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AN ACT relating to tuition benefits. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 164.2841 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) (a) Any person whose parent or any nonmarried widow or widower whose spouse 4
was a resident of the Commonwealth of Kentucky upon becoming a law 5
enforcement officer, firefighter, [or ]volunteer firefighter, or emergency 6
medical services personnel and who was killed while in active service or 7
training for active service or who died as a result of a service-connected 8
disability shall not be required to pay any matriculation or tuition fee upon 9
admission to any state-supported university, community college, or vocational 10
training institution. The provisions of this subsection shall apply to any 11
firefighter or volunteer firefighter who is killed or dies under the conditions 12
covered in this subsection on July 1, 1989, or thereafter. The provisions of 13
this subsection shall apply to any emergency medical services personnel 14
who was killed or died under the conditions covered in this subsection on 15
July 1, 2000, or thereafter. 16
(b) In order to obtain the benefits conferred by paragraph (a) of this subsection, 17
the parent-child relationship shall be shown by birth certificate, adoption 18
papers, or other documentary evidence. The spousal relationship shall be 19
shown by a marriage certificate or other documentary evidence. The parent's 20
or spouse's service and the cause of death shall be evidenced by certification 21
from the records of the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, the 22
appropriate city or county law enforcement agency which employed the 23
deceased, the administrative agency for the fire department or fire protection 24
district recognized for funding under KRS 95A.262, [or ]the administrative 25
agency having jurisdiction over any paid firefighters of all counties and cities 26
of all classes, or the county, city, or administrative agency employing the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 487
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emergency medical services personnel. 1
(2) (a) Any person whose parent or any nonmarried widow or widower whose spouse 2
was an employee participating in a state-administered retirement system, and 3
not otherwise covered by subsection (1) of this section, and who died as a 4
result of a duty-related injury as described in KRS 61.621 shall not be 5
required to pay any matriculation or tuition fee upon admission to any state-6
supported university, community college, or vocational training institution. 7
(b) In order to obtain the benefits conferred by paragraph (a) of this subsection, 8
the parent-child relationship shall be shown by birth certificate, adoption 9
papers, or other documentary evidence. The spousal relationship shall be 10
shown by a marriage certificate or other documentary evidence. The parent's 11
or spouse's service and the cause of death shall be evidenced by certification 12
from the records of the employing agency or the appropriate retirement 13
system. 14
(3) If one so admitted to a state-supported university, community college, or vocational 15
training institution under the provisions of this section shall have obtained a cash 16
scholarship paid or payable to the institution, from whatever source, the amount of 17
the scholarship shall be applied to the credit of the applicant in the payment of 18
incidental expenses of his attendance at the institution, and any balance, if the terms 19
of the scholarship permit, shall be returned to the applicant. 20
(4) As used in this section, "emergency medical services personnel" has the same 21
meaning as in KRS 61.315. 22
Section 2. KRS 164.2842 is amended to read as follows: 23
(1) (a) The spouse, regardless of age, and any child who is over the age of seventeen 24
(17) and under the age of twenty-three (23), of a permanently and totally 25
disabled law enforcement officer, firefighter, [or ]volunteer firefighter, or 26
emergency medical services personnel injured while in active service or in 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 487
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training for active service[, who is over the age of seventeen (17) and under 1
the age of twenty-three (23)] shall not be required to pay any matriculation or 2
tuition fee upon his admission to any state-supported university, community 3
college, or vocational training institution for up to a maximum of one 4
hundred twenty-eight (128) credit hours of undergraduate instruction[ a 5
period not in excess of thirty-six (36) months in order to obtain a diploma, nor 6
in excess of the lesser number of months required for a certificate of 7
completion]. 8
(b) For the spouse or child to be entitled to benefits under this section, the 9
disabled law enforcement officer, firefighter, [or ]volunteer firefighter, or 10
emergency medical services personnel shall be rated permanently and totally 11
disabled for pension purposes or one hundred percent (100%) disabled for 12
compensation purposes by the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, 13
the appropriate city or county law enforcement agency which employed the 14
disabled, the administrative agency for the fire department or fire protection 15
district recognized for funding under KRS 95A.262, [or ]the administrative 16
agency having jurisdiction over any paid firefighters of all counties and cities 17
of all classes, or the county, city, or administrative agency employing the 18
emergency medical services personnel, or if deceased, the claim to benefits is 19
to be based on the rating held by the law enforcement officer, firefighter, [or 20
]volunteer firefighter, or emergency medical services personnel at the time of 21
death. The parent's or spouse's service and rating shall be evidenced by 22
certification from the records of the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety 23
Cabinet, the appropriate local law enforcement agency, the administrative 24
agency for the fire department or fire protection district recognized for 25
funding under KRS 95A.262, [or ]the administrative agency having 26
jurisdiction over any paid firefighters of all counties and cities of all classes, 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 487
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or the county, city, or administrative agency employing the emergency 1
medical services personnel. 2
(c) In the absence of certification of permanent and total disability by the 3
Kentucky Department of Workers' Claims, the Kentucky Justice and Public 4
Safety Cabinet, the appropriate local law enforcement agency, the 5
administrative agency for the fire department or fire protection district 6
recognized for funding under KRS 95A.262, [or ]the administrative agency 7
having jurisdiction over any paid firefighters of all counties and cities of all 8
classes, or the county, city, or administrative agency employing the 9
emergency medical services personnel, medical evidence showing permanent 10
and total disability or the existence of permanent and total disability for a 11
period of at least thirty (30) days immediately prior to death may be accepted, 12
if this evidence is signed by a physician licensed to practice or an official of 13
an accredited medical hospital. 14
(d) The parent-child relationship shall be shown by birth certificate, legal 15
adoption papers, or other documentary evidence. The spousal relationship 16
shall be shown by a marriage certificate or other documentary evidence. 17
(e) To entitle a spouse or child to benefits under this section the disabled law 18
enforcement officer, firefighter, [or ]volunteer firefighter, or emergency 19
medical services personnel shall have been a resident of the Commonwealth 20
of Kentucky upon becoming a law enforcement officer, firefighter, [or 21
]volunteer firefighter, or emergency medical services personnel. 22
(2) (a) The spouse, regardless of age, and any child who is over the age of seventeen 23
(17) and under the age of twenty-three (23), of a person who was an 24
employee participating in a state-administered retirement system and not 25
otherwise covered by subsection (1) of this section and who was disabled as a 26
result of a duty-related injury as described in KRS 61.621[, who is over the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 487
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age of seventeen (17) and under the age of twenty-three (23)] shall not be 1
required to pay any matriculation or tuition fee upon his admission to any 2
state-supported university, community college, or vocational training 3
institution for up to a maximum of one hundred twenty-eight (128) credit 4
hours of undergraduate instruction[ a period not in excess of thirty-six (36) 5
months in order to obtain a diploma, nor in excess of the lesser number of 6
months required for a certificate of completion]. 7
(b) The parent-child relationship shall be shown by birth certificate, legal 8
adoption papers, or other documentary evidence. The spousal relationship 9
shall be shown by a marriage certificate or other documentary evidence. 10
(3) The marriage of an eligible child shall not serve to deny full entitlement to the 11
benefits provided in this section. 12
(4) As used in this section, "emergency medical services personnel" has the same 13
meaning as in KRS 61.315. 14