Division 3 - Policemen and Firemen Death Allowance, Medical Care and Hospital Treatment


      (40 ILCS 5/Art. 22 Div. 3 heading)
DIVISION 3. POLICEMEN AND FIREMEN DEATH ALLOWANCE,
MEDICAL CARE AND HOSPITAL TREATMENT

    (40 ILCS 5/22‑301) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 22‑301)
    Sec. 22‑301. Payments to families or dependents of policemen and firemen killed or fatally injured. The corporate authorities of any city or village by general ordinance may provide for the payment of an allowance of money to the family or dependents of any policemen or firemen employed by such city or village in case he is killed or fatally injured while in the performance of his duties. Such allowance shall not exceed $15,000. It shall be payable only in case the injury arises from violence or other accidental cause and death is directly due to such cause and results within one year after such injury.
(Source: Laws 1963, p. 161.)

    (40 ILCS 5/22‑302) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 22‑302)
    Sec. 22‑302. Beneficiaries of allowance. Any payment of death allowance made hereunder shall be made as follows:
    (a) If there is a widow and minor child or children, then in equal parts to the widow and minor child or children;
    (b) If there is no widow but there is a minor child or children, then to the minor child or children in equal parts;
    (c) If there is no minor child or children but there is a widow, then the entire allowance to the widow;
    (d) If there is no widow or minor child, then to the next of kin actually dependent on the deceased at the time of his death.
    Provided, that in paying any allowance aforesaid any parent that is actually dependent on the deceased at the time of his death shall be entitled to share in such benefits on the same basis as the minor children of the deceased; and a female unmarried child of full age or a male child of full age that is physically or mentally disabled and wholly dependent on the deceased for support at the time of his death, shall be entitled to the use and benefit of such allowance in the same manner and to the same degree as a minor child.
(Source: Laws 1963, p. 161.)

    (40 ILCS 5/22‑303) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 22‑303)
    Sec. 22‑303. Conservation of allowance. The corporate authorities of any such city or village may make provision by ordinance for the conservation of the money paid under the foregoing sections of this Division and the income therefrom through the means of a duly accredited National or State bank acting as trustee of the fund created thereby and making payments therefrom at stated intervals to such family or dependents.
    In the event any such corporate authorities shall make provision by ordinance for the conservation of the money by the naming of a State or National bank to act as trustee, such ordinance may specify the general classes of securities, including tax warrants, in which such trustee may invest such fund. It shall be unlawful for the trustee to invest the same in any other class of securities except such as are so specified.
(Source: Laws 1963, p. 161.)

    (40 ILCS 5/22‑304) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 22‑304)
    Sec. 22‑304. Source of payment. The allowance of money to be paid in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this Division may be paid:
    (a) from a fund created and maintained out of the corporate revenues of such city or village in such manner as the corporate authorities may direct, or
    (b) by means of group insurance taken out by such city or village for the benefit of the families or dependents of policemen and firemen in a regularly accredited legal reserve life insurance company with premiums to be paid out of the corporate revenues of the city or village.
(Source: Laws 1963, p. 161.)

    (40 ILCS 5/22‑305) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 22‑305)
    Sec. 22‑305. Certificate of clerk or other officer. Upon the death of a policeman or fireman who is killed or fatally injured while in the performance of his duty, the city or village clerk, as the case may be, or any officer of such city or village authorized by the corporate authorities of such city or village to act in lieu of such clerk, shall make out a certificate in such form as may be prescribed by ordinance. Such certificate shall set forth the facts which caused the death, and shall have attached the certificate of the attending physician or the chief health officer of the city or village, stating that such death was the result of violence or accident. The certificates shall be filed with the treasurer of the city or village if the allowance is to be paid out of the corporate fund set apart for that purpose. If insurance has been taken out the certificates shall be forwarded to the life insurance company liable therefor. Upon the presentation of said certificates, payment shall be made out of such fund or by such life insurance company, as the case may be, to the executor or administrator of the estate of such policeman or fireman, or to the bank acting as the trustee for such purpose if such trustee has been provided for by ordinance.
(Source: Laws 1963, p. 161.)

    (40 ILCS 5/22‑306) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 22‑306)
    Sec. 22‑306. The corporate authorities of any city or the village may provide by ordinance that in case of an accident resulting in an injury to or death of a policeman or fireman in the employ of such city or village while in the performance of his duties, the officer at the head of the department or such other officer as may be designated may secure and provide proper medical care and hospital treatment for any such policeman or fireman. The city or village may incur the expense aforesaid and appropriate and pay for the same.
    If any such accident shall be due to the negligence of some person or corporation that would be liable in damages therefor, the city or village may recover any expense of medical care and hospital treatment expended by it from the person or corporation liable.
    The corporate authorities of any city or village may provide by ordinance for the payment by said city or village of all or any part of the cost of a hospital plan or medical‑surgical plan, or both, for the dependents of any policeman or fireman killed in the line of duty or who dies as the result of duty connected injuries, and for any policeman or fireman and his dependents, provided his retirement is caused by a duty injury or occupational disease disability and for any policeman and fireman and his dependents, provided he has reached compulsory retirement age or has served in the employ of the city or village for at least 20 years. "Dependent" as used in this paragraph shall mean the wife of the policeman or fireman and his minor children less than 20 years of age and living at home and dependent on the policeman or fireman for support.
    This amendatory Act of 1971 does not apply to any city or village which is a home rule unit.
(Source: P. A. 77‑754.)

    (40 ILCS 5/22‑306.1) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 22‑306.1)
    Sec. 22‑306.1. (a) If a physician, medical facility or other provider of medical treatment receives notice from a municipality that, pursuant to an ordinance enacted under Section 22‑306 or under its home rule powers, the municipality is willing to assume liability for all or part of the medical expenses of a policeman or firefighter injured in the line of duty, and if the provider consents to such assumption of liability by the municipality for all or part of the cost of the medical services being provided, then the policeman or firefighter shall thereupon cease to be liable to the provider for any charges for which liability has been assumed by the municipality, and the provider may not thereafter attempt to collect such charges from the policeman or firefighter, nor from the family or estate thereof.
    (b) With respect to any liability assumed by a municipality under subsection (a) of this Section, interest on the unpaid amount thereof shall begin to accrue 90 days after receipt of proof of claim by the municipality (or its agent or insurer if it so directs), at the rate established for judgments in the Code of Civil Procedure.
    (c) Pursuant to paragraphs (h) and (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution, this Section specifically denies and limits the exercise by a home rule unit of any power which is inconsistent herewith, and all existing laws and ordinances which are inconsistent with this Section are hereby superseded. This Section does not preempt the concurrent exercise by home rule units of powers consistent herewith.
(Source: P.A. 84‑845.)

    (40 ILCS 5/22‑307) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 22‑307)
    Sec. 22‑307. Common law rights barred. Whenever any city or village enacts an ordinance pursuant to this Division, no common law right to recover damages against such city or village for injury or death sustained by any policeman or fireman while engaged in the line of his duty as such policeman or fireman, other than the payment of the allowances of money and of the medical care and hospital treatment provided in such ordinance, shall be available to any policeman or fireman who is covered by the provisions of such ordinance, or to anyone wholly or partially dependent upon such policeman or fireman, or to the legal representative of the estate of such policeman or fireman, or to anyone who would otherwise be entitled to recover damages for such injury or death. Nothing in this Division 3 relieves any municipality with a population under 500,000 of its duties under the Workers' Compensation Act or the Workers' Occupational Diseases Act. Nothing in this Division 3 prevents any policeman or fireman in a municipality with a population under 500,000 from recovery under the Workers' Compensation Act or the Workers' Occupational Diseases Act.
    If any action against such city or village to enforce a common law right to recover damages for negligently causing the injury or death of any policeman or fireman is pending, for trial or on appeal, at the time this Division shall come in force or is so pending at the time such ordinance is enacted, the amount of any award or allowance of money made pursuant to such ordinance shall not be paid while such action is so pending and shall be reduced, before payment, by the amount of any judgment obtained against such city or village in such pending action; or such allowance of money, if already paid, together with all moneys expended pursuant to such ordinance for medical care and hospital expenses, may be set off against such judgment, either in such pending action or through other appropriate action by such city or village.
(Source: P.A. 90‑525, eff. 11‑12‑97.)

    (40 ILCS 5/22‑308) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 22‑308)
    Sec. 22‑308. Action by city or village against third party. Where the death of a policeman or fireman for which an award or allowance of money is payable by any city or village under any ordinance enacted pursuant to the provisions of this Division, was not proximately caused by the negligence of such city or village, and was caused under circumstances creating a legal liability for damages on the part of some person other than such city or village, then legal proceedings may be taken against such other person to recover damages notwithstanding such award or allowance by such city or village. If the action against such other person is brought by the personal representative of such deceased policeman or fireman, and judgment is obtained and paid, or settlement is made with such other person, either with or without suit, then the amount received by such representative shall be deducted from such award or allowance. Such city or village may have or claim a lien upon any judgment or fund out of which such representative might be compensated from such third party, for any moneys paid out of such award or allowance previous to such judgment or settlement.
    Where action is brought by the representative of a deceased policeman or fireman, the personal representative shall forthwith notify such city or village by personal service or registered mail, of such fact and of the name of the court in which such suit is brought, filing proof of such notice in such action. Such city or village may, at any time thereafter, join in said action upon its own motion, and proper orders of court after hearing and judgment shall be made for the protection of such city or village. No release or settlement of claim for damages by reason of such death, and no satisfaction of judgment in such proceedings, shall be valid without the written consent of such city or village or of any board of trustees authorized by ordinance to administer the fund herein created, excepting that such consent shall not be required where such city or village has been fully indemnified or protected by Court order.
    Where the personal representative of such deceased policeman or fireman fails to institute a proceedings against such third person at any time prior to 3 months before said action would be barred at law, such city or village may in its own name, or in the name of the personal representative, commence a proceeding against such other person for the recovery of damages on account of such death. From any amount so recovered such city or village shall pay to the personal representative of such deceased policeman or fireman all sums collected from such other person by judgment or otherwise in excess of the amount of any award or allowance of money paid or to be paid under this Division, and such costs, attorney's fees and reasonable expenses as may be incurred by such city or village in making such collection or in enforcing such liability. No payment shall be made by such city or village on account of any award or allowance of money made under the provisions of any ordinance enacted pursuant to this Division, during the pendency, for trial or on appeal, of such suit for damages unless such city or village is fully protected in such suit by Court order.
(Source: Laws 1963, p. 161.)