103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB4109

 

Introduced , by Rep. Martin McLaughlin

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
820 ILCS 315/2  from Ch. 48, par. 282

    Amends the Line of Duty Compensation Act. Expands the definition of "law enforcement officer" or "officer" to include any person working as a volunteer for the State or a local governmental entity in some position involving the enforcement of the law and protection of the public interest at the risk of that person's life, including, but not limited to, volunteers assisting with parking and traffic.


LRB103 33051 SPS 62858 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB4109LRB103 33051 SPS 62858 b

1    AN ACT concerning employment.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Line of Duty Compensation Act is amended by
5changing Section 2 as follows:
 
6    (820 ILCS 315/2)   (from Ch. 48, par. 282)
7    Sec. 2. As used in this Act, unless the context otherwise
8requires:
9    (a) "Law enforcement officer" or "officer" means any
10person employed by, or working as a volunteer for, the State or
11a local governmental entity as a policeman, peace officer,
12auxiliary policeman or in some like position involving the
13enforcement of the law and protection of the public interest
14at the risk of that person's life, and includes, but is not
15limited to, volunteers assisting with parking and traffic.
16This includes supervisors, wardens, superintendents and their
17assistants, guards and keepers, correctional officers, youth
18supervisors, parole agents, aftercare specialists, school
19teachers and correctional counsellors in all facilities of
20both the Department of Corrections and the Department of
21Juvenile Justice, while within the facilities under the
22control of the Department of Corrections or the Department of
23Juvenile Justice or in the act of transporting inmates or

 

 

HB4109- 2 -LRB103 33051 SPS 62858 b

1wards from one location to another or while performing their
2official duties, and all other Department of Correction or
3Department of Juvenile Justice employees who have daily
4contact with inmates. For the purposes of this Act, "law
5enforcement officer" or "officer" also means a probation
6officer, as defined in Section 9b of the Probation and
7Probation Officers Act.
8    The death of the foregoing employees of the Department of
9Corrections or the Department of Juvenile Justice in order to
10be included herein must be by the direct or indirect willful
11act of an inmate, ward, work-releasee, parolee, aftercare
12releasee, parole violator, aftercare release violator, person
13under conditional release, or any person sentenced or
14committed, or otherwise subject to confinement in or to the
15Department of Corrections or the Department of Juvenile
16Justice.
17    (b) "Fireman" means any person employed by the State or a
18local governmental entity as, or otherwise serving as, a
19member or officer of a fire department either for the purpose
20of the prevention or control of fire or the underwater
21recovery of drowning victims, including volunteer firemen.
22    (c) "Local governmental entity" includes counties,
23municipalities and municipal corporations.
24    (d) "State" means the State of Illinois and its
25departments, divisions, boards, bureaus, commissions,
26authorities and colleges and universities.

 

 

HB4109- 3 -LRB103 33051 SPS 62858 b

1    (e) "Killed in the line of duty" means losing one's life as
2a result of injury received in the active performance of
3duties as a law enforcement officer, civil defense worker,
4civil air patrol member, paramedic, fireman, or chaplain if
5the death occurs within one year from the date the injury was
6received and if that injury arose from violence or other
7accidental cause. In the case of a State employee, "killed in
8the line of duty" means losing one's life as a result of injury
9received in the active performance of one's duties as a State
10employee, if the death occurs within one year from the date the
11injury was received and if that injury arose from a willful act
12of violence by another State employee committed during such
13other employee's course of employment and after January 1,
141988. The term excludes death resulting from the willful
15misconduct or intoxication of the officer, civil defense
16worker, civil air patrol member, paramedic, fireman, chaplain,
17or State employee. However, the burden of proof of such
18willful misconduct or intoxication of the officer, civil
19defense worker, civil air patrol member, paramedic, fireman,
20chaplain, or State employee is on the Attorney General.
21Subject to the conditions set forth in subsection (a) with
22respect to inclusion under this Act of Department of
23Corrections and Department of Juvenile Justice employees
24described in that subsection, for the purposes of this Act,
25instances in which a law enforcement officer receives an
26injury in the active performance of duties as a law

 

 

HB4109- 4 -LRB103 33051 SPS 62858 b

1enforcement officer include but are not limited to instances
2when:
3        (1) the injury is received as a result of a wilful act
4    of violence committed other than by the officer and a
5    relationship exists between the commission of such act and
6    the officer's performance of his duties as a law
7    enforcement officer, whether or not the injury is received
8    while the officer is on duty as a law enforcement officer;
9        (2) the injury is received by the officer while the
10    officer is attempting to prevent the commission of a
11    criminal act by another or attempting to apprehend an
12    individual the officer suspects has committed a crime,
13    whether or not the injury is received while the officer is
14    on duty as a law enforcement officer;
15        (3) the injury is received by the officer while the
16    officer is travelling to or from his employment as a law
17    enforcement officer or during any meal break, or other
18    break, which takes place during the period in which the
19    officer is on duty as a law enforcement officer.
20    In the case of an Armed Forces member, "killed in the line
21of duty" means losing one's life while on active duty in
22connection with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on
23the United States, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation
24Freedom's Sentinel, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New
25Dawn, or Operation Inherent Resolve.
26    (f) "Volunteer fireman" means a person having principal

 

 

HB4109- 5 -LRB103 33051 SPS 62858 b

1employment other than as a fireman, but who is carried on the
2rolls of a regularly constituted fire department either for
3the purpose of the prevention or control of fire or the
4underwater recovery of drowning victims, the members of which
5are under the jurisdiction of the corporate authorities of a
6city, village, incorporated town, or fire protection district,
7and includes a volunteer member of a fire department organized
8under the "General Not for Profit Corporation Act", approved
9July 17, 1943, as now or hereafter amended, which is under
10contract with any city, village, incorporated town, fire
11protection district, or persons residing therein, for fire
12fighting services. "Volunteer fireman" does not mean an
13individual who volunteers assistance without being regularly
14enrolled as a fireman.
15    (g) "Civil defense worker" means any person employed by
16the State or a local governmental entity as, or otherwise
17serving as, a member of a civil defense work force, including
18volunteer civil defense work forces engaged in serving the
19public interest during periods of disaster, whether natural or
20man-made.
21    (h) "Civil air patrol member" means any person employed by
22the State or a local governmental entity as, or otherwise
23serving as, a member of the organization commonly known as the
24"Civil Air Patrol", including volunteer members of the
25organization commonly known as the "Civil Air Patrol".
26    (i) "Paramedic" means an Emergency Medical

 

 

HB4109- 6 -LRB103 33051 SPS 62858 b

1Technician-Paramedic certified by the Illinois Department of
2Public Health under the Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
3Systems Act, and all other emergency medical personnel
4certified by the Illinois Department of Public Health who are
5members of an organized body or not-for-profit corporation
6under the jurisdiction of a city, village, incorporated town,
7fire protection district or county, that provides emergency
8medical treatment to persons of a defined geographical area.
9    (j) "State employee" means any employee as defined in
10Section 14-103.05 of the Illinois Pension Code, as now or
11hereafter amended.
12    (k) "Chaplain" means an individual who:
13        (1) is a chaplain of (i) a fire department or (ii) a
14    police department or other agency consisting of law
15    enforcement officers; and
16        (2) has been designated a chaplain by (i) the fire
17    department, police department, or other agency or an
18    officer or body having jurisdiction over the department or
19    agency or (ii) a labor organization representing the
20    firemen or law enforcement officers.
21    (l) "Armed Forces member" means an Illinois resident who
22is: a member of the Armed Forces of the United States; a member
23of the Illinois National Guard while on active military
24service pursuant to an order of the President of the United
25States; or a member of any reserve component of the Armed
26Forces of the United States while on active military service

 

 

HB4109- 7 -LRB103 33051 SPS 62858 b

1pursuant to an order of the President of the United States.
2(Source: P.A. 102-221, eff. 1-1-22.)