Certain public safety dispatchers would qualify for retirement benefits

The bill would include certain full-time salaried dispatchers in the definition of an employee under the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System. This covers full-time salaried dispatchers for public safety answering points employed by campus police, conservation police, Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, Marine Resources Commission, correctional, parole, or Department of Military Affairs agencies. The dispatcher must work for a public safety answering point and an agency listed in the bill. The bill would take effect July 1, 2028.

Enhanced retirement benefits for covered dispatcher positions would apply only to service earned on or after July 1, 2028. The limit applies to full-time salaried dispatcher positions for a public safety answering point, the Department of State Police, or the Capitol Police Force. The cutoff is July 1, 2028, inclusive; it applies to the service used for enhanced benefits.