Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: The Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System (OLERS) has no automatic yearly COLA: the actuary’s valuation describes only occasional ad hoc increases, and the increases in the handbook are numbered statute sections. The last increase in the handbook took effect July 1, 2020 and was tiered by time retired: 0%, 2% or 4%. Members whose salary is set by statute also see their pension recalculated when the top base pay of their agency rises. No 2027 increase is set.
Where OLERS increases come from
The OLERS FAQ answer on DROP says: “The only increases that will be made to your benefit will be COLAs granted by the legislature.” That sentence is about a frozen DROP benefit. The actuary’s valuation describes the plan this way: “Occasional ad hoc increases for retirees are provided.”
The July 1, 2020 increase
The handbook prints the 2020 section, which is subject to an offset: any increase a person is eligible for under subsection B, C or D of Section 2-305 of Title 47 after July 1, 2020 is offset by the increase, if any, this section provides. The section reads: “any person receiving benefits from the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System as of June 30, 2019, who continues to receive benefits on or after July 1, 2020, shall receive an increase in benefits as follows”. The first tier gives zero to a person retired for less than two years as of that date. The next tiers read: “Two percent (2%) if the person has been retired for at least two (2) years but less than five (5) years as of July 1, 2020”; and “Four percent (4%) if the person has been retired for five (5) years or more as of July 1, 2020”.
The older increases
The handbook also prints an earlier section, subject to the same kind of offset for the Section 2-305 increases: “shall receive a four-percent increase in said benefits beginning in July 2008”. Those years are history; they are not a schedule.
The top-base-pay recalculation
The valuation says: “retirement benefits for members who retired after the completion of 20 years of service or due to a service connected death or disability will be recalculated to increase in conjunction with increases to the top base pay for active members”. The handbook limits the group: “members of the System whose salary is set by statute who have retired after completion of the mandatory twenty (20) years of service”, and also those members with statutory salaries who retire after reaching the mandatory twenty-year retirement.
What the documents do not say
The valuation’s plan summary dates the most recent COLA to July 1, 2008, which conflicts with the handbook’s 2020 section; this page follows the handbook text. The statute was not checked against the legislature’s live database, and two 2025 bills are archived only as introduced or summarized: Senate Bill 9, which proposes an increase for OLERS, and Senate Bill 172, which would let the boards approve a COLA when funding is above 80%. No source read shows either enacted.
Where 2027 stands
No 2027 OLERS increase is set: the sources read show none enacted for 2027.
Common mistakes
- Expecting an automatic yearly COLA. The increases in the handbook are numbered statute sections, not a yearly formula.
- Treating the 2020 percentages as one rate. They depend on how long the person had been retired as of July 1, 2020.
- Applying this page to the other Oklahoma systems. OPERS, Teachers, Police and Fire have their own rules.
Related: Oklahoma OLERS retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether Oklahoma taxes pensions.
Find the right next step for your situation
About how much do you have invested? Pick the range that fits; your next step appears immediately below.
Talk to an advisor about retirement income
For U.S. investors with $250,000 or more in investable assets. WiserAdvisor is an independent service matching you with 2 to 3 vetted advisers. Its form asks for your ZIP code and answers to a few questions; a match is not guaranteed.
Free to request, with no obligation to hire. By submitting, you consent to calls, texts and emails from WiserAdvisor and up to three advisers. Advisers pay for introductions.
Clear Money Guide may earn a referral payment for a qualifying completed form. An introduction is not a Clear Money Guide recommendation.
Opens on WiserAdvisor’s site in a new tab.
Explore advisor help with retirement income
Considering financial advice? Request an adviser introduction with no obligation to hire.
The form is run by Kapitalwise, our advisor-matching partner. Requesting an introduction is free. Submitting the form shares your contact details with advisers, so expect calls and texts. Advisers pay for introductions. Clear Money Guide may earn a referral payment for a qualifying submitted form, whether or not you hire anyone. A match is not guaranteed.
The Kapitalwise form opens here; you stay on this page.
What happens when you press the button
It asks about nine questions: age, investable assets, location; then your name, email and phone number, and verifies the phone by text. Nothing loads and nothing reaches Kapitalwise until you press the button.
Prefer flat-fee or hourly pricing instead? Compare ranges here.
Answer againSources
- Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System, OLERS Frequently Asked Questions: olers.ok.gov
- Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System (actuary report), OLERS Actuarial Valuation as of July 1, 2026: olers.ok.gov
- Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System, OLERS Member Handbook (2025 edition, incl. 47 O.S. Sections 2-305 to 2-305.12): olers.ok.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS Tax Topic 410, Pensions and annuities: www.irs.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS Tax Topic 411, Pensions: the General Rule and the Simplified Method: www.irs.gov
Read from the primary documents linked above on October 30, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer or the IRS itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.