The difficulty law enforcement agencies have recruiting and retaining state troopers, police officers and sheriff’s deputies is well-documented. Now there’s another bill at the Minnesota State Capitol aimed at helping solve part of that problem by focusing on the retention of Minnesota State Troopers.

“This bill enables state law enforcement officers to continue their service without facing financial penalties when they reach retirement age,” says Mike LeDoux,  president of the Minnesota State Troopers Association, who testified in the House State and Local Government Committee.

Under current law, the mandatory retirement age for Minnesota state law enforcement, including troopers and DNR officers, is age 60. However, most troopers retire by age 55 because that’s when they mostly max out the amount of retirement benefits they’ll earn. The bill before the legislature, HF 4553, would allow troopers to retire for a day at age 55 so they can begin collecting retirement benefits. Then they can rejoin the State Patrol and continue collecting retirement benefits while also collecting a paycheck. 

“This bill directly addresses the pressing need by incentivizing retired State Patrol plan members to rejoin service without impacting their retirement annuity,” LeDoux says.

The bill to retain Minnesota State Troopers has bipartisan support. 

“What we want to do is make sure we’re getting as much information out to troopers as possible to let them know that this is a way they could stay on the job if they would like to,” says bill author Rep. Brad Tabke(DFL-Shakopee). 

“This kind of solution is something we should probably do in many areas to encourage retirement-age type to stay in the workforce,” says Rep. Jon Koznick, R-Lakeville, “because I think that’s a better solution than some of the other ones we’ve been hearing,” 

The bill passed the House State and Local Government Committee and was sent to the House Ways and Means Committee.