| (a) Pursuant to Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article
56.542, a peace officer or a former peace officer, as defined therein,
who, in the performance of the officer's duties as a peace officer
employed by the state or a local governmental entity, sustains an
injury as a result of criminally injurious conduct on or after September
1, 1989, will be entitled to annual payments if the peace officer's
condition is a total disability that has persisted for more than 12
months and results in a permanent incapacity for work. In order to
be eligible to receive annual payments, the peace officer must comply
with the application provisions of this chapter, and other applicable
state laws and the OAG will compute the amount of the annual payments
in a manner consistent with Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter
56, the Texas Administrative Code, and any other controlling law.
(b) A disabled peace officer, determined to be eligible
for benefits pursuant to Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article
56.542, may also be eligible for compensation pursuant to Texas Code
of Criminal Procedure Article 56.42. When a peace officer is eligible
to receive payments under both provisions, payments pursuant to Texas
Code of Criminal Procedure Article 56.42 will be exhausted before
payments will be made under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article
56.542.
(c) For purposes of this subchapter, eligibility and
award determinations will be made based on the law that was in effect
at the time the criminally injurious conduct occurred. The date of
the criminally injurious conduct is the date of the injury that resulted
in the disability of the peace officer. The date of the disability
is determined by the latter of the date of the injury or the date
that the peace officer is no longer able to perform the duties of
a peace officer due to the criminally injurious conduct.
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