SB 864 - This act establishes the "Law Enforcement Safety Fund". A surcharge of seven dollars shall be assessed in all criminal cases filed in this state and shall be deposited into the fund, the purpose of which is to provide a defined contribution system for eligible law enforcement members. The fund shall be administered by a board of directors comprised of two chiefs of police who are members of the Police Chiefs' Association, two full-time police officers or deputy sheriffs who are members of a state fraternal order of police, a sheriff, a member of the general assembly from the joint committee on public employee retirement, and a member of the defined contribution system established by this act. The directors of the first board shall be appointed by the Governor, and future directors shall be elected or appointed, in staggered terms, as described in this act.
Any person employed on a full-time basis as a marshal, chief of police, police officer of a municipality, or sheriff or deputy sheriff of a county, including sheriffs from Kansas City and St. Louis county but excluding sheriffs from St. Louis City, may choose to become a member of this defined contribution system. A member shall contribute twenty dollars monthly to the system. Membership in the system shall continue as long as such member remains employed in a benefit-eligible position and continues to make the monthly contribution, or as long as the member is eligible to receive grants from the fund, as provided by this act.
A member shall, at any time, be eligible receive the funds he or she contributes to the system, plus any interest or dividends, minus maintenance fees. Additionally, any member who has ten or more years of creditable membership service with the system and a minimum of ten years prior service in a position that would have been covered by the system if it had been established, or who has five years or more of creditable membership service and a minimum of fifteen years of prior service in a position that would have been covered by the system if it had been established, may, upon application, also receive a portion of the surcharges deposited into the fund, if the eligible member has met retirement requirements.
Any person who is a member of the system on its date of establishment shall receive credit for up to fifteen years of prior service before the system was established in a benefit-eligible position. However, no member shall receive benefits from the program prior to attaining the age of 55.
Benefits under this system shall in no way affect eligibility for any other retirement plan.
This act is similar to HB 1729 (2006) and SB 373 (2007).
ALEXA PEARSON