House Bill No. 6845 proposes amendments to the definition of "hazardous duty member" within the State Employees Retirement System (SERS) to include certain judicial employees, specifically investigators in the Division of Criminal Justice, the Division of Public Defender Services, and support service investigators in the Superior Court’s Support Enforcement Services. The bill repeals and replaces existing language in subsection (d) of section 5-192f, removing the previous designation of hazardous duty members and adding the new categories of investigators. Additionally, subsection (a) of section 5-192n is amended to allow these newly designated investigators to earn service credit toward a hazardous duty pension for their service starting October 1, 2025.

The bill is expected to have a significant fiscal impact, with an estimated cost of approximately $563,000 in FY 26 and $751,000 in FY 27 due to the transition of these investigators from regular SERS to hazardous duty pensions. The total annual state cost for the hazardous duty pensions for these investigators is projected to be around $1.19 million, compared to about $439,000 for their regular pensions. The bill aims to provide these employees with a more favorable pension benefit structure, allowing them to retire with a full pension after a specified number of credited service years without a minimum age requirement, while also requiring them to contribute an additional percentage of their pay to the pension fund.