There is help on the way to small towns who need more law enforcement officers but can’t compete with bigger municipalities for the limited supply of new recruits.
A bill – SB 1095 – is winding its way through the Legislature, having passed out of the Appropriations Committee this week.
It would allow small towns – 4,000 or fewer residents -- to hire retired officers full time without impacting the officers’ retirement benefits.
A measure to improve public safety in small Oklahoma towns passed unanimously out of the Senate Appropriations Committee Wednesday. Sen. Grant Green, RWellston, “Just as the business community is struggling to maintain their workforce, smaller municipalities are struggling to retain and recruit police officers as they compete with larger cities, who can pay more,” Sen. Grant Green said. Green a Republican from Wellston co-authored the bill. “Currently, retired law enforcement members are only allowed to work 25 hours, but this bill would allow them to return to the workforce full-time without impacting their retirement benefits.”
There are a few other requirements for the officer to return to work. They must be more than 45 years old and actively receiving benefits from the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System. The officer would not be subject to the requirements and obligations of the OPPRS and would not receive any additional credit toward retirement.
“We have so many retired highway patrolmen, game wardens, Bureau of Narcotics agents, and other law enforcement officers, who are willing to use their experience and training to work in these smaller communities,” Green said. “This is an opportunity to improve public safety in dozens of towns statewide, and I’m anxious to get this bill to the governor’s desk.”
Green said around 70 towns in Oklahoma would meet the population requirement.
The measure, co-authored by Rep. Carl Newton, RCherokee, will go before the full Senate for further consideration.