PSERS Eligibility Changes

DRS E-MAIL

E-mail No.: E06-007
To: PSERS Employers
Sent: April 3, 2006
Subject: PSERS Eligibility Changes

The Governor has signed Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2685 into law, which changes the Public Safety Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) eligibility requirements. Eligibility is now based on specific job duties.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for PSERS, an employee must work for a PSERS employer and meet one of the following four criteria:

Completion of a certified criminal justice training course with authority to arrest, conduct criminal investigations, enforce the criminal laws of Washington, and carry a firearm as part of the job.
Primary responsibility is to ensure the custody and security of incarcerated or probationary individuals.
Function as a limited authority Washington peace officer, as defined in RCW 10.93.020.
Primary responsibility is to supervise eligible PSERS members.

PSERS Employers

Only employees who meet one of the above criteria and who are employed by a PSERS employer are eligible to become PSERS members. PSERS employers include:

Cities - Corrections departments, except for the cities of Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane
Counties - Corrections departments
State - Department of Corrections; Parks and Recreation Commission; Gambling Commission; State Patrol; Liquor Control Board

You can access all available information on our Employer PSERS Information page. (This page is longer no longer available. For eligibility, refer to PSERS Plan Rules in the Employer Handbook.)

Please direct your employees who have questions regarding PSERS to the DRS PSERS Member page.

Should you have questions, please reply to this message or call Employer Support Services at 360-664-7200 (press option 2) or l-800-547-6657 (press option 6 then option 2).