(1) Any spouse or child of a full-time or part-time public safety officer, as defined in subsection (6)of this section, employed by or volunteering for the state of Idaho or for a political subdivision of the state of Idaho, which public safety officer is or was a resident of the state of Idaho at the time such officer was killed or totally and permanently disabled in the line of duty shall be admitted to attend undergraduate studies at any public institution of higher education or public professional-technical college within the state of Idaho without the necessity of paying tuition and fees therefor. Said persons shall be provided by the institution or college with books, equipment and supplies necessary for pursuit of the person's chosen program of enrollment not to exceed the actual cost therefor, or five hundred dollars ($500), whichever is less, per quarter, semester, intensified semester, or like education period. Said person shall be provided with the institution or college's published normal on-campus residential facility housing and meals program for each month the person is enrolled full time under this statute and continues to actually reside in such on-campus residential facility. Provided however, that the undergraduate educational benefits provided for in this section shall not exceed a total of thirty-six (36) months or four (4) nine-month periods; provided further, that such educational benefits shall not extend beyond ten (10) years following the date the person receives a high school diploma, a high school equivalency diploma, a special diploma or a certificate of high school completion, or beyond the date such person turns thirty (30) years old, whichever comes first.(2)(a) To be eligible for the scholarship provided for herein, a child of a public safety officer must be a resident of the state of Idaho and must have completed a secondary school or its equivalent in the state of Idaho. A child already born, or born after a public safety officer is killed or becomes totally and permanently disabled, shall be eligible for this scholarship.
(b) To be eligible for the scholarship provided for herein, the spouse of a public safety officer must be a resident of the state of Idaho and must have been married to such person at the time the public safety officer was killed or became totally and permanently disabled. Provided however, that in the situation of disability, the spouse must be currently married to such person.
(3) The eligible individual shall be required to meet the educational qualifications as such institution of higher education or professional-technical college as established for other prospective students of this state, as well as any additional educational qualifications established by the state board of education and board of regents of the university of Idaho. Application for eligibility under this section shall be made to the state board of education and board of regents of the university of Idaho. The board shall verify the eligibility of such person and communicate such eligibility to the person and the affected institution or college.
(4) Affected institutions and colleges shall, in their preparation of future budgets, include therein costs resulting from such tuition, fees, housing, meals, books, equipment and supplies for reimbursement thereof from appropriations of state funds.
For the purposes of this section, a public safety officer employed by or volunteering for the state of Idaho or for a political subdivision of the state of Idaho is considered totally and permanently disabled if at the time of application a current disability determination made by the United States social security administration is in effect with respect to such individual.
(5) The scholarships provided in this section shall be available for the spouse or children of public safety officers who were killed or totally and permanently disabled in 1975 or thereafter.
(6) For purposes of this section:
(a)
"Public safety officer" means a peace officer or firefighter, or a paramedic, emergency medical technician or first responder as those terms are defined in section
56-1012, Idaho Code.
(b) "Volunteering" means contributing services as a bona fide member of a legally organized law enforcement agency, fire department or licensed emergency medical service provider organization.
(7) The scholarship provided in this section shall not be available unless it is determined that:
(a) The death or disablement of the public safety officer occurred in the performance of the officer's duties;
(b) The death or disablement was not caused by the intentional misconduct of the public safety officer or by such officer's intentional infliction of injury; and
(c) The public safety officer was not voluntarily intoxicated at the time of death.
(8) The state board of education and board of regents of the university of Idaho may adopt rules to implement and administer this scholarship program.
Idaho Statutes