Dallas Police Pension Withdrawal Change OK’d by Texas High Court

A 2017 law limiting how Dallas’ retired police officers and firefighters can receive part of their pension benefits doesn’t violate the Texas Constitution, the state’s highest court ruled Friday.

A retiree’s specific method of withdrawing retirement savings isn’t a constitutionally-protected retirement benefit that the legislature is barred from limiting, the Supreme Court of Texas ruled. The Legislature was within its rights to block certain experienced retirees from receiving a portion of their benefits in a lump sum, the court concluded in an opinion by Justice John P. Devine.

At issue was a benefit option offered by the Dallas Police and ...