County staff propose changing police retirement vesting from 8 to 10 years for future hires

County staff presented a proposed amendment to the Jefferson County Police Retirement Plan that would change the vesting requirement for future hires from 8 years to 10 years and add a service-credit requirement.

The presenter said the current plan allowed employees who reached age 50 to vest without having completed a full eight years of service in some cases. "We are hoping to do a change in the vesting period from 8 years to 10 years and to put a credit service requirement on our current..." the presenter told council. The presenter said the change would apply only to future hires and would not alter benefits already earned by current employees. A council member raised a concern that changing the vesting rules could "create an embarrassment to other law enforcement agencies." The presenter responded that many agencies have 10-year vesting and that the county's other pension rules (such as age caps and drop programs) would remain unchanged.

The presenter also provided actuarial and statutory context for the proposed change and noted this review was part of the state-mandated SB 144 pension review process submitted by the county’s actuary. Council members asked clarifying questions about how service credit would be calculated and about whether the change had been shared in advance with affected stakeholders.