HB 438: Employees' Retirement System of Georgia; allow certain sworn law enforcement officers to be eligible for retirement benefits at age 55; provisions

Under current Georgia law, early retirement at age 55 with full benefits in the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia is limited mainly to officers in the Department of Public Safety's Uniform Division, along with certain officers at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Department of Revenue. House Bill 438 broadens that group within the Department of Public Safety to cover any sworn law enforcement officer, noncommissioned officer, or trooper, not just those assigned to the Uniform Division, and adds the commissioner and deputy commissioner of the department. The bill also extends the same access to related benefits, including certain line-of-duty disability allowances and the ability to purchase extra creditable service for prior local law enforcement work, to these newly covered employees. The change would take effect July 1, 2026, but only if state officials certify it is funded under Georgia's Public Retirement Systems Standards Law (O.C.G.A. Chapter 20 of Title 47); if not certified, the bill is automatically repealed on that same date.

• Expands eligibility for retirement at age 55 with full benefits to all sworn law enforcement officers, noncommissioned officers, and troopers in the Department of Public Safety, not just its Uniform Division.
• Adds the commissioner and deputy commissioner of the Department of Public Safety to the group eligible for age-55 retirement and related benefits.
• Extends line-of-duty disability retirement allowances and monthly supplemental disability benefits (up to $150 per month) to the newly covered Department of Public Safety employees.
• Allows the newly covered employees to purchase up to five years of extra creditable service for prior qualifying local law enforcement work, under the existing rules in O.C.G.A. § 47-2-226.
• Makes the law take effect July 1, 2026 only if certified as funded under the Public Retirement Systems Standards Law, with automatic repeal on that date if not certified.

Sworn law enforcement officers, noncommissioned officers, and troopers throughout the Department of Public Safety, including those outside the Uniform Division, plus the department's commissioner and deputy commissioner. It also touches the Employees' Retirement System of Georgia, which administers these pension benefits.

Officers who previously had to work until age 60 or accumulate 30 years of service to retire with full benefits could instead retire at 55 if they meet the service requirement, and would gain access to disability benefits and service-purchase options currently reserved for a narrower group of law enforcement personnel.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 47-2-110 to set normal retirement age at 55 for sworn law enforcement officers across the Department of Public Safety and its commissioner and deputy commissioner, given ten years of creditable service.
• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 47-2-111 to let these employees retire at 55 with a benefit no less than what they would have received retiring at 65.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 47-2-221 to extend line-of-duty disability allowances and a $5-per-year, up to $150-per-month supplemental benefit to the commissioner and deputy commissioner.
• Section 4 amends O.C.G.A. § 47-2-223 to let the commissioner, deputy commissioner, and other Department of Public Safety sworn officers hired on or after July 1, 2026 retire at 55 with a guaranteed minimum benefit formula.
• Section 5 amends O.C.G.A. § 47-2-226 to add the commissioner and deputy commissioner to the definition of 'law enforcement officer' eligible to purchase extra creditable service for prior local government law enforcement work.
• Section 6 ties the law's effective date to certification of funding under the Public Retirement Systems Standards Law, with automatic repeal on July 1, 2026 if funding is not certified.

1. 2026-05-11Effective Date 2026-07-01
2. 2026-05-11Act 439
3. 2026-05-11House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-06House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-03-25Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2026-03-25Senate Third Read (Senate)
7. 2026-03-19Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
8. 2026-03-18Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)

• Clint Crowe (R, HD-118)Primary sponsor
• Eddie Lumsden (R, HD-012)
• Deborah Silcox (R, HD-053)
• Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)
• Shaw Blackmon (R, HD-146)
• Beth Camp (R, HD-135)
• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2026

   159 yea, 0 nay (1 not voting, 17 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #646

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 25, 2026

   52 yea, 0 nay (0 not voting, 2 absent)

   Passage: Senate Vote #804

• public safety retirement
• law enforcement benefits
• state pensions
• Department of Public Safety
• disability benefits