# State Personnel and Pensions (GSP)

## Title 28. Local Fire and Police System

### Subtitle 1. General Provisions

#### Section 28-101

This title applies to the Local Fire and Police System.

#### Section 28-102

Except as otherwise provided in this title, the operation of the Local Fire and Police System shall be the same as the operation of the Employees' Pension System.

### Subtitle 2. Membership

#### Section 28-201

(a) This subtitle applies only to an employee of a participating governmental unit who is:

  (1) a law enforcement officer who is certified by the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission as a law enforcement officer; or

  (2) a firefighter who is:

    (i) a paid firefighter, as determined by the eligible governmental unit; or

    (ii) a paid paramedic, as determined by the eligible governmental unit.

(b) This subtitle does not apply to an employee of a participating governmental unit who is a volunteer firefighter or volunteer paramedic.

#### Section 28-202

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, an individual described in Sec. 28-201 of this subtitle is a member of the Local Fire and Police System as a condition of employment.

(b) Membership in the Local Fire and Police System is optional for an individual who was employed by a participating governmental unit on the date the participating governmental unit begins to participate in the Local Fire and Police System.

#### Section 28-203

Membership continues for a member who is:

(1) on a leave of absence approved by the Board of Trustees; or

(2) in the military service within the periods specified in Title 38 of this article.

#### Section 28-204

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, a member's contribution rate is 5% of the part of the member's earnable compensation that exceeds the taxable wage base for each year.

(b) The contribution rate for a member who has transferred from the Employees' Retirement System is 7% of the member's earnable compensation.

#### Section 28-205

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, regular interest is payable on member contributions until retirement or withdrawal of accumulated contributions at the rate of:

  (1) 4% a year, compounded annually, for a member who has transferred from the Employees' Retirement System; or

  (2) 5% a year, compounded annually, for each other member.

(b) No further interest shall be paid on member contributions after membership ends if the former member is not eligible to receive a vested allowance under Title 29, Subtitle 3 of this article.

#### Section 28-206

Membership ends if the member is separated from employment for more than 4 years.

### Subtitle 3. Service Credit

#### Section 28-301

A member of the Local Fire and Police System is entitled to:

(1) eligibility service as provided in Sec.Sec. 28-302 through 28-307 of this subtitle; and

(2) creditable service as provided in Sec. 28-308 of this subtitle.

#### Section 28-302

(a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, a member is entitled to eligibility service for periods of employment while a member of the Local Fire and Police System.

(b)

  (1) If a member completes at least 500 hours of employment while a member in any fiscal year, the member is entitled to 1 year of eligibility service.

  (2) Except in the first and last fiscal years, a member may not receive any eligibility service for a fiscal year in which the member completes less than 500 hours of employment while a member.

  (3) In the first and last fiscal years, if a member completes less than 500 hours of employment while a member, the Board of Trustees shall prorate the eligibility service based on the number of hours worked.

#### Section 28-303

(a) In this section, "break in service" means a period of separation from employment in a fiscal year after the one in which a member first becomes employed, if during that fiscal year the member does not complete more than 350 hours of employment while a member.

(b) A former member is entitled to the eligibility service to which the former member was entitled before the separation from employment if:

  (1) the former member has not incurred a break in service;

  (2) the former member was entitled to a vested allowance at the time of separation from employment; or

  (3)

    (i) the former member has completed 1 year of eligibility service after a break in service; and

    (ii) the number of consecutive years in which the member incurred a break in service is less than the years of eligibility service as a member before the break in service.

(c) To determine if a former member is eligible for prior eligibility service under subsection (b)(3)(ii) of this section, the Board of Trustees shall determine the number of years of prior eligibility service:

  (1) as of the day the former member separated from employment; but

  (2) excluding any eligibility service lost because of a prior break in service.

#### Section 28-304

A member is entitled to eligibility service that equals:

(1) the member's service credit transferred from a retirement or pension system under Title 37 of this article; and

(2) the member's service credit transferred from a retirement or pension system on or before December 31, 2005.

#### Section 28-305

A member is entitled to eligibility service equal to the military service credit granted under Title 38 of this article.

#### Section 28-306

(a) A member is entitled to eligibility service during a leave of absence if the leave of absence:

  (1) is approved by the Board of Trustees under regulations that apply to all members similarly situated; and

  (2) is not otherwise recognized as eligibility service under this subtitle.

(b) To receive service credit for a leave of absence described under subsection (a) of this section, a member shall pay the member contributions with regular interest, if any, as determined by the Board of Trustees under regulations that apply to all members similarly situated.

#### Section 28-306.1

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, a member may not purchase service credit under this title if the member is separated from employment.

(b) A member who is separated from employment may purchase service credit under this title for a leave of absence approved by the Board of Trustees under regulations that apply to all members, if the member purchases the service credit within 60 days after the expiration of the leave of absence.

#### Section 28-307

(a)

  (1) In the year of retirement, a member may purchase service credit for eligibility service of up to 10 years for periods of employment for which the member:

    (i) would have been entitled to purchase service credit under the Employees' Pension System; and

    (ii) is not otherwise entitled to service credit under the Local Fire and Police System.

  (2) To purchase service credit under this section, a member must:

    (i) complete a claim for the service credit and file it with the Board of Trustees on the form that the Board of Trustees provides; and

    (ii) pay to the Board of Trustees an amount equal to the annuity reserve and pension reserve required to fund the additional allowance.

(b)

  (1) A member may purchase credit for eligibility service for previous service in a position described in Sec. 23-204(a) of this article.

  (2) To purchase the service credit, the member must pay, in a single payment, the contributions, with interest, that the Board of Trustees considers appropriate.

#### Section 28-308

(a) For the purpose of computing benefits under this title, creditable service consists of:

  (1) eligibility service as adjusted under subsection (b) of this section; and

  (2) credit for unused sick leave as provided in Sec. 20-206 of this article.

(b)

  (1) This subsection does not apply to eligibility service that consists of:

    (i) service credit transferred from another retirement or pension system;

    (ii) military service credit granted under Title 38 of this article; or

    (iii) service credit purchased under this subtitle.

  (2) The Board of Trustees shall adjust a member's eligibility service as provided in this subsection.

  (3)

    (i) The Board of Trustees shall adopt regulations to determine for any fiscal year the amount of creditable service that equals the eligibility service for a member who has completed less than the normal hours of employment for the member's position.

    (ii) The normal hours of employment for a position equals the minimum number of hours to be completed by a full-time employee serving in the member's position.

    (iii) The creditable service recognized for a fiscal year may not be less than the eligibility service for the member multiplied by a fraction, not to exceed one, that has:

      (1) as its numerator, the number of hours of employment as a member that the member has completed during that year; and

      (2) as its denominator, the normal number of hours for the member's position.

### Subtitle 4. Service Retirement Benefits

#### Section 28-401

(a)

  (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection, a member may retire with a normal service retirement allowance if, on or before the date of retirement, the member:

    (i) has at least 25 years of eligibility service;

    (ii) is at least 62 years old; or

    (iii) is at least 60 years old and has transferred to the Local Fire and Police System from the Employees' Retirement System.

  (2) To retire under this subsection, a member shall complete and submit a written application to the Board of Trustees on the form that the Board of Trustees provides stating the date when the member desires to retire.

  (3) A member may not retire before the first day of the month after employment ends.

(b) Except as provided in subsections (c) and (d) of this section, on retirement under this section, a member is entitled to receive a normal service retirement allowance that equals the number of years of the member's creditable service multiplied by:

  (1) 1% of the member's average final compensation that is not in excess of the Social Security integration level; and

  (2)

    (1) 5% of the member's average final compensation that exceeds the Social Security integration level.

(c)

  (1) This subsection applies to a member:

    (i) who has not transferred from the Employees' Retirement System; and

    (ii) whose employer does not contribute to Social Security.

  (2) On retirement under this section, a member is entitled to receive a normal service retirement allowance that equals the number of years of the member's creditable service multiplied by 1.5% of the member's average final compensation.

(d)

  (1) This subsection applies to a member who has transferred from the Employees' Retirement System.

  (2) On retirement under this section, a member is entitled to receive a normal service retirement allowance that equals:

    (i) 2% of the member's average final compensation multiplied by each year of the member's first 30 years of creditable service; and

    (ii) 1% of the member's average final compensation multiplied by each year of creditable service in excess of 30 years.

#### Section 28-402

(a) Except as provided in subsection (g) of this section, an individual who is receiving a service retirement allowance or vested allowance may accept employment with a participating employer on a permanent, temporary, or contractual basis, without any reduction in the allowance, if:

  (1) the individual immediately notifies the Board of Trustees of the individual's intention to accept the employment; and

  (2) the individual specifies the compensation to be received.

(b)

  (1) The Board of Trustees shall reduce the allowance of an individual who accepts employment as provided under subsection (a) of this section if the individual's current employer is a participating employer other than the State and is the same participating employer that employed the individual at the time of the individual's last separation from employment with a participating employer before the individual commenced receiving a service retirement allowance or vested allowance.

  (2) The reduction required under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall equal the amount that the sum of the individual's initial annual basic allowance and the individual's annual compensation exceeds the average final compensation used to compute the basic allowance.

  (3) Except for an individual whose allowance is subject to a reduction as provided under paragraph (1) of this subsection, the reduction of an allowance under this subsection does not apply to:

    (i) an individual whose average final compensation was less than $25,000 and who is reemployed on a temporary or contractual basis;

    (ii) an individual who is serving in an elected position as an official of a participating governmental unit or as a constitutional officer for a county that is a participating governmental unit; or

    (iii) an individual who has been retired for 5 years, beginning on January 1 after the date the individual retires.

(c) An individual who is receiving a service retirement allowance or a vested allowance and who is reemployed by a participating employer may not receive creditable service or eligibility service during the period of reemployment.

(d) The individual's compensation during the period of reemployment may not be subject to the employer pickup provisions of Sec. 21-303 of this article or any reduction or deduction as a member contribution for pension or retirement purposes.

(e) The State Retirement Agency shall institute appropriate reporting procedures with the affected payroll systems to ensure compliance with this section.

(f)

  (1) Immediately on the employment of any individual receiving a service retirement allowance or a vested allowance, a participating employer shall notify the State Retirement Agency of the type of employment and the anticipated earnings of the individual.

  (2) At least once each year, in a format specified by the State Retirement Agency, each participating employer shall provide the State Retirement Agency with a list of all employees included on any payroll of the employer, the Social Security numbers of the employees, and their earnings for that year.

(g) An individual who is receiving a service retirement allowance under this title may not be employed by the State or other participating employer on a permanent, temporary, or contractual basis within 45 days of the date the individual retired.

#### Section 28-403

A member may be entitled to benefits under Title 29 of this article other than, or in addition to, the benefits provided under this subtitle.

---

Md. Code Ann., State Pers. & Pens. (as displayed at mgaleg.maryland.gov, October 16, 2026)