2026 Minnesota Statutes

299A.41 DEFINITIONS.

Subdivision 1.Scope.

The definitions used in this section apply to sections 299A.41 to 299A.46.

Subd. 1a.Carcinogen.

"Carcinogen" means an agent that is: (1) classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer under Group 1 or Group 2A; and (2) reasonably linked to an exposure-related cancer.

Subd. 2.Dependent child.

A "dependent child" means a person who is unmarried and who was either living with or was receiving support contributions from the public safety officer at the time of death, including a child by birth, a stepchild, an adopted child, or a posthumous child, and who is:

(1) under 18 years of age;

(2) over 18 years of age and incapable of self-support because of physical or mental disability; or

(3) over 18 years of age and a student as defined by United States Code, title 5, section 8101.

Subd. 2a.Exposure-related cancer.

"Exposure-related cancer" means only the following:

(1) bladder cancer;

(2) brain cancer;

(3) breast cancer;

(4) cervical cancer;

(5) colon cancer;

(6) colorectal cancer;

(7) esophageal cancer;

(8) kidney cancer;

(9) leukemia;

(10) lung cancer;

(11) malignant melanoma;

(12) mesothelioma;

(13) multiple myeloma;

(14) non-Hodgkin lymphoma;

(15) ovarian cancer;

(16) prostate cancer;

(17) skin cancer;

(18) stomach cancer;

(19) testicular cancer; and

(20) thyroid cancer.

Subd. 3.Killed in the line of duty.

(a) "Killed in the line of duty" does not include deaths from natural causes, except as expressly provided in this subdivision. In the case of a public safety officer, killed in the line of duty includes the death of a public safety officer caused by accidental means while the public safety officer is acting in the course and scope of duties as a public safety officer. Killed in the line of duty also means if a public safety officer dies as the direct and proximate result of a heart attack, stroke, or vascular rupture, that officer shall be presumed to have died as the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty if:

(1) that officer, while on duty:

(i) engaged in a situation, and that engagement involved nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical activity in law enforcement, fire suppression, rescue, hazardous material response, emergency medical services, prison security, disaster relief, or other emergency response activity; or

(ii) participated in a training exercise, and that participation involved nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical activity;

(2) that officer died as a result of a heart attack, stroke, or vascular rupture suffered:

(i) while engaging or participating under clause (1);

(ii) while still on duty after engaging or participating under clause (1); or

(iii) not later than 24 hours after engaging or participating under clause (1); and

(3) the presumption is not overcome by competent medical evidence to the contrary.

(b) Killed in the line of duty also includes a public safety officer who died due to suicide:

(1) secondary to a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder as described in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association; or

(2) within 45 days of the end of exposure, while on duty, to a traumatic event.

(c) Killed in the line of duty also includes the death of a public safety officer as a result of complications caused by exposure sustained in the line of duty to any of the following infectious diseases, viruses, or bacteria, if medical records identify the disease, virus, or bacteria as a cause of or contributing factor to the death: COVID-19, influenza, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, meningitis, MRSA, whooping cough, or streptococcus pneumoniae.

(d) Killed in the line of duty also means a public safety officer shall be presumed to have been killed in the line of duty if the officer died from an exposure-related cancer that was a result of exposure to a carcinogen when:

(1) the exposure occurred while the public safety officer was acting in the course and scope of duties as a public safety officer;

(2) the public safety officer began serving as a public safety officer not less than five years before the date of the public safety officer's diagnosis of exposure-related cancer;

(3) the public safety officer was diagnosed with exposure-related cancer not more than 15 years after the public safety officer's last date of active service as a public safety officer; and

(4) the exposure-related cancer directly and proximately results in the death of the public safety officer.

(e) The presumption under paragraph (d) does not apply if competent medical evidence establishes that the exposure of the public safety officer to the carcinogen was not a substantial contributing factor in the death of the public safety officer.

[See Note.]

Subd. 3a.Nonroutine strenuous physical activity.

"Nonroutine strenuous physical activity" means line of duty activity that:

(1) is not an action of a clerical, administrative, or nonmanual nature;

(2) is not performed as a matter of routine; and

(3) entails an unusually high level of physical exertion.

[See Note.]

Subd. 3b.Nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical activity.

"Nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical activity" means nonroutine stressful physical activity or nonroutine strenuous physical activity.

[See Note.]

Subd. 3c.Nonroutine stressful physical activity.

"Nonroutine stressful physical activity" means line of duty activity that:

(1) is not an action of a clerical, administrative, or nonmanual nature;

(2) is not performed as a matter of routine;

(3) entails nonnegligible physical exertion; and

(4) occurs:

(i) with respect to a situation in which a public safety officer is engaged under circumstances that objectively and reasonably:

(A) pose or appear to pose significant dangers, threats, or hazards, or reasonably foreseeable risks thereof, not faced by similarly situated members of the public in the ordinary course; and

(B) provoke, cause, or occasion an unusually high level of alarm, fear, or anxiety; or

(ii) with respect to a training exercise in which a public safety officer participates under circumstances that objectively and reasonably:

(A) simulate in realistic fashion situations that pose significant dangers, threats, or hazards; and

(B) provoke, cause, or occasion an unusually high level of alarm, fear, or anxiety.

[See Note.]

Subd. 4.Public safety officer.

"Public safety officer" includes:

(1) a peace officer defined in section 626.84, subdivision 1, paragraph (c) or (d);

(2) a correction officer employed at a correctional facility and charged with maintaining the safety, security, discipline, and custody of inmates at the facility;

(3) a corrections staff person working in a public agency and supervising offenders in the community as defined in sections 243.05, subdivision 6; 244.19, subdivision 1; and 401.01, subdivision 2;

(4) an individual employed on a full-time or part-time basis by the state or by a fire department of a governmental subdivision of the state, who is engaged in any of the following duties:

(i) firefighting;

(ii) emergency motor vehicle operation;

(iii) investigation into the cause and origin of fires;

(iv) the provision of emergency medical services; or

(v) hazardous material responder;

(5) a legally enrolled member of a volunteer or paid on-call fire department or member of an independent nonprofit firefighting corporation who is engaged in the hazards of firefighting;

(6) a good samaritan while complying with the request or direction of a public safety officer to assist the officer;

(7) a reserve police officer or a reserve deputy sheriff while acting under the supervision and authority of a political subdivision;

(8) a driver or attendant with a licensed basic or advanced life-support transportation service who is engaged in providing emergency care;

(9) a first responder who is certified by the director of the Office of Emergency Medical Services to perform basic emergency skills before the arrival of a licensed ambulance service and who is a member of an organized service recognized by a local political subdivision to respond to medical emergencies to provide initial medical care before the arrival of an ambulance;

(10) a person, other than a state trooper, employed by the commissioner of public safety and assigned to the State Patrol, whose primary employment duty is either Capitol security or the enforcement of commercial motor vehicle laws and regulations; and

(11) a person formerly employed as a public safety officer under clauses (1) to (5) or (7) to (10) if the person separated from service due to a duty disability, as defined in section 353.01, subdivision 41.

[See Note.]

Subd. 5.Spouse.

"Spouse" means a person legally married to the decedent at the time of the decedent's death.

Subd. 6.Traumatic event.

"Traumatic event" means:

(1) a homicide, suicide, or the violent or gruesome death of another individual, including but not limited to a death resulting from a mass casualty event, mass fatality event, or mass shooting;

(2) a harrowing circumstance posing an extraordinary and significant danger or threat to the life of or of serious bodily harm to any individual, including but not limited to a death resulting from a mass casualty event, mass fatality event, or mass shooting; or

(3) an act of criminal sexual violence committed against any individual.

History:

1990 c 591 art 5 s 1; 1991 c 199 art 1 s 66; 1992 c 523 s 1,2; 1992 c 553 s 1; 1Sp2001 c 8 art 2 s 66; 2005 c 10 art 2 s 4; 2016 c 189 art 14 s 3,4; 2023 c 52 art 5 s 14,15; art 11 s 26; 2024 c 122 art 1 s 24; 2024 c 127 art 63 s 22; 2026 c 97 art 12 s 2-8

NOTE: The amendments to subdivisions 3 and 4 by Laws 2026, chapter 97, article 12, sections 4 and 8, are effective May 19, 2026, and apply retroactively from February 1, 2020. Laws 2026, chapter 97, article 12, sections 4 and 8, the effective dates.

NOTE: Subdivisions 3a, 3b, and 3c, as added by Laws 2026, chapter 97, article 12, sections 5 to 7, are effective May 19, 2026, and apply retroactively from February 1, 2020. Laws 2026, chapter 97, article 12, sections 5 to 7, the effective dates.