After a 25-year battle, MAPE wins early retirement for corrections agents

An early retirement option for MAPE-represented corrections agents at the Department of Corrections (DOC) was finally signed into law after nearly 25 years in the making. The retirement option now begins at age 60 instead of 66.

“This is a huge win for roughly 300 members doing some of the most dangerous work in the bargaining unit. We don’t want people in the field to be put in harm’s way longer than necessary,” said Jess Raptis, MAPE Region 11 Director and Vice Chair of the DOC Meet and Confer. “This was a bipartisan effort in the legislature. Both parties have been in agreement for a while that this was needed; it was getting it across the finish line that was the struggle.”

The Correctional Employee Retirement Plan (CERP) was created in 1973 to provide early retirement benefits for correctional employees in recognition of the impact the job had on life expectancy for workers. And while coverage expanded to include additional positions, corrections agent classifications were left out despite many other states including them in their early retirement coverage.

In 2002, the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement (LCPR), a.k.a. the Pension Commission, put together an interim work group to determine whether post-sentencing officers (state and county probation agents) should be included in CERP, however the work group did not reach a consensus position and nothing passed.

To restart the conversation and begin building support for the issue, MAPE offered a bill in 2024 that would provide state corrections agents with an unreduced annuity at either 62 years of age or after 30 years of service.

“We knew that the bill was not going to pass, but with this approach, MAPE was able to start building a coalition with the other employee groups,” said Devin Bruce, MAPE Director of Legislative and Political Affairs.

Another work group on CERP was formed in 2024 and MAPE appointed Tabitha Schacht, Chair of the DOC Meet and Confer, Co-chair of the Field Services Meet and Confer and corrections agent, to sit on the committee.

“I am an agent and understand firsthand the need for early retirement. I encouraged the committee to consider adding agents to CERP,” explained Schacht. “The group agreed that probation agents deserved access to an early retirement, but determined it was not feasible through CERP. There was also growing pressure to reduce pension benefits and economic recessions that led to major pension reforms.”

“After this result, I supported Devin on a legislative strategy and helped connect him to Field Services to get feedback, guide communications and prompt calls for action,” Schacht continued. 

“One benefit of needing to go the legislative route was connecting with other unions. I connected with the Ramsey County agents in Teamsters 320 last year during their strike. The MAPE Board of Directors penned a letter of support for them at their request. Because of this prior connection, we remained in contact with these Teamsters 320 leaders who were kind enough to forward information about what actions they were doing so we could stand in solidarity,” Raptis explained.

In late 2024, the other corrections and probation groups started coming together for the 2025 legislative session to push for the bill.

“We again set up a work group that mandated an early retirement proposal for both 911 telecommunicators and probation services,” Bruce said. “We finally got the proposal passed this year, resulting in early retirement at age 60.”

The plan covers roughly 300 DOC corrections agents. Employees who are 60 years of age or will be 60 years old on Jan. 1, 2027, will remain under the general plan. As with special plans that permit an earlier retirement, this plan requires a higher contribution rate from both employees and employers, at 8 percent and 8.25 percent, respectively.

“The cost to employees was originally 8.71 percent, but MAPE was also able to secure a last-minute appropriation to temporarily reduce the contribution rate to 8 percent. This will expire on August 31, 2028, increasing the employee contribution rate to 8.71 percent unless we find a permanent funding source,” Bruce explained.

“This was a significant win for MAPE,” expressed Schacht. “There is definitely room for improvement, such as getting money consistently allocated to maintain a reduced employee contribution.  We will also have to fight for insurance to cover the gap from age 60 to Medicare eligibility.”

Raptis said, “Devin is the one who doggedly fought for this for MAPE. His legislative work and keeping us in the loop on how we could support it ultimately got this across the finish line. Additionally, it was truly a bipartisan effort, which really says something during these times. This bill is a great start for our corrections agents. Now we just have to make it more affordable.”