IPERS has three membership groups:
- Regular,
- Sheriffs/Deputy Sheriffs, and
- Protection Occupations
Each membership group has different retirement benefits, and members of each group and their employers contribute to IPERS at different rates. A hybrid member has worked in Regular and Special Service groups.
Regular membership group
About 95% of IPERS members are in the Regular membership group. You are a regular member unless you meet the qualifications for Special Service or Hybrid membership.
Sheriffs/Deputy Sheriffs membership group
Sheriffs/Deputy Sheriffs are employed by county governments.
Protection Occupations membership group
| Membership type | Description |
|---|---|
| Airport firefighters | Airport firefighters employed by the military division of the Department of Public Defense |
| Airport safety officers | Airport safety officers employed under Iowa Code chapter 400 by an airport commission in a city with a population of 100,000 or more. |
| Airport security officers | Employees covered by the state's merit system as provided in Iowa Code chapter 8A, whose primary duty is providing airport security and who carry or are licensed to carry a firearm while performing those duties. |
| Conservation peace officers | All conservation peace officers, state and county, as defined in Iowa Code sections 350.5 and 456A.13. |
| County attorney investigators | Investigators employed by a county attorney's office who are certified law enforcement officers and who are deputized as investigators for the county attorney's office by the sheriff of the applicable county. |
| County jailers | Jailers or detention officers who perform duties as jailers including but not limited to the transportation of inmates, who are certified as having completed jailer training pursuant to chapter 80B and who are employed by a county as jailers. |
| Department of Corrections employees | Designated employees of the Department of Corrections (This group includes employees whose primary job responsibility is, through ongoing direct inmate contact, to enforce and maintain discipline, safety and security within a correctional facility). By law, the Department of Corrections and the Human Resources Enterprise of the Department of Administrative Services jointly determine which job classes are covered. |
| DOT peace officers | Peace officers as defined in Iowa Code section 321.477 employed by the Iowa Department of Transportation. |
| Emergency medical service providers | Emergency medical service providers who provide emergency medical services as defined in section 147A.1 and who are not members or the retirement systems established in chapter 410 or 411. |
| Fire Prevention Inspector Peace Officers | Employees of the Department of Public Safety designated as fire prevention inspector peace officers. |
| Insurance Special Investigators | Employees of the insurance division of the department of commerce who are certified by the Iowa law enforcement academy and perform the duties of a peace officer. |
| Marshals, Police Officers (Including Part-Time Police Officers) and Firefighters | A marshal in a city not covered under chapter 400 or a fire fighter or police officer of a covered employer not participating in the retirement systems established in chapter 410 or 411. |
| National Guard Installation Security Officers | Employees covered by the state’s merit system as provided in chapter 8A, subchapter IV, whose primary duty is providing security at Iowa National Guard installations and facilities and who carry or are licensed to carry a firearm while performing those duties. |
| Parole Peace Officers | Employees of a judicial district department of correctional services who are certified by the Iowa law enforcement academy and perform the duties of a parole officer. |
| Regents Police Officers | Peace officers employed by an institution under the control of the state board of regents whose position requires law enforcement certification pursuant to section 262.13. |
| Psychiatric Security Specialists | Those employed by the department of human services as psychiatric security specialists at a civil commitment unit for sexually violent offenders’ facility. |
| Public Safety Peace Officer | Employees previously employed with the Department of Transportation who are now employed with the Department of Public Safety as a Motor Vehicle Enforcement Peace Officer and who had 10 or more years of membership in IPERS as of June 30, 2023. |
| State Fair Police | Police Officers employed by the Iowa State Fair Board and who are not members of the retirement systems established in Iowa Code Chapters 410 or 411. |
Hybrid Membership
Members with service in more than one membership group.
If you have worked in Regular service and Special Service, you have combination membership in IPERS. Your benefits may be calculated using a hybrid formula that takes all of your service into account.
Special Service members and those with combination membership make up a combined 5% of IPERS’ total membership.