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HB 272

The Sergeant Mickey Hutchens Act.

2025-2026 Session Introduced by Eric Ager and 50 co-sponsors

Allows eligible NC public safety employees with advanced certificates to purchase up to four years of extra retirement service at full actuarial cost, funded lump-sum.

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Bill Summary · HB 272

Summary — HB 272: "The Sergeant Mickey Hutchens Act"

Status: Enacted effective July 1, 2025 (text amends G.S. 135‑4.5 and G.S. 128‑26.5)

Main purpose

Allow eligible sworn public safety employees who have earned specified advanced training certificates to purchase up to four years of additional creditable service in certain North Carolina public retirement systems — at full actuarial cost — to increase their retirement service totals.

Key provisions

  • Eligibility

    • Member must be in service with at least 5 years of membership service.
    • Member must have been awarded one of the following certificates:
    • Advanced Law Enforcement Certificate (issued by the NC Criminal Justice Education & Training Standards Commission under Ch. 17C or the NC Sheriffs' Education & Training Standards Commission under Ch. 17E), or
    • Advanced Corrections Certificate (issued by the NC Criminal Justice Education & Training Standards Commission).
    • Purchase of service credit may occur only upon or after receipt of the applicable certificate.

  • Amount and mechanics of purchase

    • A member may purchase up to four (4) years of creditable service under this provision.
    • Purchases are made as a lump‑sum payment to the Annuity Savings Fund.
    • The payable amount equals the full increase in the retirement system’s actuarial liability caused by the additional service credits plus an administrative fee set by the Board of Trustees.
    • The liability calculation uses the same actuarial assumptions as the system valuation, modified to assume the earliest unreduced retirement commencement age and Board‑set postretirement increases (and, in later draft language, allowance for anti‑selection risk and a commensurate surcharge).

  • Funding/crediting

    • If the employer pays all or part of the cost, the employer payment is credited to the Pension Accumulation Fund.
    • Member payments are credited to the member’s accumulated contributions and interest in the Annuity Savings Fund.

  • Statutory exceptions

    • The normal one‑year‑per‑year limit on creditable service in G.S. 135‑4(b) and G.S. 128‑26(b) does not apply to purchases made under this new subsection.

  • IRS compliance safeguard (in later drafts)

    • The State Treasurer must seek a favorable private letter ruling (PLR) from the IRS confirming the changes do not jeopardize the qualified status of the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System. If the PLR is not obtained within specified timeframes, the act may be repealed.

Who is affected

  • Primary beneficiaries: sworn law enforcement, probation/parole, and correctional officers employed in North Carolina who hold the specified advanced certificates and who want to increase their credited service to affect retirement eligibility or benefit amounts.
  • Retirement systems: actuarial liabilities increase by the purchased amount but are fully funded by member/employer lump‑sum payments; administrative workload for processing purchases and actuarial calculations may increase.

Fiscal and policy notes

  • The purchase is intended to be cost‑neutral to pension systems because the member (or employer) pays the full actuarial cost (plus admin fee).
  • An anti‑selection surcharge (in later version) could increase amounts payable.
  • Employers may elect to pay some or all of the cost; if they do, that payment is allocated to system pension funds.
  • Effective date: July 1, 2025 (statutory language).

Procedural/history highlights

  • Amends General Statutes governing the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System and the Local Governmental Employees’ Retirement System (adds a new subsection in each relevant statute).
  • Establishes a new, limited purchase‑of‑service pathway tied specifically to advanced professional certification rather than to prior service periods.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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