II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 985 

To amend the definition of a law enforcement officer under subchapter III 

of chapter 83 and chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, respectively, 

to ensure the inclusion of certain positions. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 12, 2011 

Ms. MIKULSKI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the definition of a law enforcement officer under 

subchapter III of chapter 83 and chapter 84 of title 

5, United States Code, respectively, to ensure the inclusion of certain positions. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Law Enforcement Offi5 cers Retirement Equity Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 

7 (a) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 8401(17) of title 5, 

2 United States Code, is amended— 

3 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

4 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

5 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(E) an employee (not otherwise covered 

7 by this paragraph)— 

8 ‘‘(i) the duties of whose position in9 clude the investigation or apprehension of 

10 individuals suspected or convicted of of11 fenses against the criminal laws of the 

12 United States; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) who is authorized to carry a fire14 arm; and 

15 ‘‘(F) an employee of the Internal Revenue 

16 Service, the duties of whose position are pri17 marily the collection of delinquent taxes and the 

18 securing of delinquent returns;’’. 

19 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

20 8401(17)(C) of title 5, United States Code, is 

21 amended by striking ‘‘(A) and (B)’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘(A), (B), (E), and (F)’’. 

23 (b) CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.—Section 

24 8331(20) of title 5, United States Code, is amended in 

25 the matter before subparagraph (A) by inserting after 


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1 ‘‘position.’’ the following: ‘‘For the purpose of this para2 graph, the employees described in the preceding provision 

3 of this paragraph (in the matter before ‘including’) shall 

4 be considered to include an employee (not otherwise cov5 ered by this paragraph) who satisfies clauses (i) and (ii) 

6 of section 8401(17)(E) and an employee of the Internal 

7 Revenue Service the duties of whose position are as de8 scribed in section 8401(17)(F).’’. 

9 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as provided in section 

10 3, the amendments made by this section shall take effect 

11 on the date of enactment of this Act, and shall apply only 

12 in the case of any individual first appointed (or seeking 

13 to be first appointed) as a law enforcement officer (within 

14 the meaning of those amendments) on or after such date. 

15 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF SERVICE PERFORMED BY INCUM16 BENTS. 

17 (a) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER AND SERVICE DE18 SCRIBED.— 

19 (1) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—Any ref20 erence to a law enforcement officer described in this 

21 subsection refers to an individual who satisfies the 

22 requirements under section 8331(20) or 8401(17) of 

23 title 5, United States Code (relating to the definition 

24 of a law enforcement officer) by virtue of the amend25 ments made by section 2. 


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1 (2) SERVICE.—Any reference to service de2 scribed in this subsection refers to service performed 

3 as a law enforcement officer as described in this 

4 subsection. 

5 (b) INCUMBENT AND PRIOR SERVICE DEFINED.— 

6 (1) INCUMBENT.—For purposes of this section, 

7 the term ‘‘incumbent’’ means an individual who— 

8 (A) is first appointed as a law enforcement 

9 officer as described in subsection (a) before the 

10 date of enactment of this Act; and 

11 (B) is serving as such a law enforcement 

12 officer on such date. 

13 (2) PRIOR SERVICE.—For purposes of this sec14 tion, the term ‘‘prior service’’ means, with respect to 

15 any individual who makes an election under sub16 section (c)(2), service described in subsection (a) 

17 performed by such individual before the date as of 

18 which appropriate retirement deductions begin to be 

19 made in accordance with such election. 

20 (c) TREATMENT OF SERVICE PERFORMED BY INCUM21 BENTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), service described in subsection (a) which 

24 is performed by an incumbent on or after the date 

25 of enactment of this Act shall be treated for all purVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:57 May 19, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S985.IS S985

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1 poses as service performed as a law enforcement of2 ficer (within the meaning of section 8331(20) or 

3 8401(17) of title 5, United States Code, as appro4 priate), irrespective of how such service is treated 

5 under paragraph (2). 

6 (2) RETIREMENT.—Service described in sub7 section (a) which is performed by an incumbent be8 fore, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act 

9 shall, for purposes of subchapter III of chapter 83 

10 and chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, be 

11 treated as service performed as a law enforcement 

12 officer (within the meaning of such section 8331(20) 

13 or 8401(17), as appropriate) if an appropriate writ14 ten election is submitted to the Office of Personnel 

15 Management not later than the earlier of 5 years 

16 after the date of enactment of this Act and the day 

17 before the date on which the incumbent separates 

18 from Government service, whichever is earlier. 

19 (d) INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS FOR PRIOR SERV20 ICE.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who makes an 

22 election under subsection (c)(2) may, with respect to 

23 prior service performed by such individual, con24 tribute to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability 

25 Fund the difference between the individual contribuVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:57 May 19, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S985.IS S985

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1 tions that were actually made for such service and 

2 the individual contributions that should have been 

3 made for such service if the amendments made by 

4 section 2 had then been in effect. 

5 (2) EFFECT OF NOT CONTRIBUTING.—If no 

6 part of or less than the full amount required under 

7 paragraph (1) is paid, all prior service of the incum8 bent shall remain fully creditable as law enforcement 

9 officer service, but the resulting annuity shall be re10 duced in a manner similar to that described in sec11 tion 8334(d)(2) of title 5, United States Code, to 

12 the extent necessary to make up the amount unpaid. 

13 (e) GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTIONS FOR PRIOR SERV14 ICE.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—If an incumbent makes an 

16 election under subsection (c)(2), the agency in or 

17 under which that individual was serving at the time 

18 of any prior service shall remit to the Office of Per19 sonnel Management, for deposit in the Treasury of 

20 the United States to the credit of the Civil Service 

21 Retirement and Disability Fund, the amount re22 quired under paragraph (2) with respect to such 

23 service. 

24 (2) AMOUNT REQUIRED.—The amount an agen25 cy is required to remit is, with respect to any prior 


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1 service, the total amount of additional Government 

2 contributions to the Civil Service Retirement and 

3 Disability Fund (above those actually paid) that 

4 would have been required if the amendments made 

5 by section 2 had then been in effect. 

6 (3) CONTRIBUTIONS TO BE MADE RATABLY.— 

7 Government contributions under this subsection on 

8 behalf of an incumbent shall be made by the agency 

9 ratably (on at least an annual basis) over the 10- 

10 year period beginning on the date referred to in sub11 section (b)(2). 

12 (f) EXEMPTION FROM MANDATORY SEPARATION.— 

13 Nothing in section 8335(b) or 8425(b) of title 5, United 

14 States Code, shall cause the involuntary separation of a 

15 law enforcement officer as described in subsection (a) be16 fore the end of the 3-year period beginning on the date 

17 of enactment of this Act. 

18 (g) REGULATIONS.—The Office of Personnel Man19 agement shall prescribe regulations to carry out this Act, 

20 including— 

21 (1) provisions in accordance with which interest 

22 on any amount under subsection (d) or (e) shall be 

23 computed, based on section 8334(e) of title 5, 

24 United States Code; and 


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1 (2) provisions for the application of this section 

2 in the case of— 

3 (A) any individual who— 

4 (i) satisfies subsection (b)(1)(A) and 

5 does not satisfy subsection (b)(1)(B); and 

6 (ii) serves as a law enforcement offi7 cer as described in subsection (a) after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act; and 

9 (B) any individual entitled to a survivor 

10 annuity (based on the service of an incumbent, 

11 or of an individual under subparagraph (A), 

12 who dies before making an election under sub13 section (c)(2)), to the extent of any rights that 

14 would then be available to the decedent (if still 

15 living). 

16 (h) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec17 tion shall be considered to apply in the case of a reem18 ployed annuitant. 

Æ 


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