CASEY PIATT VS. POLICE AND FIREMEN'S RETIREMENT
SYSTEM, NEW JERSEY DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS, AND STATE OF
NEW JERSEY
A-5504-12T1
Under N.J.S.A. 43:16A-3 and N.J.A.C. 17:4-2.5(a), a person must be no more than thirty-five years old when becoming a
A-5504-12T1
Under N.J.S.A. 43:16A-3 and N.J.A.C. 17:4-2.5(a), a person must be no more than thirty-five years old when becoming a
member of the Police and Firemen's Retirement System (PFRS).
Plaintiffs are State corrections officers who claim that age
requirement cannot be applied to them. However, the long
history of PFRS makes clear that the Legislature intends to
restrict PFRS membership to persons meeting that age requirement
at the time they become a "policeman" or "fireman." N.J.S.A.
43:16A-3. Although N.J.S.A. 43:16A-3 applies by its terms to
political subdivisions, it also applies to State corrections
officers because the Legislature has included them in the
definition of "policeman." The age requirement serves the
Legislature's goals of using PFRS's heightened benefits to
encourage persons to become officers while young and fit, and to
retire at a relatively early age. Moreover, the PFRS Board by
regulation has properly applied this construction of the PFRS
Act for more than forty years. N.J.A.C. 17:4-2.5(a).
