HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4821

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, July 8, 2024.

The committee on Public Service, to whom was referred the joint petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2683) of Thomas P. Walsh and Bruce E. Tarr relative to providing the next of kin of a police officer or firefighter killed in the line of duty with the flags of the Commonwealth and the United States, reports recommending that the accompanying bill (House, No. 4821) ought to pass.

For the committee,

KENNETH I. GORDON.

        FILED ON: 6/28/2024

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4821

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

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An Act providing the next of kin of a police officer or firefighter killed in the line of duty with the flags of the Commonwealth and the United States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Chapter 32 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 official edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 89E the following section:-

Section 89F. If a sworn police officer of a police department of city or town, a sworn police officer of the department of state police or a firefighter for a fire department of a city or town, or any other sworn peace officer within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is killed, or dies from injuries received, or dies as a natural or proximate result of undergoing a hazard peculiar to his or her employment, while in the performance of his or her duty, their next of kin shall receive a flag of the commonwealth of Massachusetts and a flag of the United States during the memorial service, the cost of which shall be borne by the commonwealth.