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<section article="gtp" article_name="Tax - Property" number="9-210" title_number="9" title_name="Property Tax Credits and Property Tax Relief" subtitle_number="2" subtitle_name="Statewide Optional">
  <level label="a">
    <level label="1">
      <text>In this section the following words have the meanings indicated.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>“Cohabitant” means an individual who for a period of at least 180 days in the year before the death of a fallen public safety officer or judicial officer:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>had a relationship of mutual interdependence with the fallen public safety officer or judicial officer; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>resided with the fallen public safety officer or judicial officer in the dwelling.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>“Disabled public safety officer or judicial officer” means an individual who:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>has been found to be permanently and totally disabled by an administrative body or court of competent jurisdiction authorized to make such a determination; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>became disabled:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>as a result of or in the course of employment as a law enforcement officer, a correctional officer, or a judicial officer; or</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>while in active service as a judicial officer or while in the active service of a fire, rescue, or emergency medical service, unless the disability was the result of the individual’s own willful misconduct or abuse of alcohol or drugs.</text>
        </level>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <level label="i">
        <text>“Dwelling” means real property that:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>is the legal residence of a disabled public safety officer or judicial officer, a surviving spouse, or a cohabitant; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>is occupied by not more than two families.</text>
        </level>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>“Dwelling” includes the lot or curtilage and structures necessary to use the real property as a residence.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>“Fallen public safety officer or judicial officer” means an individual who dies:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>as a result of or in the course of employment as a law enforcement officer, a correctional officer, or a judicial officer; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>while in active service as a judicial officer or while in the active service of a fire, rescue, or emergency medical service, unless the death was the result of the individual’s own willful misconduct or abuse of alcohol or drugs.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="6">
      <text>“Public safety officer” means a correctional officer, a law enforcement officer, or a member of a fire, rescue, or emergency medical service, as those terms are defined, by law, by the county or municipal corporation as required under subsection (c) of this section.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="7">
      <text>“Surviving spouse” means a surviving spouse, who has not remarried, of a fallen public safety officer or judicial officer.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>The Mayor and City Council of Baltimore City or the governing body of a county or municipal corporation may grant, by law, a property tax credit under this section against the county or municipal corporation property tax imposed on a dwelling that is owned by a disabled public safety officer or judicial officer, a surviving spouse, or a cohabitant:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>if the dwelling was owned by the disabled public safety officer or judicial officer at the time the public safety officer or judicial officer was adjudged to be permanently and totally disabled or by the fallen public safety officer or judicial officer at the time of the fallen public safety officer’s or judicial officer’s death;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>if the disabled public safety officer or judicial officer was domiciled in the State as of, or any time within the 5 years before, the date the disabled public safety officer or judicial officer was adjudged to be permanently and totally disabled or the fallen public safety officer or judicial officer, the surviving spouse, or the cohabitant was domiciled in the State as of, or any time within the 5 years before, the date of the fallen public safety officer’s or judicial officer’s death and the dwelling was acquired by the disabled public safety officer or judicial officer within 10 years of the date the disabled public safety officer or judicial officer was adjudged to be permanently and totally disabled or by the surviving spouse or cohabitant within 10 years of the fallen public safety officer’s or judicial officer’s death;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>if the dwelling was owned by the surviving spouse or cohabitant at the time of the fallen public safety officer’s or judicial officer’s death; or</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>if the dwelling was acquired after the disabled public safety officer or judicial officer, the surviving spouse, or the cohabitant qualified for a credit for a former dwelling under item (1), (2), or (3) of this subsection, to the extent of the previous credit.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <text>A county or municipal corporation:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>shall define, by law, who is a:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>public safety officer; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>judicial officer; and</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>may provide, by law, for:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>the amount and duration of a property tax credit allowed under this section;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>any additional limitation to the number of years the dwelling was acquired within the date of an adjudication of disability or death; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>any other provision necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
</section>
