Department of State Special Agents Retirement Act of 1998
PL 105-382 (H.R.633), enacted 11/13/1998

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112 STAT. 3406 
PUBLIC LAW 105-382—NOV. 13, 1998 
Public Law 105-382 
105th Congress 
An Act 
Nov. 13, 1998 
To amend the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to provide that the annuities of certain 
[HR 633] 
special agents and security personnel of the Department of State be computed 
in the same way as applies generally with respect to Federal law enforcement 
officers, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of 
Department of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled. 
State Special 
Agents 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
I99g 
This Act may be cited as the "Department of State Special 
22 use 3901 
Agents Retirement Act of 1998". 
note. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO THE FOREIGN SERVICE RETIRE-
MENT AND DISABILITY SYSTEM. 
(a) DEFINITION OF A SPECIAL AGENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 804 of the Foreign Service Act 
of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4044) is amended— 
(A) by striking "and" at the end of paragraph (13); 
(B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
(14) and inserting "; £ind"; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
"(15) 'specisd agent' means an employee of the Department 
of State with a primary skill code of 2501— 
"(A) the duties of whose position— 
"(i) are primarily— 
"(I) the investigation, apprehension, or deten-
tion of individuals suspected or convicted of 
offenses against the criminal laws of the United 
States; or 
"(II) the protection of persons pursuant to 
section 2709(a)(3) of title 22, United States Code, 
against threats to personal safety; and 
"(ii) are sufficiently rigorous that employment 
opportunities should be limited to young and physically 
vigorous individuals, as determined by the Secretary 
of State pursuant to section 4823 of title 22, United 
States Code; 
"(B) performing duties described in subparagraph (A) 
before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this para-
graph; or 
"(C) transferred directly to a position which is super-
visory or administrative in nature after performing duties 
described in subparagraph (A) for at least 3 years.". 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 852 of such Act 
(22 U.S.C. 4071a) is amended— 
PUBLIC LAW 105-382—NOV. 13, 1998 
112 STAT. 3407 
(A) by striking "and" at the end of paragraph (7); 
(B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
(8) and inserting "; and"; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
"(9) the term 'special agent' has the same meaning given 
in section 804(15).". 
(b) CONTRIBUTIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 805(a) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 
4045(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
"(3) For service as a special agent, paragraph (1) shall be 
applied by substituting for "7 percent' the percentage that applies 
to law enforcement officers under section 8334(a)(1) of title 5, United 
States Code.". 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 805(a)(1) (22 U.S.C. 
4045(a)(1)) of such Act is amended by striking "Except as pro-
vided in subsection (h)," and inserting "Except as otherwise 
provided in this section,". 
(c) SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION FOR PRIOR NONDEPOSIT SERVICE.— 
Section 805(d) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 4045(d)) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
"(6) Subject to paragraph (4) and subsection (h), for purposes 
of appljdng this subsection with respect to prior service as a special 
agent, the percentages of basic pay set forth in section 8334(c) 
of title 5, United States Code, with respect to a law enforcement 
officer, shall apply instead of the percentages set forth in paragraph 
(1).". 
(d) COMPUTATION OF ANNUITIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 806(a) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 
4046(a)) is amended— 
(A) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7); 
and 
(B) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following: 
"(6)(A) The annuity of a special agent under this subchapter 
shall be computed under paragraph (1) except that, in the case 
of a special agent described in subparagraph (B), paragraph (1) 
shall be applied by substituting for '2 percent'— 
"(i) the percentage under subparagraph (A) of section 
8339(d)(1) of title 5, United States Code, for so much of the 
participant's total service as is specified thereunder; and 
"(ii) the percentage iinder subparagraph (B) of section 
8339(d)(1) of title 5, United States Code, for so much of the 
participant's total service as is specified thereunder. 
"(B) A special agent described in this subparagraph is any 
such agent or former agent who— 
"(i)(I) retires voluntarily or involuntarily under section 607, 
608, 611, 811, 812, or 813, under conditions authorizing an 
immediate annuity, other than for cause on charges of mis-
conduct or delinquency, or retires for disability under section 
808; and 
"(II) at the time of retirement— 
"(aa) if voluntary, is at least 50 years of age and 
has completed at least 20 years of service as a special 
agent; or 
"(bb) if involuntary or disability, has completed at least 
20 years of service as a special agent; or 
112 STAT. 3408 
PUBLIC LAW 105-382—NOV. 13, 1998 
"(ii) dies in service after completing at least 20 years of 
service as a special agent, when an annuity is payable under 
section 809. 
"(C) For purposes of subparagraph (B), included with the years 
of service performed by an individual as a special agent shall 
be any service performed by such individual as a law enforcement 
officer (within the meaning of section 8331(20) or section 8401(17) 
of title 5, United States Code), or a member of the Capitol Police.". 
(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR SPECIAL AGENTS WITH PRIOR SERVICE 
UNDER THE FOREIGN SERVICE RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY SYS-
TEM OR THE CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.—Section 806(a) 
of such Act (22 U.S.C. 4046(a)), as amended by paragraph 
(1), is further amended— 
(A) by redesignating paragraph (7) (as so redesignated 
by paragraph (1)) as paragraph (8); and 
(B) by inserting after paragraph (6) (as added by para-
graph (1)) the following: 
"(7) In the case of a special agent who becomes or became 
subject to subchapter II— 
"(A) for purposes of paragraph (6)(B), any service per-
formed by the individual as a special agent (whether under 
this subchapter or under subchapter II), as a law enforce-
ment officer (within the meaning of section 8331(20) or 
section 8401(17) of title 5, United States Code), or as a 
member of the Capitol Police shall be creditable; and 
"(B) if the individual satisfies paragraph (6)(B), the 
portion of such individual's annuity which is attributable 
to service under the Foreign Service Retirement and 
Disability System or the Civil Service Retirement System 
shall be computed in conformance with paragraph (6).". 
(3) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(A) Paragraph (8) of section 806(a) of such Act (22 
U.S.C. 4046(a)), as so redesignated by paragraph (2)(A), 
is amended by striking "and (4)" and inserting "(4), and 
(6)". 
(B) Paragraphs (1) and (3) of section 855(b) of such 
Act (22 U.S.C. 4071d(b)) are each amended by inserting 
"611," after "608,". 
SEC. 3. MANDATORY SEPARATION OF SPECIAL AGENTS. 
The first sentence of section 812(a)(2) of the Foreign Service 
Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4052(a)(2)) is amended to read as follows: 
"Notwithstanding paragraph (1)— 
"(A) an individual described in section 4(a)(2) of the Depart-
ment of State Specisd Agents Retirement Act of 1998 who 
is otherwise eligible for immediate retirement under this chap-
ter; or 
"(B) a Foreign Service criminal investigator/inspector of 
the Office of Inspector General of the Agency for International 
Development who would have been eligible for retirement 
pursuant to either section 8336(c) or 8412(d) of title 5, United 
States Code, as applicable, had the employee remained in civil 
service, 
shall be separated fi"om the Service on the last day of the month 
in which such individual under subparagraph (A) or such Foreign 
Service criminal investigator/inspector under subparagraph (B) 
PUBLIC LAW 105-382—NOV. 13, 1998 
112 STAT. 3409 
attains 57 years of age or completes 20 years of service if then 
over that age.". 
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY. 
22 USC 4044 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection (b), this 
Act and the amendments made by this Act— 
(1) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this 
Act; and 
(2) shall apply with respect to— 
(A) any individual first appointed on or after that 
date as a special agent who will have any portion of such 
individual's annuity computed in conformance with section 
806(a)(6) of the Foreign Service Act; and 
(B) any individual making an election under subsection 
(b), subject to the provisions of such subsection. 
(b) ELECTION FOR CURRENT PARTICIPANTS.— 
(1) ELIGIBILITY.—^An election under this subsection may 
be made by any currently employed participant under chapter 
8 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 who is serving or has 
served as a special agent, or by a survivor of a special agent 
who was eligible to m ^ e an election under this section. 
(2) EFFECT OF AN ELECTION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—If an individual makes an election 
under this subsection, the amendments made by this Act 
shall become applicable with respect to such individual, 
subject to subparagraph (B). 
(B) TREATMENT OF PRIOR SERVICE.— 
(i) SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION.—An individual may, 
after making the election under this subsection, make 
a special contribution up to the fiill amount of the 
difference between the contributions actually deducted 
from pay for prior service and the deductions that 
would have been required if the amendments made 
by this Act had then been in effect. Any special con-
tributions under this clause shall be computed under 
regulations based on section 805(d) of the Foreign Serv-
ice Act of 1980 (as amended by section 2), including 
provisions relating to the computation of interest. 
(ii) ACTUARIAL REDUCTION.— 
(I) 
RULE IF THE SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION IS 
PAID.—If the full amount of the special contribu-
tion under clause (i) is paid, no reduction under 
this clause shall apply. 
(II) RULE IF LESS THAN THE ENTIRE AMOUNT 
IS PAID.—If no special contribution under clause 
(i) is paid, or if less than the entire amount of 
such special contribution is paid, the recomputed 
annuity shall be reduced by an amount sufficient 
to make up the actuarial present value of the 
shortfall. 
(c) REGULATIONS AND NOTICE.—Not later than 6 months after Deadline, 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State— 
(1) shall promulgate such regulations as may be necessary 
to carry out this Act; and 
(2) shall take measures reasonably designed to provide 
notice to participants as to £iny rights they might have under 
this Act. 
112 STAT. 3410 
PUBLIC LAW 105-382—NOV. 13, 1998 
(d) ELECTION DEADLINE.—^An election under subsection (b) must 
be made not later than 90 days after the date on which the relevant 
notice under subsection (c)(2) is provided. 
(e) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the term "special 
agent" has the meaning given such term under section 804(15) 
of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4044(15)), as amended 
by section 2(a). 
Approved November 13, 1998. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 633: 
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 105-755, Pt. 1 (Comm. on International Relations). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 144 (1998): 
Oct. 5, considered and passed House. 
Oct. 20, considered and passed Senate.