§ 5–721. Duties of Mayor; proceedings related thereto; disability retiree to report employment and undergo medical examination; overpayments.

(a) The Mayor shall consider all cases for the retirement of members and all applications for annuities under this subchapter subject to review and final determination by the District of Columbia Retirement Board. In each case of retirement of a member the Mayor shall certify in writing the physical condition of the member for whom retirement is sought. The Mayor shall give written notice to any member under consideration by him for retirement to appear before him and to give evidence under oath. The proceedings before the Mayor involving the retirement of any member, or any application for an annuity under this subchapter, shall be reduced to writing and shall show the date of appointment of such member, his age, his record in the service, and any other information which may be pertinent to the matter of such retirement or annuity. The Mayor is authorized to administer oaths and affirmations, may require by subpoena or otherwise the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of documents at any designated place. In the event of contumacy or refusal to obey any such subpoena or requirement under this section, the Mayor may apply to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for an order requiring obedience thereto. Thereupon the Court, with or without notice and hearing, as it in its discretion may decide, shall make such order as is proper and may punish as a contempt any failure to comply with such order in accordance with the provisions of § 11-944.

(b)(1) If a member is retired under § 5-709 or § 5-710 and is employed on or after the effective date of the District of Columbia Police and Firemen’s Salary Act Amendments of 1972, such member shall, in accordance with such regulations as the Mayor shall prescribe, notify the Mayor of the employment; and the Mayor shall, as soon as practicable after the receipt of such notice, require each such member to undergo a medical examination (satisfactory to the Mayor) of the disability upon which the member’s retirement under such section is based. The Mayor shall not require employment questionnaires under § 5-714(c)(5) or the medical examination of such member under paragraph (2) of this subsection after such member reaches the age of 50.

(2) The Mayor shall, by regulation, require any annuitant who was an officer or member of the Metropolitan Police force or the Fire Department of the District of Columbia and who retired before, on, or after November 17, 1979, under § 5-709 or § 5-710 to undergo, during each 12-month period following the effective date of this paragraph, at least 1 medical examination of the disability upon which the annuitant’s retirement under § 5-709 or § 5-710 is based. No such annuitant shall be required under such regulations to undergo a medical examination during any such 12-month period during which the annuitant was required to undergo a medical examination under this section in connection with such annuitant’s employment. Such annual examination shall be carried out by the Board of Police and Fire Surgeons or by a physician designated by the Board.

(3) Such regulations shall further provide for notification by the Board of Police and Fire Surgeons to each such annuitant as to the time and place for such examination and the consequences of failure to appear and submit to such examination.

(4) In any case in which the requirement to undergo a medical examination under this subchapter would impose on an annuitant an undue hardship because of the physical or mental condition of such annuitant, the Mayor, by regulation, shall provide other means sufficient to determine the continuance of the disability on which such annuitant’s retirement under § 5-709 or § 5-710 is based.

(5) Such regulations shall further provide that, in any case involving any such member so retired who refuses or otherwise fails to undergo any medical exam required by this subchapter, payment of the annuity to such member shall cease and such member shall not be eligible to receive such annuity or any part thereof for any period commencing on the day next following the day on which such member was required to undergo such examination, and ending on the date on which such member undergoes such examination. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as affecting any rights to a survivor’s annuity under § 5-716 based upon the service of such member.

(c) Except in a case of fraud against the District of Columbia, the Mayor may waive collection of any amount less than $100 which was paid to an annuitant in excess of the amount to which such annuitant was entitled under this subchapter.

(Sept. 1, 1916, 39 Stat. 718, ch. 433, § 12(m); Aug. 21, 1957, 71 Stat. 397, Pub. L. 85-157, § 3; July 8, 1963, 77 Stat. 77, Pub. L. 88-60, § 1; July 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 570, Pub. L. 91-358, title I, § 155(a); Aug. 29, 1972, 86 Stat. 642, Pub. L. 92-410, title II, § 202(a); Sept. 3, 1974, 88 Stat. 1041, Pub. L. 93-407, title I, § 123; redesignated § 12(o) Nov. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 912, Pub. L. 96-122, § 205(b), 210; Apr. 13, 2005, D.C. Law 15-354, § 13(g), 52 DCR 2638.)

Prior Codifications

1981 Ed., § 4-627.

1973 Ed., § 4-533.

Section References

This section is referenced in § 5-716.

Effect of Amendments

D.C. Law 15-354, in subsec. (a), inserted “subject to review and final determination by the District of Columbia Retirement Board” in the first sentence.

References in Text

Section 11-756 1981 Ed., formerly appearing at the end of the last sentence of subsection (a) of this section, was repealed by the Act of December 23, 1963, 77 Stat. 620, Pub. L. 88-241, § 21(a), and was replaced by § 11-982 1981 Ed.. Title 11 was entirely amended by § 111 of Pub. L. 91-358, and the provisions of former § 11-982 1981 Ed. are now covered in § 11-944.

“The effective date of the District of Columbia Police and Firemen’s Salary Act Amendments of 1972,” referred to in the first sentence of subsection (b)(1) of this section, is prescribed by § 118 of the Act of August 29, 1972, Pub. L. 92-410.

The “effective date of this paragraph,” referred to in subsection (b)(2), is prescribed by § 205(c) of the Act of November 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 866, Pub. L. 96-122.

Editor's Notes

Policemen and Firemen’s Retirement and Disability Act: Section 3(r) of Pub. L. 85-157 provided that this section may be cited as part of the Policemen and Firemen’s Retirement and Disability Act.

Mayor's Orders

Order establishing policies and procedures for administering § 5-721(b): See Commissioner’s Order No. 74-31, dated February 12, 1974, as amended by Mayor’s Order No. 76-213, dated October 20, 1976.

Change in Government

This section originated at a time when local government powers were delegated to a Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia (see Acts Relating to the Establishment of the District of Columbia and its Various Forms of Governmental Organization in Volume 1). Section 401 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 (see Reorganization Plans in Volume 1) transferred all of the functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section to a single Commissioner. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 87 Stat. 818, § 711 ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.11), abolished the District of Columbia Council and the Office of Commissioner of the District of Columbia. These branches of government were replaced by the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, respectively. Accordingly, and also pursuant to § 714(a) of such Act ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.14(a)), appropriate changes in terminology were made in this section.