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All of the benefit information below has been complied by COPS, a support group for police survivors.
Rev08/03
STATE OF ARKANSAS
DEATH BENEFITS
To obtain certified copies of registered personal documents, contact Vital Records,
Department of Health, 4815 W. Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72205, (501)661-2336.
STATE DEATH BENEFITS
PAYMENT OF CLAIMS TO CERTAIN INJURED WORKERS OR
THEIR SURVIVORS
Section 21-5-704.
A. The state shall pay to the spouse or surviving children of any police officer who is killed in
official line of duty, the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). Contact:
State Claims Commission, 101 E. Capitol Avenue, Suite #410, Little Rock, AR 72201-
3823, phone (501) 682-1619.
B. In addition thereto, the municipality which employed the police officer shall, upon
certification of the amount by the police department, pay to the spouse or surviving
children of the deceased police officer an allowance for all sick leave, vacation, or other
leave time accumulated to the credit of the police officer at the time of his/her death.
Contact your agency’s Benefits Assistance Officer.
PAYMENT OF CLAIM TO SURVIVORS OF CERTAIN OFFICERS
KILLED ON DUTY- FUNDS
Section 21-5-705.
A. The state shall pay to the spouse or surviving children of any police officer, whose death
occurred in the official line of duty and was the result of a criminal act of another person
or persons the additional sum of seventy-five thousand dollars. ($75,000).
B. The benefits shall be paid totally from state funds appropriated therefore.
C. The additional benefits provided in this section shall be paid to the spouse or surviving
children in three (3) equal annual payments, the first of which shall be paid in the month
of July following the date of the original order of the State Claims Commission
establishing entitlement to additional payments and annually thereafter.
D. Determination for eligibility for the additional payments provided in this section shall be
made by the State Claims Commission in accordance with commission rules and
procedures. See address above.
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In the state of Arkansas and as used in this text, 21-5-701 “Police Officer” means:
A. Any law enforcement officer, engaged in official duty, who is a member of any regular or
auxiliary police force, on a full- or part-time basis, or the Arkansas State Police;
B. A sheriff or deputy sheriff of any city of the first or second class who is engaged in official
duty;
C. Any constable or night marshal of any town of this state engaged in official duty.
STATE PENSION BENEFITS
State Police Retirement
If a member has at least five (5) years credited service, with credit for the year immediately
preceding death, monthly benefits can be payable to his or her spouse, dependent children or
dependent parents either immediately or at some future date. Contact Arkansas State Police
Commission, PO Box 5901, Little Rock, AR 72215.
STATE EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS
State of Arkansas - Act 190 of 1989.
6-82-503. Entitlement.
A. If any Arkansas law enforcement officer or full-time or volunteer fireman suffers fatal
injuries or wounds or becomes permanently and totally disabled as the result of injuries or
wounds which occurred in the performance of a hazardous duty within the scope of his
employment or which occurred enroute to a location where a hazardous situation existed,
his children and spouse shall be entitled to an eight-semester (8) scholarship without
cost, exclusive of books, food, school supplies, materials and dues for fees for
extracurricular activities at any state supported college or university of his choice within
this state.
B. Scholarship benefits shall not accrue under this subchapter to any person if the wounds or
injuries suffered by any law enforcement officer are self-inflicted or whose death is self
induced.
6-82-505. Limits for scholarship.
A. No child will be entitled to receive benefits under this subchapter during any semester or
quarter when the child has reached the age of twenty-three (23) years on or before the
first day of the semester or quarter.
B. No spouse will be eligible for the education benefit if he or she remarries. The benefit will
cease at the end of the semester at which the spouse is currently enrolled at the time of the
marriage.
Scholarships are awarded by the State Claims Commission at the address above and
administered by the Arkansas State Department of Higher Education, 114 E. Capitol
Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72201.
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POLICE CORPS SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS
The Police Corps is administered by the Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement
Education (OPCLEE), within the Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice, in
partnership with participating States that have submitted an approved State Plan. Information
can be found at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/opclee.
The Police Corps awards scholarships and reimburses educational expenses to students who
agree to work in a State or local police force for at least four years. Students must pursue an
undergraduate or graduate degree in a course of study which, in the judgment of the State or
local police force to which the participant will be assigned, includes appropriate preparation
for police service. Police Corps funds cover education expenses (including tuition, fees,
books, supplies, transportation, room and board, and miscellaneous expenses) up to $7,500
per academic year, with a limit on total payments to any student of $30,000.
Police Corps scholarship funds are also available to dependent children of law
enforcement officers killed in the line of duty if the death occurred in the state after that
state was approved to participate in the Police Corps program. In Arkansas, the death
must have occurred since August 1996. These scholarships may be applied to any course
of study, without any service or repayment obligation.
Police Corps participants are selected on a competitive basis by each State under regulations
prescribed by OPCLEE.
For more information, contact: Candis Loveless at the Department of Criminal Justice,
1-888-311-6831, fax 501-569-3075, email caloveless@ualr.edu, or visit the website at
www.ualr.edu/~cjdept/polcorps.html.
HEALTH BENEFITS
Varied depending upon police department benefits. Check with your agency’s Benefits
Assistance Officer.
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION
Workers’ Compensation coverage is compulsory for employers in Arkansas; however,
employers with fewer than 3 employees are exempt.
A spouse receives 35% of the employee’s wage and a spouse and child(ren) receive 66 2/3%
of the employee’s wage, with a minimum weekly benefit of $20 and a maximum weekly
benefit of $267. There is also a maximum burial allowance of $6,000.
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Spouse receives a 2-year lump sum upon remarriage and weekly benefits cease. Children
receive benefits until age 18 or married. Children receive benefits beyond 18 if physically or
mentally disabled, or until age 25 if full-time students.
To receive workers’ compensation benefits, the surviving spouse must take the initiative and
file a workers compensation claim through a workers’ compensation attorney to receive any
compensation.
Contact the Workers’ Compensation Commission at 625 Marshall Street, Justice
Building, Little Rock, AR 72201-1073, telephone (501) 682-3930.
PERSONAL LIFE POLICY - INTESTATE
“Heritable estate” is intestate’s real and personal property after provision for dower, curtesy,
homestead rights and statutory right and allowance of surviving spouse and minor children,
refund on joint Federal income tax returns, and administration of estate, if any. (28-9-206).
“Heritable estate” passes as follows (each class with living members taking to exclusion of
subsequent classes to intestate’s): (1) Surviving children and descendants of deceased
children; (2) surviving spouse, but if married to intestate less than three years at death,
surviving spouse takes only 50%, other 50% passing as if spouse had not survived in intestate;
(3) surviving parents, sharing equally, or to sole surviving parent if only one living; (4)
brothers and sisters and descendants of deceased brothers and sisters; (5) surviving
grandparents, uncles, and aunts, and descendants of deceased uncles and aunts; (6) surviving
great-grandparents, great uncles, and great aunts; (7) surviving spouse, even if married to
intestate less than three years; (8) heirs of deceased spouse if marriage not ended by divorce;
and (9) county wherein deceased resided at death. (28-9-214-215).
Where persons entitled to take are all of same degree of kindred to decedent they take per
capita; otherwise they take per stirpes. (28-9-204)
Surviving Spouse - Where intestate leaves no descendants and has been continuously married
not less than three years before death, surviving spouse takes all and if continuously married
less than three years before death, then only 50%. (28-9-213).
JURISDICTION OF STATE CLAIMS COMMISSION
Section 21-5-702.
A. The State Claims Commission is vested with exclusive jurisdiction to administer claims
filed against the state under this subchapter.
B. The State Claims Commission shall make a determination as to whether death was or was
not in the official line of duty.
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PEER SUPPORT ORGANIZATION
Established in 1984, Concerns of Police Survivors, Inc. (COPS), is a national, non-profit
organization that works with law enforcement agencies, police organizations, mental health
professional, and local peer-support organizations to provide assistance to surviving families
of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. COPS has become a "lifeline" to police
survivors nationwide. Contact: Arkansas COPS, Mary Flo Klein, Chapter Contact, 51
Tallyho Lane, Little Rock, AR 72227, (501)227-6096, mflk54@hotmail.com.
Additional Benefits
Southern States Police Benevolent Association, Inc.
The PBA member’s beneficiary will receive their base salary for one if year they are killed
accidentally or intentionally while performing their law enforcement duties (maximum
payout: $60,000). The beneficiary will receive $5,000 if it is not an occupational death or if
you are a retired or reserve member. Any active Southern States PBA member in good
standing and dues current will receive this benefit. Contact: Southern States Police
Benevolent Association, Inc., 1900 Brannan Road, McDonough, GA 30253-4310,
telephone 1-800-233-3506, or visit www.sspba.org.
All of the benefit information above has been complied by COPS, a support group for police survivors.
Contact the National Office of Concerns of Police Survivors, Inc. for additional information, or to support any of COPS' programs.
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Web site copyrighted © 2005 by Lydia Warner Miller