---
kind: "section"
citation: "5 U.S.C. § 8191"
title: "5"
title_heading: "Government Organization and Employees"
number: "8191"
heading: "Determination of eligibility"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/5/8191"
units:
  - "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. Determination of eligibility


The benefits of this subchapter are available as provided in this subchapter to [eligible](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-3) [law enforcement officers](/usc/5/8401.md?p=17) (referred to in this subchapter as “[eligible](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-3) officers”) and their [survivors](/usc/5/8401.md?p=28). For the purposes of this subchapter, an [eligible](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-3) officer is any [person](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-1) who is determined by the [Secretary](/usc/5/9901.md?p=2) of Labor in his discretion to have been on any given occasion—

- (1) a [law enforcement officer](/usc/5/8401.md?p=17) and to have been engaged on that occasion in the apprehension or attempted apprehension of any [person](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-1)—
  - (A) for the commission of a crime against the [United States](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-18), or
  - (B) who at that time was sought by a law enforcement [authority](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-6) of the [United States](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-18) for the commission of a crime against the [United States](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-18), or
  - (C) who at that time was sought as a material witness in a criminal proceeding instituted by the [United States](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-18); or
- (2) a [law enforcement officer](/usc/5/8401.md?p=17) and to have been engaged on that occasion in protecting or guarding a [person](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-1) held for the commission of a crime against the [United States](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-18) or as a material witness in connection with such a crime; or
- (3) a [law enforcement officer](/usc/5/8401.md?p=17) 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](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-18);

and to have been on that occasion not an [employee](/usc/5/8101.md?p=1) as defined in [section 8101(1)](/usc/5/8101.md?p=1), and to have sustained on that occasion a personal [injury](/usc/5/8101.md?p=5) for which the [United States](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-18) would be required under subchapter I of this chapter to [pay](/usc/5/7511.md?p=a-4) [compensation](/usc/5/8101.md?p=12) if he had been on that occasion such an [employee](/usc/5/8101.md?p=1) engaged in the performance of his duty. No [person](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-1) otherwise [eligible](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-3) to receive a benefit under this subchapter because of the disability or death of an [eligible](/usc/5/4701.md?p=a-3) officer shall be barred from the receipt of such benefit because the [person](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-1) apprehended or attempted to be apprehended by such officer was then sought for the commission of a crime against a sovereignty other than the [United States](/usc/5/7103.md?p=a-18).


## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 90–291, § 1(a), Apr. 19, 1968, 82 Stat. 98; amended Pub. L. 90–623, § 1(20), Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1313.)

## Notes

### 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 Amendment

Amendment 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 sections 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].”