Early retirement for law enforcement officers (Sergeant Mickey Hutchens Act)
UPDATE:
In the late afternoon on 4-15-25, HB 272, The Mickey Hutchens Act was sent from the House Rules Committee and on to the House Floor where it passed by a vote of 113-0. Fifty-one House members joined the bill as sponsors/co-sponsors. Sgt. Hutchens was a PBA member and a Winston-Salem officer, when he responded to a domestic disturbance call at a local restaurant on October 10, 2009. The ex-husband of an employee had active warrants and fled the scene after officers encountered him behind the restaurant. Sgt. Hutchens was fatally wounded after pursuing the suspect and died days later. House Bill 272 honors his sacrifice by providing current officers the opportunity to purchase up to four years of their service time to be used toward early retirement, if they complete a certain number of years of service, specialized training, and/or higher education. Mickey was in his 27th year of service when he was killed in the line of duty.
In a critical time of attracting candidates to a career in law enforcement and keeping qualified officers in the profession, HB 272 also serves as a valuable recruiting and retention tool for North Carolina law enforcement agencies.
The bill now goes to the Rules and Operations Committee of the Senate for discussion. A link to that is listed here:
https://ncleg.gov/Committees/CommitteeInfo/SenateStanding/148
Please reach out to these legislators by completing the information to the left.
Dear North Carolina PBA Members, We need all members to contact their legislators and support House Bill 272 (The Sergeant Mickey Hutchens Act). Law
enforcement and correctional officers' life expectancy is substantially
less than that of the general public. Getting their retirement age
closer to 25 years of service is crucial in allowing them to live longer
and more fulfilling lives. This act allows law
enforcement officers with five or more years of creditable service, with
an advanced law enforcement certificate or advanced corrections
certificate, to purchase up to four years of service from the retirement
system The legislation is a critical step in giving
officers an option to leave the profession before 30 years of
boots-on-the-ground service. Please get in touch with your local legislator and let them know you support HB272 (The Sergeant Mickey Hutchens Act). You can do this by completing the following steps and they will automatically get your information.
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Senate • Apr 16, 2025Latest Version
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