Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title IV Chapter 32
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 32, § 85H (2026)

Disability retirement of call or volunteer fire fighters and reserve police officers

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 85H. The selectmen of a town and the prudential committee of a fire or water district may retire from active service any call fire fighter or reserve, special or intermittent police officer who becomes permanently disabled mentally or physically by injuries sustained through no fault of the person in the actual performance of duty as a fire fighter or police officer. A person so retired shall receive an annual pension equal to 2/3 of the annual rate of compensation payable to a regular or permanent member of the police or fire force, as the case may be, thereof for the first year of service therein and, if there are no permanent members of the police or fire force, an annual pension of $3000. If a call fire fighter or a member of a volunteer fire company in a town or a fire or water district whose service as such has been approved by the board of selectmen of the town or the prudential committee of a fire or water district or reserve or special or intermittent police officer of a town or a reserve police officer or reserve or call fire fighter of a city is disabled because of injury or incapacity sustained in the performance of the person's duty through no fault of the person and is thereby unable to perform the usual duties of the person's regular occupation at the time the injury or incapacity was incurred, the person shall receive from the city or town for the period of the injury or incapacity the amount of compensation payable to a permanent member of the police or fire force thereof, as the case may be, for the first year of service therein or, if there are no regular or permanent members of the police or fire force thereof, at the rate of $3000 per annum; provided, however, that no compensation shall be payable for any period after the police officer or fire fighter has been retired or pensioned in accordance with law or for any period after a physician designated by the board or officer authorized to appoint police officers or fire fighters in the city or town determines that the injury or incapacity no longer exists. All amounts payable under this section shall be paid at the same time and in the same manner as, and for all purposes shall be considered to be, the regular compensation of the police officer or fire fighter. No city, town or fire or water district shall pay compensation under this section if insurance providing coverage for the compensation is in effect therefor under any general or special law, unless and until all rights under the insurance in favor of the city, town or fire or water district shall have been exercised, determined and satisfied.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases, 1978–2008 · leading case: Jones v. Town of Wayland, 402 N.E.2d 63 (Mass. 1980).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Jones v. Town of Wayland, 402 N.E.2d 63 (Mass. 1980). · cites it 11× “Jones, a former special police officer in the town of Wayland, moved to amend his complaint to seek a declaration that the town must provide him with the retirement and compensation benefits afforded by G. L. c. 32, § 85H. 3 Rather than rule immediately on Jones’ motion to *112…”
Town of Ware v. Town of Hardwick, 853 N.E.2d 599 (Mass. App. Ct. 2006). · cites it 12× “The town of Ware (Ware), as assignee of Randall Witkos, brought an action to require the town of Hardwick (Hardwick) to pay to Ware statutory “injured on duty” benefits under G. L. c. 32, § 85H, allegedly due to Witkos on account of an aneurysm that disabled him while he was…”
Politano v. Bd. of Selectmen, 429 N.E.2d 31 (Mass. App. Ct. 1981). · cites it 6× “41, § 111F, and G. L. c. 32, § 85H. The defendants appeal from a “judgment” which awarded benefits under the latter two statutes, annulled the decision of the selectmen denying benefits under G.”
Jones v. Town of Wayland, 373 N.E.2d 199 (Mass. 1978). “In addition, Wayland concedes that Jones probably has a claim for disability retirement under G. L. c. 32, § 85H. From the record appropriately before us, it is most likely that the proviso accompanying the acceptance of Jones’s resignation referred to these claims.”
Dyer v. Bilotta, 15 Mass. L. Rptr. 345 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2002). · cites it 5× “Dyer, brought this action pursuant to G.L.c. 32, §85H against the Town of Lunenburg to recover disability benefits for an injury that occurred while he was on duty as a call firefighter in March of 1986.”
Dyer v. Bd. of Selectmen, 614 N.E.2d 1009 (Mass. App. Ct. 1993). · cites it 4× “See G. L. c. 32, § 85H, the relevant portion of which we set out in the margin.”
Paparo v. Town of Provincetown, 614 N.E.2d 1012 (Mass. App. Ct. 1993). “In Dyer the town, but not the town-designated physician, established that the call fire fighter was no longer incapacitated.”
Becker v. Town of Newbury, 894 N.E.2d 629 (Mass. App. Ct. 2008). · cites it 2× “1 She also claimed that the town had improperly refused to pay her the benefit to which she was entitled under G. L. c. 32, § 85H, which provides benefits to reserve police officers who are injured in the line of duty to the point where they no longer can perform the duties of…”
Dyer v. Town of Lunenburg, 18 Mass. L. Rptr. 442 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2004). · cites it 2× “This is an action brought by the plaintiff under the provisions of G.L.c. 32, §85H, by which he seeks a determination that he is totally and permanently disabled from his regular employment as a result of a workplace injuiy as a call firefighter.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.