REPORT TITLE: 
Rehiring retired police
officers as truant officers or
school safety officers
DESCRIPTION:
Adds a new section to the Hawaii Revised Statutes to enable
retired police officers to be rehired as truant officers or
public school safety officers for additional years of credited
service in lieu of salary.

 
HB HMIA 99-212
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.1602       
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATED TO THE REHIRING OF RETIRED POLICE OFFICERS AS TRUANT
   OFFICERS OR PUBLIC SCHOOL SAFETY OFFICERS.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:


 1      SECTION 1.  To quote the November 12, 1998 editorial of the
 
 2 Honolulu Advertiser, "[K]keeping kids in school isn't why we put
 
 3 police officers through a rigorous academy and strap handguns on
 
 4 them. As long as there's a shortage of officers, we'll need them
 
 5 for more demanding duties.  That said, it's clear that the
 
 6 officer assigned to picking up truants in the Leeward District
 
 7 was performing an extremely valuable job.  When she was
 
 8 transferred to tracking misdemeanor arrests, the number of
 
 9 truants picked up in the district plummeted, even though patrol
 
10 officers were instructed to be on the lookout for them.  Now
 
11 there's only one truant officer left on Oahu, in Kalihi."
 
12      The editorial correctly states that truants are not
 
13 criminals, but they are status offenders.  They are young people
 
14 at a crossroads.  "A firm but kindly cop picking them up and
 
15 scaring the heck out of them may be just what it takes to turn
 
16 their lives around."
 
17      "The public benefit of truant officers is obvious; so are
 
18 the huge costs avoided by nipping nascent criminality in the
 
19 bud."  The Honolulu Advertiser recommended that lawmakers
 

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 1 consider empowering our public school districts to hire off-duty
 
 2 or retired police officers to work with our young people and keep
 
 3 them in school.
 
 4      The legislature finds that this proposal can be taken one
 
 5 step further--to encourage retired police officers to volunteer
 
 6 to serve as truant officers or school safety officers in exchange
 
 7 for commensurate years of service credited to their retirement in
 
 8 lieu of salary or wages.
 
 9   The legislature believes that there are high quality retired
 
10 police officers who, provided they could be rehired on a full or
 
11 part-time basis without loss of their current retirement
 
12 benefits, would be willing to serve as truant officers or school
 
13 safety officers.  The kids can certainly benefit from their vast
 
14 experiences.  The State benefits by receiving much needed
 
15 manpower in the protection of school children at a minimal cost
 
16 to the State.  The participating retired officers benefit from
 
17 increased pension benefits associated with additional years of
 
18 credited service.
 
19      The purpose of this Act is to authorize the circuit courts
 
20 to hire retired police officers to serve as truant officers or
 
21 school safety officers on a full or part-time basis for
 
22 additional years of service credit to their retirement in lieu of
 
23 salary or wages.
 

 
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 1      SECTION 2.  Section 88-70, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended to read as follows:
 
 3      "§88-71  Credited service at retirement.  Credited service
 
 4 at retirement on which the retirement allowance of a member shall
 
 5 be based shall consist of the member's membership service, the
 
 6 member's credit for unused sick leave as provided in section
 
 7 88-63, the member's service as a truant officier or school safety
 
 8 officer, pursuant to sections 608-1 and 608-   , whether incurred
 
 9 during or after retirement, and the member's prior service, if
 
10 any, as provided in this part." 
 
11      SECTION 3.  Section 608-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
12 amended to read as follows:
 
13      "§608-1 Personnel and expenses of circuit courts.  The
 
14 State shall pay the expenses of the several circuit courts and
 
15 the salaries of such officers and employees as may be required by
 
16 such courts, including without prejudice to the generality of the
 
17 foregoing, expenses of the family courts and agencies thereof.
 
18 The judge or judges of the several circuit courts shall appoint
 
19 such officers and employees as may be required by the courts and
 
20 for which appropriations have been made by the legislature;
 
21 provided that the officers and employees of the family court of
 
22 the first circuit, including without prejudice to the generality
 
23 of the foregoing probation officers, truant officers, and
 

 
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 1 personnel of the detention home, shall be appointed by the judge
 
 2 of the family court under whose supervision the appropriations
 
 3 for the division shall be expended.  Except as otherwise
 
 4 provided, the officers and employees shall be members of the
 
 5 civil service system of the State and shall be chosen in
 
 6 conformity with part II of chapter 76, and the compensation for
 
 7 and classification of the positions held by such persons shall be
 
 8 in accordance with part I of chapter 77[.]; provided that retired
 
 9 police officers may be hired as truant officers without pay and
 
10 shall be compensated in accordance with section       ." 
 
11      SECTION 3.  Chapter 608, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
12 by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to
 
13 read as follows:
 
14      "§608-    Rehiring retired police officers as truant
 
15 officers or public school safety officers.  The circuit courts
 
16 may employ retired police officers at up to one hundred per cent
 
17 full-time equivalent status without pay.  Notwithstanding
 
18 sections 88-21, 88-42.5, 88-43, 88-45, 88-46, and any other law
 
19 to the contrary, retired police officers who are rehired under
 
20 this section shall earn retirement service credit, and
 
21 commensurate additional retirement system benefits in lieu of
 
22 wages as a result of this employment.  They shall continue to
 
23 receive their entitled normal retirement benefits without
 

 
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 1 penalty.  Notwithstanding section 89-6 and any other law to the
 
 2 contrary, retired police officers hired under this section shall
 
 3 be excluded from collective bargaining.  They shall be hired as
 
 4 employees on a year-to-year basis."
 
 5      SECTION 4.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
 6      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval. 
 
 7 
 
 8                         INTRODUCED BY:___________________________
 

 
HB HMIA 99-212