To qualify for occupational disability retirement benefits, your disability must be a sudden and unexpected injury or disease that results solely from a specific act or occurrence determinable by a definite time and place and solely from an extremely dangerous risk of severe physical or mental trauma or disease that is not common to the public at large and that is peculiar to and inherent in a dangerous duty that arises from the nature and in the course of a person's state employment.

A qualifying example for occupational disability retirement is when a commissioned peace officer (CPO) in the line of duty is shot by a suspect, resulting in a permanently disabling injury.

There is no length of service requirement for occupational disability retirement. An application for an occupational disability must be made no later than two years from the date of the injury.