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State adopts bill allowing retired officers to continue serving without pension penalty

By Lightning Reports, Published: June 10, 2025

The state Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed House Bill 50, which enables law enforcement officers to stay on the force longer without reducing their retirement benefits.
Having passed both chambers, the bill now goes to Gov. Josh Stein. 
 

"Well-trained, veteran officers shouldn't feel like they're up against a deadline or forced to leave before they're ready in order to get their full retirement benefits," said Senate Leader Phil Berger, a Republican. "These officers put their lives on the line every day to protect us, and we should be doing everything we can to support them while they're working and in their retirement."

Attorney General Jeff Jackson, a Democrat, also applauded the passage of the proposal.

 

“This bill will give our officers flexibility to stay on the force without giving up money they’ve earned through their service," he said. "It also helps police departments and sheriff's offices retain qualified, experienced officers at a time when our agencies are facing serious officer shortages. We want good officers to be able to keep serving their communities. I thank the Sheriffs Association and the Association of Chiefs of Police for advocating for their officers and deputies and I applaud our legislators for passing this important bill.” 

The bill had the strong support of Henderson County Sheriff Lowell Griffin, who has publicly lamented that highly qualified senior officers who retire — many in their 50s — are unable to continue working without financial penalty, and it was among a handful of proposals that the Henderson County commissioners urged legislators to adopt in this year's session. 

The bill was introduced by Rep. Reece Pyrtle, a retired police chief from Rockingham County.

"Across the state, law enforcement agencies are grappling with hiring and retaining qualified officers," Pyrtle said. "If we don't find innovative ways to support our law enforcement agencies, those staffing issues are only going to get worse. That's why this new separation allowance option has been a top priority for law enforcement groups for years." 

The bill creates a new separation option for law enforcement officers, using a different method to calculate the allowance. To qualify, an officer must have served for at least 30 years before turning 62 and worked continuously as an officer for at least five years before retiring. This would allow the officer to save his or her special separation allowance to be paid out at a later date. "By creating this new separation allowance calculation, we can improve public safety by keeping officers on the job and potentially save local governments money," Berger said.