Public Safety Duty Disability Law: What Cities Need to Know

Published: August 7, 2023

The new public safety duty disability law requires treatment of a psychological condition for a licensed peace officer or full-time firefighter to be eligible for duty disability benefits from the Minnesota State Retirement System (MSRS) or the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA). The law also:

  • Modifies vesting, total and permanent disability benefits, and disability reemployment offset requirements for PERA’s Police and Fire (PERA-P&F) Plan.
  • Implements new pre-service and in-service wellness training requirements and makes wellness training a prerequisite for peace officer licensing.
  • Allocates a one-time total of $104 million for PERA and MSRS psychological treatment administration and Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) payments to public employers through the modified Public Safety Officers Benefit account.
  • Places limits on psychological fitness-for-duty exams, which may have implications beyond this statute.

Learn more:

Get answers to FAQs regarding the new law on public safety duty disability

The following frequently asked questions (FAQs) aim to provide information to cities about the new law to assist local governments in making decisions related to the law change. The League will continue to update this information as necessary. These FAQs may not address all the questions that we  received from members, but we will provide answers as they become available.

General information

Treatment and salary and benefits continuation

Disability benefits changes