40 ILCS 5/5-144

(40 ILCS 5/5-144) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 5-144)

Sec. 5-144. Death from injury in the performance of acts of duty; compensation annuity and supplemental annuity.

(a) Beginning January 1, 1986, and without regard to whether or not the annuity in question began before that date, if the annuity for the widow of a policeman whose death, on or after January 1, 1940, results from injury incurred in the performance of an act or acts of duty, is not equal to the sum hereinafter stated, "compensation annuity" equal to the difference between the annuity and an amount equal to 75% of the policeman's salary attached to the position he held by certification and appointment as a result of competitive civil service examination that would ordinarily have been paid to him as though he were in active discharge of his duties shall be payable to the widow until the policeman, had he lived, would have attained age 63. The total amount of the widow's annuity and children's awards payable to the family of such policeman shall not exceed the amounts stated in Section 5-152.

For the purposes of this Section only, the death of any policeman as a result of the exposure to and contraction of COVID-19, as evidenced by either (i) a confirmed positive laboratory test for COVID-19 or COVID-19 antibodies or (ii) a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 from a licensed medical professional, shall be rebuttably presumed to have been contracted while in the performance of an act or acts of duty and the policeman shall be rebuttably presumed to have been fatally injured while in active service. The presumption shall apply to any policeman who was exposed to and contracted COVID-19 on or after March 9, 2020 and on or before January 31, 2022 (including the period between December 31, 2020 and the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly); except that the presumption shall not apply if the policeman was on a leave of absence from his or her employment or otherwise not required to report for duty for a period of 14 or more consecutive days immediately prior to the date of contraction of COVID-19. For the purposes of determining when a policeman contracted COVID-19 under this paragraph, the date of contraction is either the date that the policeman was diagnosed with COVID-19 or was unable to work due to symptoms that were later diagnosed as COVID-19, whichever occurred first.

The provisions of this Section, as amended by Public Act 84-1104, including the reference to the date upon which the deceased policeman would have attained age 63, shall apply to all widows of policemen whose death occurs on or after January 1, 1940 due to injury incurred in the performance of an act of duty, regardless of whether such death occurred prior to September 17, 1969. For those widows of policemen that died prior to September 17, 1969, who became eligible for compensation annuity by the action of Public Act 84-1104, such compensation annuity shall begin and be calculated from January 1, 1986. The provisions of this amendatory Act of 1987 are intended to restate and clarify the intent of Public Act 84-1104, and do not make any substantive change.

(b) Upon termination of the compensation annuity, "supplemental annuity" shall become payable to the widow, equal to the difference between the annuity for the widow and an amount equal to 75% of the annual salary (including all salary increases and longevity raises) that the policeman would have been receiving when he attained age 63 if the policeman had continued in service at the same rank (whether career service or exempt) that he last held in the police department. The increase in supplemental annuity resulting from this amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly applies without regard to whether the deceased policeman was in service on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act and is payable from July 1, 2002 or the date upon which the supplemental annuity begins, whichever is later.

(c) Neither compensation nor supplemental annuity shall be paid unless the death of the policeman was a direct result of the injury, or the injury was of such character as to prevent him from subsequently resuming service as a policeman; nor shall compensation or supplemental annuity be paid unless the widow was the wife of the policeman when the injury occurred.

(Source: P.A. 103-692, eff. 7-19-24.)