Senate Bill No. 582
(By Senator Bowman)
____________
[Introduced February 20, 2004; referred to the Committee on
Pensions; and then to the Comm.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §51-9-6, §51-9-6a and §51-9-6b of the
code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to the
judges' retirement system; and providing that a judge of a
court of record first elected to the office after the first
day of July, two thousand four, shall have his or her
retirement benefit calculated on the basis of his or her
salary at the time of retirement; and, irrespective of any
salary increases that may be granted to active members of the
judiciary, the retired judge's benefit may not be increased
unless expressly provided for by legislative enactment.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §51-9-6, §51-9-6a and §51-9-6b of the code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 9. RETIREMENT SYSTEM FOR JUDGES OF COURTS OF RECORD.
§51-9-6. Eligibility for and payment of benefits.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in sections five, twelve and thirteen of this article, and subject to the provisions of
subsection (e) of this section, any person who is now serving, or
who shall hereafter serve, as a judge of any court of record of
this state and shall have served as such judge for a period of not
less than sixteen full years and shall have reached the age of
sixty-five years, or who has served as judge of such court or of
that court and other courts of record of the state for a period of
sixteen full years or more (whether continuously or not and whether
said service be entirely before or after this article became
effective, or partly before and partly after said date, and whether
or not said judge shall be in office on the date he or she shall
become eligible to benefits hereunder) and shall have reached the
age of sixty-five years, or who is now serving, or who shall
hereafter serve, as a judge of any court of record of this state
and shall have served as such judge for a period of not less than
twenty-four full years, regardless of age, shall, upon a
determination and certification of his or her eligibility as
provided in section nine hereof, be paid from the fund annual
retirement benefits, so long as he or she shall live, in an amount
equal to seventy-five percent of the annual salary of the office
from which he or she has retired based upon such salary of such
office and as such salary may be changed from time to time during
the period of his or her retirement and the amount of his or her
retirement benefits shall be based upon and be equal to
seventy-five percent of the highest annual salary of such office
for any one calendar year during the period of his or her retirement, and shall be payable in monthly installments:
Provided, That such retirement benefits shall be paid only after
such judge has resigned as such or, for any reason other than his
or her impeachment, his or her service as such has ended:
Provided, however, That every such person seeking to retire and to
receive the annual retirement benefits provided by this subsection
must have served a minimum of twelve years as a sitting judge of
any such court of record.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article with
the exception of sections twelve-a and twelve-b, any person who is
now serving or who shall hereafter serve as a judge of any court of
record of this state and who shall have accumulated sixteen years
or more of credited service, at least twelve years of which is as
a sitting judge of a court of record, and who has attained the age
of sixty-two years or more but less than the age of sixty-five
years, may elect to retire from his or her office and to receive
the pension to which he or she would otherwise be entitled to
receive at age sixty-five, but with an actuarial reduction of
pension benefit to be established as a reduced annuity receivable
throughout retirement. The reduced percentage (less than
seventy-five percent) actuarially computed, determined and
established at time of retirement in respect of this reduced
pension benefit shall also continue and be applicable to any
subsequent new annual salary set for the office from which such
judge has retired and as such salary may be changed from time to
time during the period of his or her retirement.
(c) In determining eligibility for the benefits provided by
this section, active full-time duty (including leaves and
furloughs) in the armed forces of the United States shall be
eligible for qualification as credited military service for the
purposes of this article by any judge with twelve or more years
actual service as a sitting judge of a court of record, such
awardable military service to not exceed five years.
(d) If a judge of a court of record who is presently sitting
as such on the effective date of the amendments to this section
enacted by the Legislature at its regular session held in the year
one thousand nine hundred eighty-seven, and who has served for a
period of not less than twelve full years and has made payments
into the judges' retirement fund as provided in this article for
each month during which he served as judge, following the effective
date of this section, any portion of time which he or she had
served as prosecuting attorney in any county in this state shall
qualify as years of service, if such judge shall pay those sums
required to be paid pursuant to the provisions of section four of
this article: Provided, That any term of office as prosecuting
attorney, or part thereof, commencing after the thirty-first day of
December, one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, shall not
hereafter in any way qualify as eligible years of service under
this retirement system.
(e) Any retirement benefit accruing under the provisions of
this section shall not be paid if otherwise barred under the
provisions of article ten-a, chapter five of this code.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article,
forfeitures under the system shall not be applied to increase the
benefits any member would otherwise receive under the system.
(g) Notwithstanding any provision in this section to the
contrary, a judge of a court of record first elected to the office
after the first day of July, two thousand four, shall have his or
her retirement benefit calculated on the basis of his or her salary
at the time of retirement, and irrespective of any salary increases
that may be granted to active members of the judiciary, the
retiree's benefit may not be increased unless expressly provided
for by legislative enactment.
§51-9-6a. Eligibility benefits; service and retirement of judges
over sixty-five years of age.
(a) Any judge of a court of record of this state, who shall
have served for a period of not less than eight full years after
attaining the age of sixty-five years and who shall have made
payments into the judges' retirement fund as provided in this
article for each month during which he or she served as such judge
following the effective date of this section, shall be subject to
all the applicable terms and provisions of this article, not
inconsistent with the provisions hereof, and shall receive
retirement benefits in an amount equal to seventy-five percent of
the annual salary of the office from which he or she has retired
based upon such salary of such office as such salary may be changed
from time to time during the period of his or her retirement and
the amount of his or her retirement benefits shall be based upon and be equal to seventy-five percent of the highest annual salary
of such office for any one calendar year during the period of his
or her retirement, and shall be payable in monthly installments. If
such judge shall become incapacitated to perform his or her said
duties before the expiration of his or her said term and after
serving for six years thereof, and upon the acceptance of his or
her resignation as in this article provided, he or she shall be
paid the annual retirement benefits as herein provided so long as
he or she shall live. The provisions of this section shall prevail
over any language to the contrary in this article contained, except
those provisions of sections twelve-a and twelve-b of this article.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision in this section to the
contrary, a judge of a court of record first elected to the office
after the first day of July, two thousand four, shall have his or
her retirement benefit calculated on the basis of his or her salary
at the time of retirement, and irrespective of any salary increases
that may be granted to active members of the judiciary, the
retiree's benefit may not be increased unless expressly provided
for by legislative enactment.
§51-9-6b. Annuities for surviving spouses and surviving dependent
children of judges; automatic escalation and increase
of annuity benefit; proration designation by judge
permitted.
(a) There shall be paid, from the fund created or continued by
section two of this article, or from such funds as may be
appropriated by the Legislature for such purpose, an annuity to the surviving spouse of a judge, if such judge at the time of his or
her death is eligible for the retirement benefits provided by any
of the provisions of this article, or who has, at death, actually
served five years or more as a sitting judge of any court of record
of this state, exclusive of any other service credit to which such
judge may otherwise be entitled, and who dies either while in
office or after resignation or retirement from office pursuant to
the provisions of this article. Said annuity shall amount to forty
percent of the annual salary of the office which said judge held at
his or her death or from which he or she resigned or retired. In
the event said salary is increased or decreased while an annuitant
is receiving the benefits hereunder, his or her annuity shall
amount to forty percent of the new salary. The annuity granted
hereunder shall accrue monthly and shall be due and payable in
monthly installments on the first business day of the month
following the month for which the annuity shall have accrued. Such
annuity shall commence on the first day of the month in which said
judge dies and shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (b)
of this section, terminate upon the death of the annuitant or shall
terminate upon the remarriage of the annuitant.
(b) If there be no surviving spouse at the time of death of a
judge who dies after serving five years or more as a sitting judge
of any court of record and such judge leaves surviving him any
dependent child or children such dependent child or children shall
receive an amount equal to twenty percent of the annual salary of
the office which said judge held at the time of his or her death: Provided, That the total of all such annuities payable to each such
child shall not exceed in the aggregate an amount equal to forty
percent of such salary. Such annuity shall continue as to each
such child until: (i) He or she attains the age of eighteen years;
or (ii) attains the age of twenty-three years so long as such child
remains a full-time student. The auditor shall by legislative rule
establish the criteria for determining a person's status as a
full-time student within the meaning and intent of this subsection.
In the event there are surviving any such judge three or more
dependent children, then each such child's annuity shall be
proratably reduced in order that the aggregate annuity received by
all such dependent children does not exceed forty percent of such
salary and the amount to be so received by any such child shall
continue throughout the entire period during which each such child
is eligible to receive such annuity. The provisions of this
subsection shall also apply to those circumstances and situations
wherein a surviving spouse of a deceased judge shall die while
receiving benefits pursuant to subsection (a) of this section and
who shall leave surviving dependent children of such deceased judge
who would be entitled to benefits under this subsection as if they
had succeeded to such annuity benefits upon the death of such judge
in the first instance. In the event the salary of judges is
increased or decreased while an annuitant is receiving benefits
pursuant to this subsection, the annuities payable shall be
likewise increased or decreased proportionately to reflect such
change in salary. The annuities granted hereunder shall accrue monthly and shall be due and payable in monthly installments on the
same day as surviving spouses benefits are required to be paid.
Such annuities shall commence on the first day of the month in
which any such dependent child becomes eligible for benefits
hereunder and shall terminate on the last day of the month during
which such eligibility ceases.
(c)
Notwithstanding any provision in this section to the
contrary, a surviving spouse or dependent child receiving an
annuity upon the death of a judge of a court of record first
elected to the office after the first day of July, two thousand
four, shall have his or her annuity benefit calculated on the basis
of the judge's salary at the time of retirement, and irrespective
of any salary increases that may be granted to active members of
the judiciary, the annuity may not be increased unless expressly
provided for by legislative enactment.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that a judge of
a court of record first elected to the office after the first day
of July, two thousand four, shall have his or her retirement
benefit calculated on the basis of his or her salary at the time of
retirement, and irrespective of any salary increases that may be
granted to active members of the judiciary, the retired judge's
benefit may not be increased unless expressly provided for by
legislative enactment.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.