Bill would give juvenile-court staff in multi‑county circuits credit for all years of service for retirement

Summary

House Bill 1526, presented by Representative Jeff Knight, would allow juvenile-court employees who serve across multiple counties in a single judicial circuit to receive full credit for prior service toward the state retirement plan; presenters described gaps that left some long‑service employees without credit for some years of work.

Representative Jeff Knight introduced House Bill 1526 to address how prior service is credited for juvenile-court employees who work in multi‑county judicial circuits. Knight said the bill “would basically make sure that they get credit for all their time served” when employees perform the same jobs across counties but are payroll‑funded in different ways.

The bill matters because, as proponents described it, long‑serving juvenile court employees in multi‑county circuits may not receive full credit for years worked when those years were funded by county payrolls rather than state positions or specific grants. That reduction in credited years can lower retirement benefits.

Marsha Hazelhorst, executive director of the Missouri Juvenile Justice Association, testified in support and described the background: the judicial system includes 46 judicial…

Bill would give juvenile-court staff in multi‑county circuits credit for all years of service for retirement

Summary

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