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 classifications. Additionally, it modifies subsection (a) of section 5-192n to stipulate that credited service for these new hazardous duty members will be calculated from 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 certain investigators from regular SERS to hazardous duty pensions. The total annual cost for these investigators' hazardous duty pensions is projected to be around $1.19 million, compared to $439,000 for their regular pensions. The effective date for these changes is set for October 1, 2025.