Engelhard, a 10-year veteran of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, was killed last December after getting out of his patrol car to place flares at the scene of a traffic accident.  Under Missouri state pension rules, if a trooper dies in the line of duty, his or her spouse is eligible for lifetime survivor benefits.   For Engelhard, that would have been more than $28,000 a year.

Missouri pension law is clear about who is a spouse.  In 2004 Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.  Neither the state Highway Patrol pension system nor Missouri law recognizes domestic partners.

Although the unmarried partner of a heterosexual trooper would also not be eligible for survivor pension benefits, that couple would have had the option of getting married.   An option not available to Engelhard and Glossip.

Illinois, a bill, SB 2822, has recently been introduced that would amend the state pension code to allow a designated domestic partner to qualify as a surviving spouse for purposes of survivor and death benefits.  The bill defines a domestic partner as a person of the same gender as the unmarried pension participant who:

• is at least 18 years old
• is involved with the participant in a long-term relationship
• has resided witht he participant at the same address for at least 12 months
• is not a close blood relative of the participant
• is not married to another person
• has an exclusive mutual commitment to the participant in which they agree to be jointly responsible for each other’s common welfare and to share financial obligations.