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Dorchester County Council approves pension transfers for emergency and correctional personnel
Summary
The council adopted three resolutions moving eligible emergency services personnel to LEOPS and correctional officers to CORS, and affirming the county will pick up required employee contributions; all measures take effect July 1, 2026 and passed unanimously.
The Dorchester County Council adopted three resolutions on April 21 that will transfer eligible emergency services personnel and correctional officers out of the Employees' Pension System and into state specialty retirement systems effective July 1, 2026.
Irene Barnes, Executive Operations Manager, presented Resolution No. 691 to withdraw eligible emergency services personnel from the Employees' Pension System (EPS) and transfer them to the Law Enforcement Officers' Pension System (LEOPS), which is operated and maintained by the Board of Trustees for the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System. Councilman Ricky C. Travers moved the measure; Rob Kramer, Jr. seconded. A roll-call vote recorded Pfeffer, Detmer, Kramer, Nichols and Travers voting aye and the resolution was adopted.
Barnes then introduced Resolution No. 692 to have the county participate in the Correctional Officers' Retirement System (CORS) and withdraw eligible correctional officers from EPS. The Council approved the resolution on a motion by Travers, seconded by Mike Detmer.
The Council also adopted Resolution No. 693, presented by Barnes, to affirm that the county will "pick up" mandatory employee contributions to CORS, LEOPS and EPS as required by state law. That resolution passed on a motion by Detmer, seconded by Kramer.
All three resolutions were posted countywide for the required 10-day comment period, Barnes told the Council, and no comments were received. The measures take effect July 1, 2026, according to the materials presented to the Council.
The actions change which state retirement systems certain county employees will participate in and formally authorize the county to pay employee contribution amounts on behalf of affected staff, as described in the resolutions adopted by the Council. No further public hearings on these resolutions were recorded in the April 21 minutes.
The Council recessed briefly into other agenda business after the votes and continued with presentations and routine items later in the meeting.
