Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 9, September, 2024
Authority - These rules are promulgated pursuant
to Act 765 of 2021, codified at Arkansas Cole Ann. §
26-51-2511,
establishing the Law Enforcement Family Relief Check-off Program and Arkansas
Code Ann. §
19-5-1155, establishing the Law Enforcement Family Relief
Trust Fund to facilitate administration, collection, and disbursement of moneys
deposited into the fund.
Rule 1. Title
These Rules shall be known as the "Law Enforcement Family
Relief Check-off Program and Law Enforcement Family Relief Trust Fund
Rules".
Rule 2.
Administrative Procedures
The Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Finance and
Administration or their designee shall administer the Law Enforcement Family
Relief Check-off Program. The Treasurer of State or their designee shall
maintain the Law Enforcement Family Relief Trust Fund account. The Secretary of
the Department of Public Safety or their designee shall administer the Law
Enforcement Family Relief Trust Fund. The grant should be provided to the
eligible law enforcement officer or their family within 10 days of receipt of
the request and required documentation by the Secretary of Public
Safety.
Rule 3. Scope
a. These Rules shall govern the Secretary of
the Department of Public Safety or their designee in administering the Law
Enforcement Family Relief Trust Fund to provide financial assistance to the
families of Arkansas-certified law enforcement officers.
b. These Rules shall govern the Secretary of
the Department of Finance and Administration or their designee in administering
the Law Enforcement Family Relief Check-off Program in providing a means by
which taxpayers may designate the withholding of all or a portion of their
income tax refund, or make an additional contribution if not entitled to a tax
refund.
Rule 4.
Objective
To alleviate financial hardships suffered by a law enforcement
officer and/or their family when the officer becomes unable to financially
contribute to the needs of the family due to death or diagnosis of a terminal
illness.
Rule 5. Effective
Date
These Rules shall be effective on and after January 1,
2022.
Rule 6. Definitions
(a) "Active employee" - a full or part-time
law certified enforcement officer who, at the time of their death or diagnosis,
is employed by an active law enforcement agency in the State of Arkansas
approved by the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and
Training.
(b) "Certified" - a law
enforcement officer in the State of Arkansas who is recognized by the Arkansas
Commission of Law Enforcement Standards and Training as meeting standards
required by the Commission.
(c)
"Corporation" - includes joint-stock companies or associations and insurance
companies
(d) "Fiduciary" - a
guardian, trustee, executor, administrator, receiver, conservator, or any
person, whether individual or corporate, acting in any fiduciary capacity for
any person, trust, or estate
(e)
"Fund" - moneys generated from the Law Enforcement Family Relief Check-off
Program under § 26-51-251; any gifts, grants, bequests, devises, and
donations received under the program; and any other authorized
revenues
(f) "Killed in the line of
duty" - an officer, while in the performance of their official duties, was
killed or suffered an injury precipitating their death shortly
thereafter.
(g) "Medical
professional" - a person licensed by the Arkansas State Medical
Board.
(h) "Officer in good
standing" - an officer meeting all minimum standards and is certified, not
having been not decertified, or the subject of a pending disciplinary action or
internal affairs investigation;
(i)
"Program" - the Law Enforcement Family Relief Check-off Program
(j) "Terminal illness" - a disease or
condition that cannot be cured and is likely to lead to a person's death and
prevents or significantly impairs the person's ability to work as a law
enforcement officer or to otherwise earn comparable wages in another line of
work
Rule 7. Check-off
Program Implementation
The Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Finance and
Administration or their designee shall include on all individual and corporate
income tax forms a check-off designation to the Law Enforcement Family Relief
Check-off Program.
a. If entitled to a
refund a person may designate all or any part of the refund for the Law
Enforcement Family Relief Check-off Program;
b. If additional tax is owed, a person may
designate a contribution and enclose a separate check for the amount of the
contribution payable to the Law Enforcement Family Relief Check-off
Program.
Rule 8.
Certification
The Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Finance and
Administration or their designee shall certify quarterly to the Treasurer of
State the amount contributed to the Law Enforcement Family Relief Check-off
Program through this state income tax check-off during the quarter.
Rule 9.Eligibility criteria for
relief
(a) "Need" of the family of a law
enforcement officer must be established and may be demonstrated as an inability
to remit payment for outstanding regular bills or expenses and/or extraordinary
expenses that otherwise would not have been incurred or would have been
satisfied had the law enforcement officer not been killed or diagnosed with a
terminal illness
(b) Salary of the
Arkansas-certified law enforcement officer must be provided to determine the
financial impact to the family upon the officer's inability to contribute his
or her salary.
(c) At the time of
the death or diagnosis, the officer must have been an active employee of a law
enforcement agency located in the State of Arkansas.
Rule 10. Application for relief. The
Secretary of the Department of Public Safety or their designee may include the
following on an application for relief:
(a)
Any and all records sufficient to document "need" as described in Rule 6(a),
above, including any documentation or other factors that establish the family's
hardship;
(b) Current paystubs, tax
returns, or W-2 forms as proof of the salary of the officer;
(c) Certification from the officer's employer
that he or she was an active employee in good standing with the agency at the
time of his or her death or diagnosis;
(d) If the applicant is not a terminally ill
law enforcement officer, proof of the relationship between the applicant
seeking relief and the deceased or terminally ill law enforcement
officer;
(e) If the applicant is a
terminally ill law enforcement officer, medical records reflecting the
diagnosis, prognosis, including the likelihood of recovery or survival, and
symptoms that impact their daily life;
(f) Records reflecting other forms of income
or assets available to the family, including, but not limited to, real
property, whether the officer or any family/household member is the beneficiary
to a trust, investment income, pensions, annuity payments, child support,
income earned by other family members, long-term care insurance benefits, or
life insurance benefits; and,
(g)
Any other information or records the Secretary determines might be necessary to
establish the need of the officer or their family for a grant to be issued
under this program.
Rule
11. Family members eligible for relief
If a law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty, his
or her family members may apply to the Law Enforcement Family Relief Trust Fund
for relief. A spouse, parent, or guardian of a child-in-common, or minor
child(ren) are eligible to submit such an application.
Rule 12. Award Limits
Each family of a law enforcement officer or law enforcement
officer who is determined to be eligible to receive a grant under the Law
Enforcement Family Relief Trust Fund may receive no more than $15,000 as a
one-time grant.
