Vermont H 666: An act relating to pretrial release of a person charged with impaired driving with serious bodily injury or death resulting

Bill Text

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VT LEG #385495 v.1
H.666 1
Introduced by Representative Bartley of Fairfax 2
Referred to Committee on 3
Date: 4
Subject: Public safety; law enforcement officers; survivors benefits 5
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to provide the 6
same monetary benefit currently available to survivors of firefighters and 7
emergency personnel to survivors of law enforcement officers. 8
An act relating to survivors benefits for law enforcement officers 9
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 10
Sec. 1. SHORT TITLE 11
This act may be cited as “Jessica’s Law.” 12
Sec. 2. 20 V.S.A. chapter 181 is amended to read: 13
CHAPTER 181. BENEFITS FOR THE SURVIVORS OF EMERGENCY 14
PERSONNEL 15
§ 3171. DEFINITIONS 16
As used in this chapter: 17
(1) “Board” means the Emergency Personnel Survivors Benefit Review 18
Board. 19

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(2) “Child” means a natural or legally adopted child, regardless of age, 1
the deceased’s biological child, foster child, adoptive child, or stepchild; a 2
child for whom the deceased is listed as a parent on the child’s birth certificate; 3
a legal ward of the deceased; a child of the deceased’s spouse; or a child whom 4
the deceased had day-to-day responsibilities to care for and financially support 5
at the time of death or when the child was under 18 years of age. 6
(3) “Domestic partner” means an individual with whom the deceased 7
had an enduring domestic relationship of a spousal nature at the time of death, 8
provided that at the time of death the deceased and the domestic partner: 9
(A) had shared a residence for at least six consecutive months; 10
(B) were at least 18 years of age; 11
(C) were not married to or considered a domestic partner of another 12
individual; 13
(D) were not related by blood closer than would bar marriage under 14
State law; and 15
(E) had agreed between themselves to be responsible for each other’s 16
welfare. 17
(4) “Emergency medical personnel” has the same meaning as in 18
24 V.S.A. § 2651. 19

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VT LEG #385495 v.1
(5) “Emergency personnel” means: 1
(A) firefighters as defined in subdivision 3151(3) of this title; and 2
(B) emergency medical personnel and volunteer personnel as defined 3
in 24 V.S.A. § 2651; and 4
(C) law enforcement officers. 5
(6) “Firefighter” has the same meaning as in subdivision 3151(3) of this 6
title. 7
(7) “Law enforcement officer” means a law enforcement officer: 8
(A) certified by the Vermont Criminal Justice Council pursuant to 9
section 2358 of this title; and 10
(B) who is employed by a county or municipality of the State. 11
(4)(8) “Line of duty” means: 12
(A) answering or returning from with respect to firefighters, 13
emergency medical personnel, and volunteer personnel: 14
(i) service in answer to a call of the department or service for a 15
fire or emergency or training drill, including going to and returning from a fire 16
or emergency or participating in a fire or emergency training drill; or 17
(B)(ii) similar service in another town or district to which the 18
department or service has been called for firefighting or emergency purposes; 19
and 20

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(B) with respect to law enforcement officers: 1
(i) service as a law enforcement officer in answer to a complaint 2
lodged with the department or in response to disorder, including going to, 3
returning from, and investigating or responding to the complaint or disorder; 4
(ii) service while participating in a training drill; or 5
(iii) service under orders from the department or in any emergency 6
for which the law enforcement officer serves as a law enforcement officer. 7
(5)(9) “Occupation-related illness” means a disease that directly arises 8
arises directly out of, and in the course of, service, including a heart injury or 9
disease symptomatic within 72 hours from the date of last service in the line of 10
duty, which shall be presumed to be incurred in the line of duty. 11
(6)(10) “Parent” means a natural or adoptive parent the deceased’s 12
biological parent, foster parent, adoptive parent, or stepparent; an individual 13
who is listed as a parent on the deceased’s birth certificate; a legal guardian of 14
the deceased; or an individual who had day-to-day responsibilities to care for 15
and financially support the deceased when the deceased was under 18 years of 16
age. 17
(11) “Spouse” includes an individual’s domestic partner or civil union 18
partner. 19
(7)(12) “Survivor” means a spouse, child, or parent of deceased 20
emergency personnel. 21

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(13) “Volunteer personnel” has the same meaning as in 1
24 V.S.A. § 2651. 2
§ 3172. EMERGENCY PERSONNEL SURVIVORS BENEFIT REVIEW 3
BOARD 4
(a)(1) There is created the Emergency Personnel Survivors Benefit Review 5
Board,