2010 New York Code
RSS - Retirement & Social Security
Article 14-B - (550 - 560) SPECIAL RETIREMENT PLANS FOR SHERIFFS, UNDERSHERIFFS AND DEPUTY SHERIFFS ENGAGED IN LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES
558 - Retirement for disability incurred in performance of duty.

§  558.  Retirement for disability incurred in performance of duty. a.
  After January first, nineteen hundred eighty-five, a member who  becomes
  physically  or  mentally incapacitated for the performance of duty shall
  be covered by the provisions of this section in lieu of  the  provisions
  of  section five hundred fifty-six of this article; except, however, any
  such member who last entered or re-entered service prior  to  that  date
  shall  be  entitled  to apply for disability retirement pursuant to such
  section and to receive the benefit so payable in  lieu  of  the  benefit
  payable pursuant to this section.
    b.   Eligibility.  A  member  shall  be  entitled  to  retirement  for
  disability  incurred  in  the  performance  of  duty  if,  at  the  time
  application therefor is filed, he or she is:
    1. Physically or mentally incapacitated for performance of duty as the
  natural  and  proximate  result of a disability not caused by his or her
  own willful negligence sustained in such service and  while  actually  a
  member of the retirement system, and
    2.  Actually  in  service  upon  which his or her membership is based.
  However, in a case where a member  is  discontinued  from  service,  and
  provided that the member meets the requirements of paragraph one of this
  subdivision,  application  may  be  made,  either (a) by a vested member
  incapacitated as the result of a qualifying World Trade Center condition
  as defined in section two of this chapter at any time, or (b) not  later
  than  two  years  after  the  member  is  discontinued  from service and
  provided that the member meets the requirements of subdivision a of this
  section and this subdivision.
    c. Application. Application for retirement for disability incurred  in
  performance of duty may be made by:
    1. Such member, or
    2. The head of the department in which such member is employed.
    d.   Verification   of   disability.  After  the  filing  of  such  an
  application,  such  member  shall  be  given   one   or   more   medical
  examinations.   If   the  comptroller  determines  that  the  member  is
  physically  or  mentally  incapacitated  for  the  performance  of  duty
  pursuant to subdivision b of this section and ought to be retired, he or
  she  shall  be  so retired.   Such retirement shall be effective as of a
  date approved by the comptroller.
    e. 1. No such application  shall  be  approved,  however,  unless  the
  member  or  some  other  person  on  his  or her behalf shall have filed
  written notice in the office of the comptroller within ninety days after
  the occurrence which is the basis for the  disability  incurred  in  the
  performance of duty, setting forth:
    (a) The time, date and place of such occurrence, and
    (b) The particulars thereof, and
    (c) The nature and extent of the member's injuries, and
    (d) The alleged disability.
    2. The notice herein required need not be given:
    (a) If notice of such occurrence shall be filed in accordance with the
  provisions  of the workers' compensation law of any state within which a
  participating employer shall have its employees  located  or  performing
  functions and duties within the normal scope of their employment, or
    (b)  If  the application for retirement for disability incurred in the
  performance of duty is filed within one  year  after  the  date  of  the
  occurrence which forms the basis for the application, or
    (c)  If a failure to file notice has been excused for good cause shown
  as provided by rules and regulations promulgated by the comptroller.
    3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law  to  the  contrary,  the
  provisions  of this subdivision shall apply to all occurrences before or
  after the effective date of this section.

f. The retirement allowance payable  upon  retirement  for  disability
  incurred  in  the  performance  of  duty  shall  consist of a pension of
  one-half of his or her final average salary plus an annuity which  shall
  be  the  actuarial equivalent of the member's accumulated contributions,
  if any.
    g.  If  the  member, at the time of the filing of an application under
  the provisions of subdivision c of  this  section,  is  eligible  for  a
  service  retirement  benefit,  then  and  in  that  event, he or she may
  simultaneously file an application for service retirement provided  that
  the member indicates on the application for service retirement that such
  application  is  filed  without  prejudice  to  the  application for the
  retirement for disability incurred in performance of duty.
    h. Any  benefit  provided  pursuant  to  this  section  shall  not  be
  considered  as  an  accidental  disability benefit within the meaning of
  section five hundred fifty-six of  this  article.  Any  benefit  payable
  pursuant  to  the  workers'  compensation  law  to  a member receiving a
  disability allowance pursuant to this section shall be  in  addition  to
  such   retirement   for  disability  incurred  in  performance  of  duty
  allowance.
    i. A final determination of the comptroller that  the  member  is  not
  entitled  to  retirement  benefits pursuant to this section shall not in
  any respect be, or constitute, a determination with regard  to  benefits
  payable pursuant to section two hundred seven-c of the general municipal
  law.
    j.  1.  (a)  Notwithstanding  any provisions of this chapter or of any
  general, special or local law, charter, administrative code or  rule  or
  regulation  to the contrary, if any condition or impairment of health is
  caused by a qualifying  World  Trade  Center  condition  as  defined  in
  section  two  of  this chapter, it shall be presumptive evidence that it
  was incurred in the performance and discharge of duty  and  the  natural
  and  proximate  result  of  an  accident not caused by such member's own
  willful negligence, unless the contrary be proved by competent evidence.
    (b) The comptroller is  hereby  authorized  to  promulgate  rules  and
  regulations to implement the provisions of this paragraph.
    2.  (a)  Notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  this  chapter or of any
  general, special or local law, charter, administrative code or  rule  or
  regulation  to the contrary, if a member who participated in World Trade
  Center rescue, recovery or cleanup operations, as defined in section two
  of this chapter, and subsequently retired on a  service  retirement,  an
  ordinary  disability  retirement  or  a  performance  of duty disability
  retirement and subsequent  to  such  retirement  is  determined  by  the
  comptroller  to  have  a  qualifying  World  Trade  Center condition, as
  defined in section two of this chapter, upon such determination  by  the
  comptroller  it  shall  be presumed that such disability was incurred in
  the performance and discharge of  duty  as  the  natural  and  proximate
  result   of  an  accident  not  caused  by  such  member's  own  willful
  negligence, and that the member would have been physically  or  mentally
  incapacitated  for the performance and discharge of duty of the position
  from which he or she retired had the  condition  been  known  and  fully
  developed at the time of the member's retirement, unless the contrary is
  proven by competent evidence.
    (b)  The comptroller shall consider a reclassification of the member's
  retirement as an accidental disability retirement effective  as  of  the
  date of such reclassification.
    (c)  Such  member's retirement option shall not be changed as a result
  of such reclassification.
    (d)  The  member's  former  employer  at  the  time  of  the  member's
  retirement  shall  have  an  opportunity  to  be  heard  on the member's

application  for  reclassification  by  the  comptroller  according   to
  procedures developed by the comptroller.
    (e)  The  comptroller  is  hereby  authorized  to promulgate rules and
  regulations to implement the provisions of this paragraph.
    k. Notwithstanding any other provision  of  this  chapter  or  of  any
  general,  special  or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or
  regulation to the contrary, if a retiree who:
    (1) has met the criteria of subdivision j of this section and  retired
  on a service or disability retirement, or would have met the criteria if
  not already retired on an accidental disability; and
    (2) has not been retired for more than twenty-five years; and
    (3) dies from a qualifying World Trade Center condition, as defined in
  section two of this chapter, as determined by the applicable head of the
  retirement  system or applicable medical board, then unless the contrary
  be proven by competent evidence, such retiree shall be  deemed  to  have
  died  as  a natural and proximate result of an accident sustained in the
  performance of duty and not as a result of willful negligence on his  or
  her  part.  Such retiree's eligible beneficiary, as set forth in section
  five hundred one of this article, shall be  entitled  to  an  accidental
  death  benefit as provided by section five hundred nine of this article,
  however, for the purposes of determining the salary base upon which  the
  accidental  death  benefit is calculated, the retiree shall be deemed to
  have died on the date of his  or  her  retirement.  Upon  the  retiree's
  death,  the eligible beneficiary shall make a written application to the
  head of the retirement system within the time for filing an  application
  for  an  accidental  death  benefit as set forth in section five hundred
  nine of this article requesting conversion of such retiree's service  or
  disability  retirement  benefit  to  an accidental death benefit. At the
  time of such conversion, the eligible beneficiary shall  relinquish  all
  rights   to  the  respective  benefits  payable  under  the  service  or
  disability  retirement  benefit,  including  any  post-retirement  death
  benefits,  since the retiree's death. If the eligible beneficiary is not
  the only beneficiary receiving or entitled to receive  a  benefit  under
  this  service  or  disability  retirement  benefit  (including,  but not
  limited to, post-retirement death benefits or benefits paid  or  payable
  pursuant  to  the  retiree's  option  selection),  the  accidental death
  benefit payments to the eligible beneficiary  will  be  reduced  by  any
  amounts paid or payable to any other beneficiary.
    l.  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision  of  this chapter or of any
  general, special or local law, charter, administrative code or  rule  or
  regulation to the contrary, if a member who:
    (1) has met the criteria of subdivision j of this section; and
    (2)  dies  in  active  service  from  a  qualifying World Trade Center
  condition as defined in section two of this chapter,  as  determined  by
  the  applicable  head  of  the  retirement  system or applicable medical
  board, then unless the contrary be proven by  competent  evidence,  such
  member shall be deemed to have died as a natural and proximate result of
  an  accident sustained in the performance of duty and not as a result of
  willful negligence on his or her part.
    Such member's eligible beneficiary,  as  set  forth  in  section  five
  hundred  one  of  this article, shall be entitled to an accidental death
  benefit provided he or she makes written application to the head of  the
  retirement  system  within  the  time  for  filing an application for an
  accidental death benefit as set forth in section five  hundred  nine  of
  this article.