25-Year Retirement for First Responders.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 831

Short Title: 25-Year Retirement for First Responders. (Public)
Sponsors: Senator Grafstein (Primary Sponsor).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
April 27, 2026
*S831-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT ALLOWING FIRST RESPONDERS WHO ARE MEMBERS OF THE TEACHERS' 2
AND STATE EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM O R THE LOCAL 3
GOVERNMENTAL EMPLOYE ES' RETIREMENT SYSTE M TO RETIRE WITH 4
UNREDUCED BENEFITS A FTER ACHIEVING TWENT Y-FIVE YEARS OF 5
CREDITABLE SERVICE AND MAKING CONFORMING CHANGES. 6
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 7
SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 135-1 reads as rewritten: 8
"§ 135-1. Definitions. 9
The following words and phrases as used in this Chapter, unless a different meaning is plainly 10
required by the context, shall have the following meanings: 11
… 12
(9a) "Emergency medical services personnel " or "EMS personnel" shall mean all 13
full-time employees of any State department, agency, or institution who meet 14
the definition of emergency medical services personnel under G.S. 131E-155. 15
This includes emergency medical dispatchers and the Director of EMS. 16
… 17
(11b) "Firefighter" shall mean all full -time employees of any State department, 18
agency, or ins titution who are actively serving in a position with assigned 19
primary duties and responsibilities for the prevention, detection, and 20
suppression of fire. This includes fire dispatchers, fire inspectors, and fire 21
marshals. 22
(11b)(11c) "Fraud investigation" means an independent review or examinati on by 23
Retirement Systems Division staff or authorized representatives who are 24
assisting the Retirement Systems Division staff of records, activities, actions, 25
or decisions by employers or other affiliated or associated entities having an 26
impact on the Reti rement System. The purpose of a fraud investigation is to 27
help detect and prevent fraud and to ensure full accountability in the use of 28
pension funds. 29
(11c)(11d) "Law Enforcement Officer" means a full -time paid employee of an 30
employer who is actively servi ng in a position with assigned primary duties 31
and responsibilities for prevention and detection of crime or the general 32
enforcement of the criminal laws of the State of North Carolina or serving 33
civil processes, and who possesses the power of arrest by vir tue of an oath 34
administered under the authority of the State. "Law Enforcement Officer" also 35
means a probation/parole officer as defined in this section with respect to any 36
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 831-First Edition
service rendered on or after July 1, 2017. This includes police dispatchers, 1
police investigators, sheriff's deputies, bailiffs, corrections officers, detention 2
officers, and jailers. 3
…." 4
SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 135-5(a) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read: 5
"(4b) Any member who is a law enforcement officer , firefighter, or emergency 6
medical services personnel and has completed 25 years of creditable service 7
may retire upon electronic submission or written application to the Board of 8
Trustees setting forth at what time, as of the first day of a calendar month, not 9
less than o ne day nor more than 120 days subsequent to the executi on and 10
filing thereof, the member desires to be retired; provided, however, that any 11
member who has met the 25 years of creditable service required by this 12
subdivision but does not retire and later becomes employed other than as the 13
member was employed while completing 25 years of creditable service shall 14
continue to have the right to commence retirement." 15
SECTION 1.(c) G.S. 135-5(b21) reads as rewritten: 16
"(b21) Service Retirement Allowance of Non-First Responder Members Retiring on or After 17
July 1, 2019; and First Responder Members Retiring on or After July 1, 2019. July 1, 2019, but 18
Before January 1, 2027. – Upon retirement from service on or after July 1, 2019, in accordance 19
with subsection (a) or (a1) of this section, a member shall receive the following service retirement 20
allowance: 21
…." 22
SECTION 1.(d) G.S. 135-5 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 23
"(b22) Service Retirement Allowance of First Responders Retiring on or After January 1, 24
2027. – Upon retirement from service on or after January 1, 2027, in accordance with subsection 25
(a) or (a1) of this section and notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary, 26
a member who is a law enforcement officer, eligible former law enforcement officer, firefighter, 27
eligible former firefighter, emergency medical service s personnel, or eligible former medical 28
services personnel shall receive a service retirement allowance computed as follows: 29
(1) If the member's service retirement date occurs on or after the member 's 55th 30
birthday and completion of five years of creditable service as a law 31
enforcement officer, as a firefighter, or as EMS personnel, or after the 32
completion of 25 years of creditable service, the allowance shall be eq ual to 33
one and eighty-two hundredths percent (1.82%) of the member's average final 34
compensation multiplied by the number of years of the member 's creditable 35
service. 36
(2) If the member's service retirement date occurs on or after the member 's 50th 37
birthday and before the member 's 55th birthday with 15 or more years of 38
creditable service as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or EMS personnel 39
and prior to the completion of 25 years of creditable service, the retirement 40
allowance shall be equal to the greater of the following amounts: 41
a. The service retirement allowance payable under subdivision (1) of this 42
subsection reduced by one-third of one percent (1/3 of 1%) thereof for 43
each month by which the retirement date precedes the first day of the 44
month coincident with or next following the month the member would 45
have attained age 55. 46
b. The service retirement allowance as computed under subdivision (1) 47
of this subsection reduced by five percent (5%) times the difference 48
between 25 years and the amount of creditable service at retirement." 49
SECTION 1.(e) G.S. 135-5(m)(1)b1. reads as rewritten: 50
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Senate Bill 831-First Edition Page 3
"b1. The member was a law enforcement officer who had obtained 15 years 1
of service as a law enforcement officer officer, or the member was a 2
firefighter who had obtained 15 years of service as a firefighter, or the 3
member was EMS personnel who had obtained 15 years of service as 4
EMS personnel, and was killed in the line of duty, in which case the 5
retirement allowance shall be computed in accordance with 6
G.S. 135-5(b21)(1)c., G.S. 135-5(b22)(1) notwithstanding the 7
requirement of obtaining age 50." 8
SECTION 2.(a) G.S. 128-21 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read: 9
"(9a) "Emergency medical services personnel " or "EMS personnel " means all 10
full-time rescue squad workers and all full -time employees of any employer 11
that participates in the Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System 12
who meet the definition of emergency medical services personnel under 13
G.S. 131E-155." 14
SECTION 2.(b) G.S. 128-27(a) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read: 15
"(6) Any member who is a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or emergency 16
medical services personnel who has completed 25 years of creditable service 17
may retire upon electronic submission or written application to the Board of 18
Trustees setting forth at what time, as of the first day of a calendar month, not 19
less than one day nor more than 120 d ays subsequent to the execution and 20
filing of the application, the member desires to be retired; provided, however, 21
that any member who has met the conditions required by this subdivision but 22
does not retire and later becomes employed other than as the mem ber was 23
employed while completing 25 years of creditable service shall continue to 24
have the right to commence retirement." 25
SECTION 2.(c) G.S. 128-27(b22) reads as rewritten: 26
"(b22) Service Retirement Allowance of Member Non-First Responder Members Retiring 27
on or After July 1, 2019. July 1, 2019; and First -Responder Members Retiring on or After July 28
1, 2019, but Before January 1, 2027. – Upon retirement from service in accordance with 29
subsection (a) or (a1) of this section, on or after July 1, 2019, a member shall receive for members 30
other than law enforcement officers, firefighters, and EMS personnel , and on or after July 1, 31
2019, but before January 1, 2027, for law enforcement officers, firefighters, and EMS personnel, 32
the following service retirement allowance:allowance shall apply: 33
…." 34
SECTION 2.(d) G.S. 128-27 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 35
"(b23) Service Retirement Allowance of Law Enforcement Officers, Firefighters, and 36
Emergency Medical Services Personnel Retiring on or After January 1, 2027. – Upon retirement 37
from service in accordance with subsection (a) or (a1) of this section on or after January 1, 2027, 38
and notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary, a member who is a law 39
enforcement officer, eligible former law enforcement officer, firefighter, eligible former 40
firefighter, EMS personnel, or eligible former EMS personnel shall receive a service retirement 41
allowance computed as follows: 42
(1) If the member's service retirement date occurs on or after the member 's 55th 43
birthday and completion of five years of creditable service as a law 44
enforcement officer, as a firefighter, or as EMS personnel , or after the 45
completion of 25 years of creditable service, the allowance shall be equal to 46
one and eighty-five hundredths percent (1.85%) of the member's average final 47
compensation multiplied by the number of years of the member's creditable 48
service. 49
(2) If the member's service retirement date occurs on or after the member 's 50th 50
birthday and before the member 's 55th birthday with 15 or more years of 51
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 4 Senate Bill 831-First Edition
creditable service as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or EMS personnel 1
and prior to the completion of 25 years of creditable service, the retirement 2
allowance shall be equal to the greater of the following amounts: 3
a. The service retirement allowance payable under subdivision (1) of this 4
subsection reduced by one-third of one percent (1/3 of 1%) thereof for 5
each month by which the retirement date precedes the first day of the 6
month coincident with or next following the month the member would 7
have attained age 55. 8
b. The service retirement allowance as computed under subdivision (1) 9
of this subsection reduced by five percent (5%) times the difference 10
between 25 years and the amount of creditable service at retirement." 11
SECTION 2.(e) G.S. 128-27(m)(1)b1. reads as rewritten: 12
"b1. The member was a law enforcement officer who had obtained 15 years 13
of service as a law enforcement officer and was killed in the line of 14
duty, or the member was a firefighter or a rescue squad worker who 15
had obtained 15 years of service as a firefighter or a rescue squad 16
worker and was killed in the line of duty, or the member was EMS 17
personnel who had obtained 15 years of service as EMS personnel and 18
was killed in the line of duty, in which cases the retirement allowance 19
shall be computed in accordance with G.S. 128-27(b22)(1)c., 20
G.S. 128-27(b23)(1), notwithstanding the requirement of obtaining 21
age 50." 22
SECTION 3.(a) G.S. 143-166.41(b1) reads as rewritten: 23
"(b1) Eligibility for Allowance and Calculation of Allowance Amount. – To be eligible for 24
an allowance under this section, an officer is required to meet one of the following sets of criteria 25
that shall also determine the allowance amount: 26
(1) For officers meeting all of the following criteria, the annual special separation 27
allowance to be paid is equal to eighty-five hundredths percent (0.85%) of the 28
annual base rate of compensation most recently applicable to the officer for 29
each year of that officer's creditable service: 30
a. The For officers retiring before January 1, 2027, the officer (i) has 31
completed 30 or more years of creditable service or (ii) is 55 years of 32
age or older and completed five or more years of creditable service. 33
a1. For officers retiring on or after January 1, 2027, the officer (i) has 34
completed 25 or more years of creditable service or (ii) is 55 years of 35
age or older and completed five or more years of creditable service. 36
… 37
(2) For officers meeting all of the following criteria, the annual special separation 38
allowance to be paid is equal to eighty-five hundredths percent (0.85%) of the 39
annual equivalent of the base rate of compensation at the time the officer 40
attained 30 years of service multiplied by 30: 41
a. Prior For officers retiring prior to January 1, 2027, prior to attaining 42
62 years of age, the officer has completed 30 or more years of 43
creditable service, at l east fifty percent (50%) of which was as a law 44
enforcement officer, or for service prior to July 1, 2017, as a 45
probation/parole officer. 46
a1. For officers retiring on or after January 1, 2027, prior to attaining 62 47
years of age, the officer has completed 25 or more years of creditable 48
service, at least fifty percent (50%) of which was as a law enforcement 49
officer, or for service prior to July 1, 2017, as a probation/parole 50
officer. 51
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Senate Bill 831-First Edition Page 5
…." 1
SECTION 3.(b) G.S. 143-166.42(b1) reads as rewritten: 2
"(b1) Qualification for Allowance and Calculation of Allowance. – To be eligible for an 3
allowance under this section, an officer is required to meet one of the following sets of criteria, 4
which shall also determine the allowance amount: 5
(1) For officers meeting all of the following criteria, the annual special separation 6
allowance to be paid is equal to eighty-five hundredths percent (0.85%) of the 7
annual base rate of compensation most recently applicable to the officer for 8
each year of that officer's creditable service: 9
a. The For officers retiring before January 1, 2027, the officer (i) has 10
completed 30 or more years of creditable service or (ii) is 55 years of 11
age or older and completed five or more years of creditable service. 12
a1. For officers retiring on or a fter January 1, 2027, the officer (i) has 13
completed 25 or more years of creditable service or (ii) is 55 years of 14
age or older and completed five or more years of creditable service. 15
… 16
(2) For officers meeting all of the following criteria, the annual special separation 17
allowance to be paid is equal to eighty-five hundredths percent (0.85%) of the 18
annual equivalent of the base rate of compensation at the time the officer 19
attained 30 years of service multiplied by 30: 20
a. Prior For officers retiring before January 1, 2027, prior to attaining 62 21
years of age, the officer has completed 30 or more years of creditable 22
service, at least fifty percent (50%) of which was as a law enforcement 23
officer. 24
a1. For officers retiring on or after January 1, 2027, prior to attaining 62 25
years of age, the officer has completed 25 or more years of creditable 26
service or is 55 years of age or older and completed five or more years 27
of creditable service. 28
…." 29
SECTION 4. This act becomes effective January 1, 2027, and applies to eligible 30
retirements occurring on or after that date. 31