Opinion ID: 755183
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Revised Definition of Law Enforcement Officer

Text: 18 In 1986, Congress created a new retirement scheme for federal employees, embodied in the Federal Employee's Retirement System (FERS) Act of 1986, 5 U.S.C. §§ 8401-79. This legislation completely reformed the retirement system for federal workers with the goal of reducing the cost of retirement to the federal budget. Under FERS the term law enforcement officer includes Bureau of Prisons employees whose duties in connection with individuals in detention ... require frequent direct contact with these individuals in their detention and are sufficiently rigorous that employment opportunities should be limited to young and physically vigorous individuals, as determined by the head of the employing agency ... § 8401(17)(D)(i). In 1988, Congress amended 5 U.S.C. § 3307(d) to add subsection (e) authorizing agency heads to set maximum entry level age restrictions for law enforcement officers, as defined in § 8401(17). 19