St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Retirement Plan

St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Retirement Plan

The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Retirement Plan provides retirement benefits for sworn deputies and staff of the sheriff's office in St. Mary's County, Maryland. Administered by a board of trustees chaired by County Administrator David Weiskopf, the plan operates as part of the broader county government benefits framework. The board includes the county CFO, two sheriff's office representatives, a citizen trustee, and a plan administrator from human resources — a governance structure that blends administrative oversight with law-enforcement constituency representation. Despite its modest scale — Altss estimates roughly $159 million in total plan assets — the retirement plan's investment approach extends into asset classes that many plans of similar size avoid. Disclosed commitments include the IFM Global Infrastructure Fund, providing exposure to toll roads, airports, and utilities across developed markets; Starwood Real Estate Income Trust, a non-traded REIT with mixed-use real estate holdings concentrated in the United States; and Millennium Management, the multi-strategy hedge fund platform. The plan is governed by a board that includes the County Administrator as chairperson, the Chief Financial Officer, citizen and law enforcement representatives, and the acting Human Resources director as plan administrator. The board sets investment policy and oversees external manager relationships, though day-to-day investment management is outsourced. No dedicated internal investment staff is disclosed, consistent with the plan's small asset base and reliance on consultant or staff support from the broader county finance function. What distinguishes this retirement plan structurally is its governance: it is neither a standalone state-level pension system nor a fully pooled county employee plan. It exists as a dedicated retirement vehicle for a single law-enforcement agency within county government. This carve-out structure gives the sheriff's office workforce a tailored benefit arrangement while centralizing fiduciary oversight under the county administrator and CFO — blending localized representation with centralized financial control, a pattern common in Maryland's county-level public safety pension architecture.