HF 238

1st Engrossment - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to public safety; requiring payments for lost 
  1.3             wages and medical treatment to peace officers 
  1.4             suffering from posttraumatic stress syndrome; 
  1.5             proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.6             chapter 299A. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  [299A.411] [POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS SYNDROME 
  1.9   BENEFIT.] 
  1.10     Any peace officer as defined in section 626.84, subdivision 
  1.11  1, paragraph (c), who suffers a debilitating psychological 
  1.12  reaction to a traumatic event and is diagnosed by a licensed 
  1.13  psychologist or psychiatrist as suffering from posttraumatic 
  1.14  stress syndrome, whether or not there is also an accompanying 
  1.15  physical injury or physical cause of the condition, is entitled 
  1.16  to: 
  1.17     (1) payment by the employer for a loss of wages up to but 
  1.18  not beyond one year while the officer is so disabled; and 
  1.19     (2) unless otherwise provided, payment by the employer for 
  1.20  medical treatment, including psychiatric and/or psychological 
  1.21  counseling to cure and relieve the effects of the posttraumatic 
  1.22  stress syndrome up to but not beyond one year while the officer 
  1.23  is so disabled. 
  1.24  For the purposes of this section, "traumatic event" means an 
  1.25  event involving the employee lawfully taking the life or causing 
  1.26  great bodily harm of another by force or violence.  For the 
  2.1   purposes of this section, "great bodily harm" has the meaning 
  2.2   given it in section 609.02, subdivision 8.