In the past, if you were retired or close to retirement and still wanted to work in law enforcement, you had to leave the state because of NVPERS rules, but that is not the case right now.

Recently, there have been multiple police agencies in the state that have been approved to hire critical labor positions. This means they can hire back retired police officers who are currently collecting an NVPERS pension. These officers will be able to continue to receive their pension while collecting a salary for the critical staffing position. The stipulation is that you must be retired for 30 days and collecting a normal NVPERS pension, “not a disability pension.”

While working in your critical staffing position, if you choose, you can continue to earn additional PERS credits, and when you leave that position, your pension will be readjusted to reflect the additional service credits you earned up to the 75% max. If you are already at 75%, you will have to work an additional five years to revest, and you will be eligible for a second pension upon leaving the critical staffing position. Most of the positions that are available even have an accelerated starting pay. The positions available in Henderson start at $83,000 a year.

Right now, the agencies that are hiring for these critical labor positions are Henderson Police Department, University Police Department, Nevada State Police, and, as of the writing of this article, the Las Vegas City Council has approved critical staffing positions for the Las Vegas Municipal Court Marshalls.

Below is the NRS and PERS language pertaining to critical staffing positions. LVMPD has hired critical staffing positions for retired dispatchers but nothing for commissioned positions. I believe that our officers and community would greatly benefit if the LVMPD followed the rest of the agencies in the state and got serious about our staffing problems. However, I don’t see that happening any time soon. So, for now, if you are close to retirement or are currently retired and would like to come back and work a few more years, there are in-state options for you.

Critical labor shortage position. A position determined by a participating public employer’s governing body to be experiencing a critical labor shortage pursuant to NRS 286.523.

Reemployment of a retired public employee pursuant to NRS 286.523 is limited to positions of extreme need. An employer who desires to employ a retired public employee to fill a position for which there is a critical labor shortage must make the determination of reemployment based upon appropriate and necessary delivery of services to the public. The critical need designation must be made by the designating authority of the agency in an open meeting. The designated authority shall not designate a position for more than two years. To be redesignated, the designating authority must consider and make new findings in an open public meeting as to whether the position continues to meet the criteria established by law. PERS will compile the forms received from each designating authority and provide a biennial report to the Interim Retirement and Benefits Committee (IRBC) of the Legislature.