Corrections officers: the classification follows the post, not the years.

Special Risk is a position classification. Years in a Special Risk position accrue at 3.00%. Years in a Regular Class position accrue at 1.60%: same agency, same uniform.

What a year accrued at and whether it counts toward your Special Risk retirement date are two different questions, and the second can still be yes when the first was 1.60%. It takes an application to the Division of Retirement, and it is not automatic. See Pension Plan for Rule 60S-1.0054 and the Administrative Support Class.

Time on light duty. A stretch in classification, training, or administration. A promotion that moved you off the post. Each can change what a year is worth, and none of it announces itself on a pay stub.

Your FRS record settles it, and it is worth reading before you pick a retirement date, not after.

Reaching normal retirement at 55 leaves seven years before Social Security and ten before Medicare. The pension starts immediately. What carries the rest of it is a sequencing decision. See retirement income planning.

A 1.5% minimum COLA for Special Risk retirees takes effect on July 1, 2026. Whether you qualify turns on your Special Risk service and when you enrolled, and it starts at your fifth anniversary as a retiree. See Pension Plan.