A.(1) Eligibility for disability benefits, procedures for application for disability benefits, procedures for the certification of continuing eligibility for disability benefits, the authority of the board of trustees to modify disability benefits, and procedures governing the restoration to active service of an employee who formerly had a disability are specifically described and provided for in La. Rev. Stat. 11:201 through 225.

            (2) The burden of proving that a disability is not based on a preexisting condition, prohibiting receipt of benefits, shall lie with the employee if the physical examination and waiver forms required by La. Rev. Stat. 11:2214(A)(2) have not been submitted to the system.

            (3)(a) A member may appeal a decision made pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 11:218(D)(2) or (3), regarding eligibility for disability benefits, by filing a petition in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court of Louisiana within thirty days after receipt of written notice of the decision.

            (b) An appeal of any other decision of the board regarding eligibility for disability benefits may be instituted by the member or his beneficiary by filing a petition in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court of Louisiana within thirty days after receipt of written notice of the decision.

            B.(1) The board of trustees shall award disability benefits to eligible members who have been officially certified by the State Medical Disability Board as disabled to perform the position held by the member at the time that the disability was incurred or as disabled to perform any other position paying the same salary currently available in the department so long as the disability is not the result of a preexisting condition. Upon receipt of any application for disability retirement, the system shall request from the chief of police the job descriptions of all positions currently available in the department paying the same salary. Such job descriptions shall be submitted to the system within thirty days, or it shall be presumed that no position is available that pays the same salary. The disability benefit shall be determined as provided in this Section.

            (2) Upon application for retirement due to a total and permanent disability caused solely as the result of injuries sustained in the performance of his official duties, a member shall receive a disability benefit equal to forty percent of his average final compensation.

            (3) Additionally, any member who is entitled to the disability benefit provided by Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, and who has not less than thirteen and one-third years of creditable service, shall receive a supplemental disability benefit equal to three percent of his average final compensation for each year of creditable service in excess of thirteen and one-third years, this supplemental disability benefit not to exceed twenty percent of his average final compensation.

            (4) Upon application for retirement due to a total and permanent disability, any member with at least ten years creditable service shall receive a disability benefit equal to three percent of his average final compensation multiplied by his years of creditable service, but not less than forty percent nor more than sixty percent of his average final compensation.

            (5) In no case shall any disability benefit approved by the board of trustees be paid until all employee and employer contributions are received by the retirement system, covering through the date of termination of employment. Furthermore, no application for disability benefit shall be approved until all previously refunded contributions from the system have been repaid, including compounded interest at the board-approved actuarial valuation rate thereon from the date of refund until repaid in full.

            C.(1) At the time of attainment of normal retirement age, a service-connected disability benefit recipient shall have the option to continue to receive his disability retirement benefit or his vested retirement benefit for the remainder of his life, provided that if he elects to receive his vested retirement benefit, such benefit shall be equal to the greater of his disability benefit or his vested retirement benefit. Such election filed with the retirement system shall become irrevocable thirty days after receipt.

            (2) Upon attainment of normal retirement age, a disability recipient shall receive the greater of his disability retirement benefit or his vested benefit.

            D. Any person who is receiving or has received a disability retirement benefit from any law enforcement or police retirement plan or pension and relief fund for policemen, except disability retirees of this system, shall not be eligible for membership in the Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System, if he becomes no longer disabled and returns to service in the same municipality or becomes employed as a policeman or law enforcement officer while receiving a disability benefit.

            E.(1) Any disability retiree who is in a coma or who is paraplegic, when such condition is caused solely as the result of injuries sustained in the performance of his official duties and such condition is certified by the State Medical Disability Board, shall receive a benefit equal to his average final compensation, provided that the benefits of this Subsection can only become effective on and after September 12, 1987, and no increase shall be paid for any period of time prior to September 12, 1987.

            (2) Any disability retiree who is blinded, who suffers a traumatic physical injury causing permanent damage to the brain or spinal cord, or who loses the total use of a limb solely as a result of injuries sustained on or after July 1, 2003, in the performance of his official duties, and whose condition is certified by the State Medical Disability Board, shall receive a benefit equal to his average final compensation. No funds derived from the assessments against insurers pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 22:1476 shall be used to pay any increased costs or increase in liability of the system resulting from the provisions of this Paragraph.

            F. Any claim for disability benefits by a member disabled after June 30, 2021, shall be filed with the system within three years from the date of disability.

            G.(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 11:220(A), whenever the board of trustees requires any disability retiree who has not yet attained the equivalent age of regular retirement to undergo a medical examination to determine continued eligibility to receive a disability retirement benefit, the cost of such examination shall be paid by the system.

            (2) A contested decision as to continued eligibility for disability benefits as a result of the required examination shall be appealed in accordance with La. Rev. Stat. 11:218 and Paragraph (A)(3) of this Section. Any further medical examinations shall be at the expense of the party as set forth in La. Rev. Stat. 11:218.

            Added by Acts 1973, No. 189, §1. Amended by Acts 1975, No. 377, §1; Acts 1976, No. 603, §4; Acts 1977, No. 601, §1; Acts 1978, No. 727, §5, eff. Jan. 1, 1979; Acts 1979, No. 106, §1; Acts 1980, No. 223, §1; Acts 1982, No. 157, §1; Acts 1985, No. 81, §1; Acts 1987, No. 899, §1; Acts 1990, No. 234, §1, eff. July 1, 1990; Redesignated from La. Rev. Stat. 33:2376 by Acts 1991, No. 74, §3, eff. June 25, 1991; Acts 1992, No. 553, §1, eff. July 1, 1992; Acts 1997, No. 900, §1, eff. retroactive to Jan. 1, 1997; Acts 2003, No. 572, §1, eff. July 1, 2003; Acts 2003, No. 610, §1, eff. July 1, 2003; Acts 2008, No. 110, §1, eff. July 1, 2008; Acts 2008, No. 743, §7, eff. July 1, 2008; Acts 2011, No. 231, §1, eff. June 27, 2011; Acts 2014, No. 811, §4, eff. June 23, 2014; Acts 2018, No. 343, §1, eff. June 30, 2018; Acts 2020, No. 249, §1, eff. July 1, 2020.