all information related to the court's consideration, processing, or adjudication of the claim, including, but not limited to, the following:
(j) The Court of Claims shall send written notice to all claimants within 2 weeks of the initiation of a claim indicating whether or not the application is complete. For purposes of this subsection (j), an application is complete if a claimant has submitted to the Court of Claims all documents and information the Court requires for adjudicating and paying the benefit amount. For purposes of this subsection (j), a claim for the duty death benefit is initiated when a claimant submits any of the application materials required for adjudicating the claim to the Court of Claims. In the event a claimant's application is incomplete, the Court shall include in its written notice a list of the information or documents which the claimant must submit in order for the application to be complete.


In no case may the Court of Claims deny a claim and subsequently re-adjudicate the same claim for the purpose of evading or reducing the interest penalty payment amount payable to any claimant.
(Source: P.A. 102-215, eff. 7-30-21.)
 
(820 ILCS 315/3.5)
Sec. 3.5. Burial benefit. A burial benefit of up to a maximum of $20,000
shall be payable to the surviving spouse or estate of a law enforcement officer
or
fireman who is killed in the line of duty after June 30, 2018.
The Attorney General and the Court of Claims may jointly adopt rules and
procedures
for the implementation of this Section.

(Source: P.A. 101-28, eff. 1-1-20.)
 
(820 ILCS 315/4)
(from Ch. 48, par. 284)
Sec. 4. Notwithstanding
Section 3, no compensation is payable under this Act
unless a claim therefor is filed, within the time specified by that
Section with the Court of Claims on an application prescribed and
furnished by the Attorney General and setting forth:
When a claim is filed, the Attorney General shall make an investigation
for substantiation of matters set forth in such an application.
For the 2 years immediately following the effective date of this amendatory act of the 96th General Assembly, the Court of Claims shall direct the Comptroller to pay a "Modified-Eligibility Line of Duty Benefit" to eligible late claimants who file a claim for the benefit. A claim for a Modified-Eligibility Line of Duty Benefit must include all the application materials and documents required for all other claims payable under this Act, except as otherwise provided in this Section 4.

For purposes of this Section 4 only, an "eligible late claimant" is a person who would have been eligible, at any time after September 11, 2001, to apply for and receive payment of a claim pursuant to this Act in connection with the death of an Armed Forces member killed in the line of duty or a fireman killed in the line of duty, but did not receive the award payment because:
 
(820 ILCS 315/5) (from Ch. 48, par. 285)
Sec. 5.


The compensation provided for in this Act is in addition to, and not
exclusive of, any pension rights, death benefits or other compensation
otherwise payable by law.

(Source: P.A. 76-1602.)

Structure Illinois Compiled Statutes