State OKs pensions, paychecks

Wednesday, July 11, 2001 | 11:07 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Board of Examiners Tuesday approved a policy of allowing a government employee to retire, draw a pension and then be hired back at the same job.

The board established criteria for employees to draw both their pensions and their paychecks if they fill jobs designated as critical shortage areas.

First in line was Dick Kirkland, director of the Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety, who earns $103,000. He will now be able to collect a $70,000 annual pension earned after 29 years with the Reno Police Department.

The aim is to entice those near retirement to decide to stay on a few years if they are employed in jobs where there is a shortage of possible replacements.

"This can't be wide open for everybody." Gov. Kenny Guinn said. "We will just use this to get people to continue who are ready for retirement."

Guinn said the state can now hire a person who is drawing a government pension from California or Arizona. But it can't employ a government retiree from the state of Nevada because this person would have had to give up his pension benefits to return to work.

While board members discussed at length the guidelines, they did not talk about the individual cases, including Kirkland's, before voting.

Kirkland worked his way up to Reno chief of police and then was elected Washoe County sheriff. The old law permitted a person who retired from a government job to draw his pension if he gained elective office.

So Kirkland earned $78,000 as sheriff plus the $70,000 for retirement. When he took the state job, he was barred from collecting the $70,000 retirement.

The 2001 Legislature changed the law to allow the double compensation. Lawmakers said it was primarily aimed at drawing retired teachers back to the classroom.

Kirkland said the new law was not limited to teachers. It permits local and state governments to designate jobs as hard-to-fill and then hire workers who could draw dual paychecks.

Kirkland said the policy would permit agencies to "keep a few good ones" but still not allow deadbeat employees to continue on the job after their retirement.

The guidelines, adopted by the board, say a critical shortage exists in a job category if its turnover rate exceeded the statewide average in two of the last three years, if two months of recruitment produced fewer than five qualified candidates and if the average length of vacancy exceeds the state average.

Kirkland, after the board's vote, said he intends to remain as director of the new state Department of Public Safety.

The Legislature agreed to a Guinn suggestion to split the Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety. It will be up to Guinn to find a director for the DMV.

Kirkland said his deputy director, Dave Kiekbusch, would move over as deputy director of the new Public Safety Department. Kiekbusch is also retired from the Reno Police Department, As his job is designated as one which is hard to fill, he will also now be able to double dip.