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Title 5 — Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-73not60

§8191 Determination of Eligibility

Title 5 › Part III— EMPLOYEES › Subpart G— Insurance and Annuities › Chapter 81— COMPENSATION FOR WORK INJURIES › Subchapter III— LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS NOT EMPLOYED BY THE UNITED STATES › § 8191

Last updated Apr 3, 2026|Official source

Summary

Pays benefits to eligible law enforcement officers and their survivors when the Secretary of Labor finds they were acting as officers on a specific occasion. The Secretary decides who qualifies. An eligible officer is a law officer who, on that occasion, was arresting or trying to arrest someone for a federal crime; was dealing with someone federal authorities were looking for because of a federal crime or as a material witness; was guarding or protecting such a person; or was lawfully trying to stop a federal crime.

Full Legal Text

Title 5, §8191

Government Organization and Employees — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The benefits of this subchapter are available as provided in this subchapter to eligible law enforcement officers (referred to in this subchapter as “eligible officers”) and their survivors. For the purposes of this subchapter, an eligible officer is any person who is determined by the Secretary of Labor in his discretion to have been on any given occasion—
(1)a law enforcement officer and to have been engaged on that occasion in the apprehension or attempted apprehension of any person—
(A)for the commission of a crime against the United States, or
(B)who at that time was sought by a law enforcement authority of the United States for the commission of a crime against the United States, or
(C)who at that time was sought as a material witness in a criminal proceeding instituted by the United States; or
(2)a law enforcement officer and to have been engaged on that occasion in protecting or guarding a person held for the commission of a crime against the United States or as a material witness in connection with such a crime; or
(3)a law enforcement officer and to have been engaged on that occasion in the lawful prevention of, or lawful attempt to prevent, the commission of a crime against the United States;

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1968—Pub. L. 90–623 substituted “For the purposes of this subchapter” for “For the purposes of this Act”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1968 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 90–623 intended to restate without substantive change the law in effect on Oct. 22, 1968, see section 6 of Pub. L. 90–623, set out as a note under section 5334 of this title.

Effective Date

section 2 of Pub. L. 90–291 provided that: “The

Amendments

made by section 1 of this Act [enacting this section and section 8192 and 8193 of this title] are effective only with respect to personal injuries sustained on or after the date of enactment of this Act [Apr. 19, 1968].”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

5 U.S.C. § 8191

Title 5 — Government Organization and Employees

Last Updated

Apr 3, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60