Are retired employees from other county departments, such as public works or health services, eligible for this pension exception?
Short answer
No. Public Act 67 of 2026 specifically limits the new pension exception to retired county employees who return to work for a county sheriff’s office or a county prosecutor’s office. Retirees from other county departments, such as public works, health services, or general administration, do not qualify for this specific exemption. If these individuals return to work for the same county from which they retired, their pension payments are typically suspended under existing general rules.
What the bill or law says
The legislation amends Section 12a of the County Board of Commissioners Act (1851 PA 156). This section outlines when a "retirant"—someone already receiving a county pension—can be re-employed by the same county without losing their pension benefits. Public Act 67 adds two specific employment scenarios to the list of exceptions where pension payments continue unchanged:
- Employment by a county sheriff’s office, which explicitly includes sheriff’s office correction employees.
- Employment by a county prosecutor’s office.
The text of the law does not include any other county departments, agencies, or offices in this new exception. The statutory language is narrow and specific to these two law enforcement and legal entities.
How it works in practice
Under the general rule found in subsection (28)(a) of the statute, if a retiree is employed by the county from which they retired, their pension payments must be suspended. This suspension usually begins the first day of the calendar month following the sixtieth day after the retiree is employed.
For retirees from departments like public works or health services, this general rule still applies because they do not meet the criteria in subsection (28)(b). To keep their pension while working for the same county, they would need to fit into other existing exceptions, such as working fewer than 1,000 hours in a 12-month period or being elected or appointed to a different county office. They cannot simply take a full-time or regular part-time job in their former department and keep their pension check as sheriffs and prosecutors can under the new law.
What the source does not answer
The bill text does not explain why legislators chose to limit this exception to only sheriff and prosecutor offices rather than extending it to all county departments. It also does not provide information on whether counties might create separate, local policies or collective bargaining agreements that could offer similar benefits to other departments, though the state law itself does not mandate it. Additionally, the text does not detail how county human resources departments will verify that a re-employed retiree is strictly working within the sheriff or prosecutor’s office to ensure compliance.