AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 18 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LINE-OF-DUTY DEATH BENEFITS.

Plain English Breakdown

The official text does not define specific procedures for proving retaliation or calculating benefit amounts.

HB107: Expanding Line-of-Duty Death Benefits in Delaware

This bill changes state law to provide death benefits to people who were previously covered, such as retirees, if they die because someone retaliated against them for their past job duties.

What This Bill Does

• Amends Title 18 of the Delaware Code regarding line-of-duty death benefits.
• Adds a new category of eligible people: those who qualified as 'covered persons' in the past, such as retirees.
• Requires that the person's death must be the direct result (proximate result) of an action taken by someone seeking retaliation.
• Specifies that the retaliation must relate to performing duties from their former office or position.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who were previously covered under line-of-duty benefit laws, such as retirees.
• Families and beneficiaries of these individuals if they die due to retaliatory actions related to past work.

Terms To Know

Line-of-Duty Death Benefits

Support provided by the state when a worker dies while performing job duties or as a result of those duties.

Proximate Result

A direct cause where one event, such as an attack, leads clearly to another outcome like death.

Retaliation

An action taken against someone because of duties they performed in a former job or position.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not list specific dollar amounts for these benefits.
• It is unclear how the state will determine if death was caused by retaliation versus other reasons, as this depends on future legal interpretation.
• The effective date of this law has not been set in the provided text.

Official Summary Text

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 18 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LINE-OF-DUTY DEATH BENEFITS.
This bill expands line-of-duty benefits to cover previously covered persons, such as retirees, whose death is the proximate result of actions by a person seeking retaliation against the previously covered person for performing the duties of their former office or position.

Current Bill Text

Legislation Document

SPONSOR:

Rep. Yearick & Sen. Buckson

Reps. Gray, Hilovsky, Morris; Sens. Hocker, Wilson

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 107

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 18 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LINE-OF-DUTY DEATH BENEFITS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. Amend § 6601(2) Title 18 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

w. Constables commissioned pursuant to Chapter 56 of Title 24;

or

x. 911 dispatchers, as defined under § 10002 of Title 16

.

or

y. Persons who qualified previously as a “covered person” under this section whose death proximately resulted from an action by a person seeking retaliation against the previously covered person relating to performing the duties of their former office or position.

SYNOPSIS

This bill expands line-of-duty benefits to cover previously covered persons, such as retirees, whose death is the proximate result of actions by a person seeking retaliation against the previously covered person for performing the duties of their former office or position.