ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2415
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegates Jenkins, Heck,
Ashley, Varner, Pettit and Staton)
[Passed March 14, 1998; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact section one, article ten-d, chapter
five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one; to amend chapter seven of said code by adding
thereto two new articles, designated article fourteen-d and
fourteen-e; and to amend and reenact section seventeen,
article three, chapter seventeen-a, all relating to
retirement, death and disability benefits for deputy sheriffs;
providing that the consolidated retirement board administer
the new retirement system; providing definitions for the
article; creating the deputy sheriff's retirement system;
stating that the article is to be liberally construed;
allowing the board to promulgate rules for the administration
of the fund; establishing membership qualifications; creating
a trust fund for investment of contributions; establishing
member and employer contribution amount; providing for
transfer of assets; providing credited service through member's use, as an option, of accrued annual or sick leave
days; establishing value of assets for transfer; requiring a
test case; providing safeguards to the public employees
retirement system; establishing for the commencement of
benefits; establishing benefits for normal, early and late
retirement; establishing annuity options; providing for
refunds to members upon certain conditions; providing for
disability retirements; allowing deputies with a prior
disability to become member of plan; benefits for surviving
spouses; benefits for dependents; establishing death benefits;
prohibiting double benefits; authorizing loans to members;
authorizing sheriffs to become member of plan; establishing
fraudulent practices and criminal penalties therefor; and
providing military service credits; providing effective date
and benefit beginning dates; providing limitation on county
liability; setting forth legislative findings and purposes;
establishing statewide uniform fees for certain reports
generated by sheriff's offices and dedicating those fees;
requiring sheriffs to issue motor vehicle registration
renewals; and providing that one-half of the fee charged by
sheriffs for issuing motor vehicle registration renewals be
dedicated to the deputy sheriff retirement fund.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article ten-d, chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended and reenacted; that chapter seven of said code be amended
by adding thereto two new articles, designated article fourteen-d
and fourteen-e; and that section seventeen, article three, chapter
seventeen-a be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 5. GENERAL POWERS AND AUTHORITY OF THE GOVERNOR,
SECRETARY OF STATE AND ATTORNEY GENERAL; BOARD
OF PUBLIC WORKS; MISCELLANEOUS AGENCIES, COMMISSIONS,
OFFICES, PROGRAMS, ETC.
ARTICLE 10D. CONSOLIDATED PUBLIC RETIREMENT BOARD.
§5-10D-1. Consolidated public retirement board created;
transition; members; vacancies.
(a) There is hereby continued a consolidated public retirement
board to administer all public retirement plans in this state. It
shall administer the public employees retirement system established
in article ten of this chapter; the teachers retirement system
established in article seven-a, chapter eighteen of this code; the
teachers' defined contribution retirement system created by article
seven-b, chapter eighteen of this code; the death, disability and
retirement fund of the department of public safety created by
article two, chapter fifteen of this code; (the death, disability
and retirement fund for deputy sheriffs created by article
fourteen-d, chapter seven of this code;) and the judges' retirement
system created under article nine, chapter fifty-one of this code.
(b) The consolidated public retirement board shall begin
administration the death, disability and retirement fund for deputy
sheriffs established in article fourteen-d, chapter seven of this
code on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety- eight.
(c) The membership of the consolidated public retirement board
consists of:
(1) The governor or his or her designee;
(2) The state treasurer or his or her designee;
(3) The state auditor or his or her designee;
(4) The secretary of the department of administration or his
or her designee;
(5) Four residents of the state, who are not members,
retirants or beneficiaries of any of the public retirement systems,
to be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the
Senate; and
(6) A member, annuitant or retirant of the public employees
retirement system who is or was a state employee; a member,
annuitant or retirant of the public employees retirement system who
is not or was not a state employee; a member, annuitant or retirant
of the teachers retirement system; a member, annuitant or retirant
of the department of public safety death, disability and retirement
fund; a member, annuitant or retirant of the deputy sheriff's
death, disability and retirement fund; and a member, annuitant or retirant of the teachers' defined contribution retirement system,
all to be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of
the Senate.
(d) The appointed members of the board shall serve five-year
terms. The governor shall appoint the member representing the
deputy sheriff's death, disability and retirement fund by the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight to a five-year
term. A member appointed pursuant to subdivision (5), subsection
(c) of this section ceases to be a member of the board if he or she
ceases to be a member of the represented system. If a vacancy
occurs in the appointed membership, the governor, within sixty
days, shall fill the vacancy by appointment for the unexpired term.
No more than five appointees shall be of the same political party.
(e) The consolidated public retirement board has all the
powers, duties, responsibilities and liabilities of the public
employees retirement system established pursuant to article ten, of
this chapter; the teachers retirement system established pursuant
to article seven-a, chapter eighteen of this code; the teachers'
defined contribution system established pursuant to article seven- b, chapter eighteen of this code; the death, disability and
retirement fund of the department of public safety created pursuant
to article two, chapter fifteen of this code; the death, disability
and retirement fund for deputy sheriffs created pursuant to article
fourteen-d, chapter seven of this code; and the judges' retirement system created pursuant to article nine, chapter fifty-one of this
code and their appropriate governing boards. The consolidated
public retirement board may propose for promulgation all rules
necessary to effectuate its powers, duties and responsibilities
pursuant to article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code:
Provided, That the board may adopt any or all of the rules,
previously promulgated, of a retirement system which it
administers.
(f) Effective on the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-six, the consolidated public retirement board shall,
within two business days of receipt, transfer all funds received by
the consolidated public retirement board for the benefit of the
retirement systems within the consolidated pension plan as defined
in section three-c, article six-b, chapter forty-four of this code,
including, but not limited to, all employer and employee
contributions, to the West Virginia investment management board:
Provided, That the employer and employee contributions of the
teachers' defined contribution system, established in section
three, article seven-b, chapter eighteen of this code, and
voluntary deferred compensation funds invested by the West Virginia
consolidated public retirement board pursuant to section five,
article ten-b of this chapter, may not be transferred to the West
Virginia investment management board.
(g) The consolidated public retirement board shall be a trustee for all public retirement plans, except with regard to the
investment of funds:
Provided, That the consolidated public
retirement board shall be a trustee with regard to the investments
of the teachers' defined contribution system, and voluntary
deferred compensation funds invested pursuant to section five,
article ten-b of this chapter.
CHAPTER 7. COUNTY COMMISSIONS AND OFFICERS.
ARTICLE 14D. DEPUTY SHERIFF RETIREMENT ACT.
§7-14D-1. Short title.
This article is known and may be cited as the "West Virginia
Deputy Sheriff Retirement System Act".
§7-14D-2. Definitions.
As used in this article, unless a federal law or regulation or
the context clearly requires a different meaning:
(a) "Accrued benefit" means on behalf of any member two and
one-quarter percent of the member's final average salary multiplied
by the member's years of credited service. A member's accrued
benefit may not exceed the limits of section 415 of the Internal
Revenue Code.
(b) "Accumulated contributions" means the sum of all amounts
deducted from the compensation of a member, or paid on his or her
behalf pursuant to article ten-c, chapter five of this code, either
pursuant to section seven of this article or section twenty-nine,
article ten, chapter five of this code as a result of covered employment together with regular interest on the deducted amounts.
(c) "Active military duty" means full-time active duty with
any branch of the armed forces of the United States, including
service with the national guard or reserve military forces when the
member has been called to active full-time duty and has received no
compensation during the period of that duty from any board on other
than the armed forces.
(d) "Actuarial equivalent" means a benefit of equal value
computed upon the basis of the mortality table and interest rates
as the consolidated public retirement board may adopt from time to
time.
(e) "Annual compensation" means the wages paid to the member
during covered employment within the meaning of section 3401(a) of
the Internal Revenue Code but determined without regard to any
rules that limit the remuneration included in wages based upon the
nature or location of employment or services performed during the
plan year plus amounts excluded under section 414(h)(2) of the
Internal Revenue Code and less reimbursements or other expense
allowances, cash or noncash fringe benefits or both, deferred
compensation and welfare benefits. Annual compensation for
determining benefits during any determination period may not exceed
one hundred fifty thousand dollars as adjusted for cost of living
in accordance with section 401(a)(17)(B) of the Internal Revenue
Code.
(f) "Annual leave service" means accrued annual leave.
(g) "Annuity starting date" means the first day of the first
period for which an amount is received as an annuity by reason of
retirement.
(h) "Base salary" means a member's cash compensation exclusive
of overtime from covered employment during the last twelve months
of employment. Until a member has worked twelve months, annualized
base salary is used as base salary.
(i) "Board" means the consolidated public retirement board
created pursuant to article ten-d, chapter five of this code.
(j) "County commission" has the meaning ascribed to it in
section one, article one, chapter seven of this code.
(k) "Covered employment" means either: (1) Employment as a
deputy sheriff and the active performance of the duties required of
a deputy sheriff; or (2) the period of time which active duties are
not performed but disability benefits are received under section
thirteen or fourteen of this article.
(l) "Credited service" means the sum of a member's years of
service, military service, disability service and annual leave
service.
(m) "Deputy sheriff" means an individual employed as a county
law-enforcement deputy sheriff in this state and as defined by
section two, article fourteen, chapter seven of this code.
(n) "Dependent child" means:
(1) An unmarried person under age eighteen who is either:
(A) A natural child of the member;
(B) A legally adopted child of the member;
(C) A child who at the time of the member's death was living
with the member while the member was an adopting parent during any
period of probation; or
(D) A stepchild of the member residing in the member's
household at the time of the member's death.
(2) Any unmarried child under age twenty-three: (A) Who is
enrolled as a full-time student in an accredited college or
university; (B) who was claimed as a dependent by the member for
federal income tax purposes at the time of member's death; and (C)
whose relationship with the member is described in subparagraph
(A), (B) or (C), paragraph (1) of this subdivision.
(o) "Dependent parent" means the father or mother of the
member who was claimed as a dependent by the member for federal
income tax purposes at the time of the member's death.
(p) "Disability service" means service received by a member,
expressed in whole years, fractions thereof or both, equal to one
half of the whole years, fractions thereof, or both, during which
time a member receives disability benefits under section thirteen
or fourteen of this article.
(q) "Early retirement age" means age forty or over and
completion of twenty years of service.
(r) "Effective date" means the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-eight.
(s) "Final average salary" means the average of the highest
annual compensation received for covered employment by the member
during any five consecutive plan years within the member's last ten
years of service. If the member did not have annual compensation
for the five full plan years preceding the member's attainment of
normal retirement age and during that period the member received
disability benefits under section thirteen or fourteen of this
article then "final average salary" means the average of the
monthly salary determined paid to the member during that period as
determined under section seventeen of this article multiplied by
twelve.
(t) "Fund" means the West Virginia deputy sheriff retirement
fund created pursuant to section six of this article.
(u) "Hour of service" means:
(1) Each hour for which a member is paid or entitled to
payment for covered employment during which time active duties are
performed. These hours shall be credited to the member for the
plan year in which the duties are performed; and
(2) Each hour for which a member is paid or entitled to
payment for covered employment during a plan year but where no
duties are performed due to vacation, holiday, illness, incapacity
including disability, layoff, jury duty, military duty, leave of absence, or any combination thereof, and without regard to whether
the employment relationship has terminated. Hours under this
paragraph shall be calculated and credited pursuant to West
Virginia department of labor regulations. A member will not be
credited with any hours of service for any period of time he or she
is receiving benefits under section fourteen or fifteen of this
article; and
(3) Each hour for which back pay is either awarded or agreed
to be paid by the employing county commission, irrespective of
mitigation of damages. The same hours of service shall not be
credited both under paragraph (1) or (2) of this subdivision, and
under this paragraph. Hours under this paragraph shall be credited
to the member for the plan year or years to which the award or
agreement pertains, rather than the plan year in which the award,
agreement or payment is made.
(v) "Member" means a person first hired as a deputy sheriff
after the effective date of this article, as defined in subsection
(r) of this section, or a deputy sheriff first hired prior to the
effective date and who elects to become a member pursuant to
section five or section seventeen of this article. A member shall
remain a member until the benefits to which he or she is entitled
under this article are paid or forfeited.
(w) "Monthly salary" means the portion of a member's annual
compensation which is paid to him or her per month.
(x) "Normal form" means a monthly annuity which is one twelfth
of the amount of the member's accrued benefit which is payable for
the member's life. If the member dies before the sum of the
payments he or she receives equals his or her accumulated
contributions on the annuity starting date, the named beneficiary
shall receive in one lump sum the difference between the
accumulated contributions at the annuity starting date and the
total of the retirement income payments made to the member.
(y) "Normal retirement age" means the first to occur of the
following:
(1) Attainment of age fifty years and the completion of twenty
or more years of service;
(2) While still in covered employment, attainment of at least
age fifty years, and when the sum of current age plus years of
service equals or exceeds seventy years;
(3) While still in covered employment, attainment of at least
age sixty years, and completion of five years of service; or
(4) Attainment of age sixty-two years and completion of five
or more years of service.
(z) "Partially disabled" means a member's inability to engage
in the duties of deputy sheriff by reason of any medically
determinable physical or mental impairment that can be expected to
result in death or that has lasted or can be expected to last for
a continuous period of not less than twelve months. A member may be determined partially disabled for the purposes of this article
and maintain the ability to engage in other gainful employment
which exists within the state but which ability would not enable
him or her to earn an amount at least equal to two thirds of the
annual compensation earned by all active members of this plan
during the plan year ending as of the most recent thirtieth day of
June, as of which plan data has been assembled and used for the
actuarial valuation of the plan.
(aa) "Public employees retirement system" means the West
Virginia public employee's retirement system created by article
ten, chapter five of this code.
(bb) "Plan" means the West Virginia deputy sheriff death,
disability and retirement plan established by this article.
(cc) "Plan year" means the twelve month period commencing on
the first day of July and ending the following thirtieth day of
June of any designated year.
(dd) "Regular interest" means the rate or rates of interest
per annum, compounded annually, as the board shall from time to
time adopt.
(ee) "Retirement income payments" means the annual retirement
income payments payable under the plan.
(ff) "Spouse" means the person to whom the member is legally
married on the annuity starting date.
(gg) "Surviving spouse" means the person to whom the member was legally married at the time of the member's death and who
survived the member.
(hh) "Totally disabled" means a member's inability to engage
in substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically
determined physical or mental impairment that can be expected to
result in death or that has lasted or can be expected to last for
a continuous period of not less than twelve months.
For purposes of this subdivision:
(1) A member is totally disabled only if his or her physical
or mental impairment or impairments is so severe that he or she is
not only unable to perform his or her previous work as a deputy
sheriff but also cannot, considering his or her age, education and
work experience, engage in any other kind of substantial gainful
employment which exists in the state regardless of whether: (A)
The work exists in the immediate area in which the member lives;
(B) a specific job vacancy exists; or (C) the member would be hired
if he or she applied for work.
(2) "Physical or mental impairment" is an impairment that
results from an anatomical, physiological, or psychological
abnormality that is demonstrated by medically accepted clinical and
laboratory diagnostic techniques.
A member's receipt of social security disability benefits
creates a rebuttable presumption that the member is totally
disabled for purposes of this plan. Substantial gainful employment rebuts the presumption of total disability.
(ii) "Year of service". A member shall, except in his or her
first and last years of covered employment, be credited with year
of service credit based upon the hours of service performed as
covered employment and credited to the member during the plan year
based upon the following schedule:
Hours of ServiceYear of Service Credited
Less than 5000
500 to 999 1/3
1,000 to 1,4992/3
1,500 or more1
During a member's first and last years of covered employment,
the member shall be credited with one twelfth of a year of service
for each month during the plan year in which the member is credited
with an hour of service. A member is not entitled to credit for
years of service for any time period during which he or she
received disability payments under section fourteen or fifteen of
this article. Except as specifically excluded, years of service
include covered employment prior to the effective date.
Years of service which are credited to a member prior to his
or her receipt of accumulated contributions upon termination of
employment pursuant to section thirteen of this article or section
thirty, article ten, chapter five of this code, shall be
disregarded for all purposes under this plan unless the member repays the accumulated contributions with interest pursuant to
section twelve of this article or had prior to the effective date
made the repayment pursuant to section eighteen, article ten,
chapter five of this code.
§7-14D-2a. Meaning of terms.
Any term used in this article shall have the same meaning as
when used in a comparable context in the laws of the United States,
unless a different meaning is clearly required. Any reference in
this article to the Internal Revenue Code includes all amendments
made to the laws of the United States after the thirty-first day of
December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five, but prior to the
first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, but
no amendment to the laws of the United States made on or after the
first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, shall
be given any effect.
§7-14D-3. Creation and administration of West Virginia deputy
sheriff's retirement system.
There is hereby created the West Virginia deputy sheriff's
retirement system. The purpose of this system is to provide for
the orderly retirement of deputy sheriffs who become superannuated
because of age or permanent disability and to provide certain
survivor death benefits. The retirement system constitutes a body
corporate. All business of the system shall be transacted in the
name of the West Virginia deputy sheriff's retirement system.
§7-14D-4. Article to be liberally construed; supplements federal
social security.
(a) The provisions of this article shall be liberally
construed so as to provide a general retirement system for deputy
sheriffs eligible to retire under the provisions of this plan.
Nothing in this article may be construed to permit a county to
substitute this plan for federal social security now in force in
West Virginia.
(b) The board shall administer the plan in accordance with its
terms and may construe the terms and determine all questions
arising in connection with the administration, interpretation and
application of the plan. The board may sue and be sued, contract
and be contracted with and conduct all the business of the system
in the name of the plan. The board may employ those persons it
considers necessary or desirable to administer the plan. The board
shall administer the plan for the exclusive benefit of the members
and their beneficiaries subject to the specific provisions of the
plan. This plan and the moneys held in trust under the plan
constitute a qualified trust under section 401 of the Internal
Revenue Code and shall be administered and construed as a qualified
trust.
§7-14D-5. Members.
(a) Any deputy sheriff first employed by a county in covered
employment after the effective date of this article shall be a member of this retirement system and plan and may not qualify for
membership in any other retirement system administered by the
board, so long as he or she remains employed in covered employment.
(b) Any deputy sheriff employed in covered employment on the
effective date of this article shall within six months of that
effective date notify in writing both the county commission in the
county in which he or she is employed and the board of his or her
desire to become a member of the plan. Any deputy sheriff who
elects to become a member of the plan ceases to be a member or have
any credit for employment in any other retirement system
administered by the board and shall continue to be ineligible for
membership in any other retirement system administered by the board
so long as the deputy sheriff remains employed in covered
employment. Any deputy sheriff who does not affirmatively elect to
become a member of the plan continues to be eligible for any other
retirement system as is from time to time offered to other county
employees but is ineligible for this plan regardless of any
subsequent termination of employment and rehire.
(c) Any deputy sheriff who was employed as a deputy sheriff
prior to the effective date, but was not employed on the effective
date of this article, shall become a member upon rehire as a deputy
sheriff. For purposes of this section, the member's years of
service and credited service prior to the effective date shall not
be counted for any purposes under this plan unless: (1) The deputy sheriff has not received the return of his or her accumulated
contributions in the public employees retirement fund system
pursuant to section thirty, article ten, chapter five of this code;
or (2) the accumulated contributions returned to the member from
the public employees retirement system have been repaid pursuant to
section twelve of this article. If the conditions of subdivision
(1) or (2) of this subsection are met, all years of the deputy
sheriff's covered employment shall be counted as years of service
for the purposes. In connection with each deputy sheriff receiving
credit for prior employment provided in this subsection, a transfer
from public employees retirement system to this plan shall be made
pursuant to the procedures described in section eight of this
article.
(d) Once made, the election made under this section is
irrevocable. All deputy sheriffs first employed after the
effective date and deputy sheriffs electing to become members as
described in this section shall be members as a condition of
employment and shall make the contributions required by section
seven of this article.
§7-14D-6. Creation of fund; investments.
(a) There is hereby created the "West Virginia deputy sheriff
retirement fund" for the benefit of the members of the retirement
system created pursuant to this article and the dependents of any
deceased or retired member of the system.
(b) All moneys paid into and accumulated in the fund, except
such amounts as are designated by the board for payment of benefits
as provided in this article, shall be held in trust and invested in
the consolidated pensions fund as administered by the state
investment management board as provided by law.
§7-14D-7. Members' contributions; employer contributions.
There shall be deducted from the monthly salary of each member
and paid into the fund an amount equal to eight and one-half
percent of his or her monthly salary. An additional nine and one- half percent of the monthly salary of each member shall be paid to
the fund by the county commission of the county in which the member
is employed in covered employment. If the board finds that the
benefits provided by this article can be actually funded with a
lesser contribution, then the board shall reduce the required
member and employer contributions proportionally.
§7-14D-8. Transfer from public employees retirement system.
(a) The consolidated retirement board shall, within ninety
days of the effective date of the transfer of a deputy from the
public employees retirement system to the plan, transfer assets
from the public employees retirement system trust fund into the
West Virginia deputy sheriff trust fund. The amount to be
transferred from the public employees retirement system includes
all contributions made by each transferring deputy plus the
employers matching contribution for the retiring deputy and an amount representing the normal amount of interest the transferring
deputy earned on all his or her contributions and the contributions
his or her employer made on behalf of the transferring deputy.
(b) The amount of assets to be transferred for each
transferring deputy shall be computed as of the first day of July,
one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, using the actuarial
valuation assumptions in effect for the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, actuarial valuation of public
employees retirement system, and updated with seven and one-half
percent annual interest to the date of the actual asset transfer.
The market value of the assets of the transferring deputy in the
public employees retirement system shall be determined as of the
end of the month preceding the actual transfer. To determine the
computation of the asset share to be transferred the board shall:
(1) Compute the market value of the public employees
retirement system assets;
(2) Compute the accrued liability for all public employees
retirement system retirees, beneficiaries, disabled retirees and
terminated inactive members;
(3) Reduce the market value of public employees retirement
system assets by the accrued liability determined in subdivision
(2) of this subsection;
(4) Compute the entry age method accrued liability for all
active public employees retirement system members;
(5) Compute the share of accrued liability as determined
pursuant to subdivision (4) of this subsection, that is
attributable to those deputy sheriffs in public employees
retirement system who have elected to transfer to the plan;
(6) Compute the percentage of active's accrued liability
computed to the deputy sheriffs by dividing subdivision (5) by
subdivision (4) of this subsection;
(7) Determine the asset share to be transferred from public
employees retirement system to the plan by multiplying subdivision
(3) times subdivision(6) of this subsection.
(c) Once a deputy sheriff has elected to transfer from the
public employees retirement system, transfer by the public
employees retirement system of that deputy's contributions,
including all amounts contributed by the deputy's employer for that
deputy with interest upon both the deputy's and the employer's
contributions shall operate as a complete bar to any further
liability to the transferring from the public employees retirement
system, and constitutes an agreement whereby the transferring
deputy forever indemnifies and holds harmless the public employees
retirement system from providing him or her any form of retirement
benefit whatsoever until such time as that deputy obtains other
employment which would make him or her eligible to re-enter the
public employees retirement system with no credit whatsoever for
the amounts transferred to the deputy sheriff's retirement system.
(d) The board shall cause a judicial determination to be made
regarding the transfer of assets from the public employees
retirement system to the deputy sheriff's retirement system by
causing a suit to be filed in the supreme court of this state
seeking a writ of mandamus on or before the thirty-first day of
July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight.
§7-14D-8a. Notice requirements; test case.
(a) Each county shall prepare a written notice to be delivered
to each deputy sheriff employed prior to the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-eight. This notice shall clearly and
accurately explain the benefits, financial implications and
consequences to a deputy sheriff of electing to participate in the
retirement plan created in this article, including the consequences
and financial implications in regard to the benefits under the
public employees insurance plan as set forth in article sixteen,
chapter five of this code for those deputy sheriffs employed by a
county which participates in that insurance plan. This notice
shall be distributed to each deputy sheriff and the county shall
obtain a signed receipt from each deputy sheriff acknowledging that
the deputy sheriff was provided a copy of the notice required in
this subsection. If a deputy sheriff makes the election provided
for in section eight of this article, he or she shall be considered
to have made a voluntary, informed decision in regard to the
election to participate in the retirement system created in this article.
(b) The consolidated retirement board shall cause to be
included in the judicial determination required in section eight of
this article the issue regarding the possible loss of any rights in
regard to benefits accorded the electing deputy under the West
Virginia public employees insurance act, article sixteen, chapter
five of this code, and whether a deputy sheriff, by electing to
participate in the retirement plan created in this article, is
being unlawfully discriminated against, or is being unlawfully
deprived of a right or benefit to which he or she would otherwise
be entitled.
(c) Nothing in this section may be construed to alter, affect
or change any of the rights and benefits of any deputy sheriff who
has insurance coverage under article sixteen, chapter five of this
code as a result of being a spouse or dependant of a participant
who is the primary insured under article sixteen, chapter five of
this code.
(d) Nothing contained in this section may be construed to
affect or pertain to any life insurance coverage under article
sixteen, chapter five of this code.
§7-14D-9. Retirement; commencement of benefits.
A member may retire and commence to receive retirement income
payments upon attaining early or normal retirement age by filing
with the board his or her voluntary petition in writing for retirement:
Provided, That retirement income payments shall
commence no later than the first day of April following the
member's seventy and one-half year birthday or the cessation of
covered employment, whichever later occurs. Upon receipt of the
petition, the board shall promptly provide the member with an
explanation of his or her optional forms of retirement benefits and
upon receipt of properly executed forms from the member, the board
shall process member's request for and commence payments as soon as
administratively feasible.
§7-14D-10. Retirement credited service through member's use, as
option, of accrued annual or sick leave days.
Any member accruing annual leave or sick leave days may, after
the effective date of this section, elect to use the days at the
time of retirement to acquire additional credited service in this
retirement system:
Provided, That the accrued annual or sick leave
may not be used to purchase health insurance under the public
employees insurance agency until the member reaches the age of
fifty-five. The days shall be applied on the basis of two
workdays' credit granted for each one day of accrued annual or sick
leave days, with each month of retirement service credit to equal
twenty workdays and with any remainder of ten workdays or more to
constitute a full month of additional credit and any remainder of
less than ten workdays to be dropped and not used, notwithstanding
any provisions of the code to the contrary. The credited service shall be allowed and not considered to controvert the requirement
of no more than twelve months' credited service in any year's
period.
§7-14D-11. Retirement benefits.
(a)
Normal retirement. -- A member who ceases covered
employment, has attained normal retirement age, and whose annuity
starting date is within forty-five days of the later of the two,
shall receive retirement income payments equal to his or her
accrued benefit in the normal form or retirement income payments in
an optional form as provided under section twelve of this article
which is the actuarial equivalent of his or her accrued benefit in
the normal form.
(b)
Early retirement. -- A member who ceases covered
employment and has attained early retirement age while in covered
employment may elect to receive retirement income payments
commencing at age fifty or older which is the actuarial equivalent
of the member's accrued benefit which would have been payable at
the member's normal retirement age based upon his or her final
average salary and years of credited service determined at the
cessation of his or her covered employment. Payments will be in
the normal form or in an optional form as allowed in section twelve
of this article which is the actuarial equivalent of the normal
form as reduced for early commencement of benefits.
(c)
Late retirement. -- A member whose annuity starting date is more than forty-five days after the later of his or her
attainment of normal retirement age or the cessation of his or her
covered employment shall receive retirement income payments equal
to the accrued benefit in the normal form which is the actuarial
equivalent of the benefit to which he or she would be entitled had
the retirement income payments commenced within forty-five days of
the later of his or her attainment of normal retirement age or
cessation of covered employment.
(d) Retirement benefits shall be paid monthly in an amount
equal to one twelfth of the retirement income payments elected and
at those times established by the board. Notwithstanding any other
provision of the plan, a member who is married on the annuity
starting date will receive his or her retirement income payments in
the form of a sixty-six and two-thirds percent joint and survivor
annuity with his or her spouse unless prior to the annuity starting
date the spouse waives the form of benefit.
§7-14D-12. Annuity options.
Prior to the effective date of retirement, but not thereafter,
a member may elect to receive retirement income payments in the
normal form, or the actuarial equivalent of the normal form from
the following options:
(a) Option A - Joint and Survivor Annuity. A life annuity
payable during the joint lifetime of the member and his or her
beneficiary who is a natural person with an insurable interest in the member's life. Upon the death of either the member of his or
her beneficiary, the benefit shall continue as a life annuity to
the survivor in an amount equal to fifty percent, sixty-six and
two-thirds percent, seventy-five percent or one hundred percent of
the amount paid while both were living as selected by the member.
If the retiring member is married, the spouse shall sign a waiver
of benefit rights if the beneficiary is to be other than the
spouse.
(b) Option B - Contingent Joint and Survivor Annuity. A life
annuity payable during the joint lifetime of the member and his or
her beneficiary who must be a natural person with an insurable
interest in the member's life. Upon the death of the member, the
benefit shall continue as a life annuity to the beneficiary in an
amount equal to fifty percent, sixty-six and two-thirds percent,
seventy-five percent or one hundred percent of the amount paid
while both were living as selected by the member. If the
beneficiary dies first, the monthly amount of benefits shall be
reduced. If the retiring member is married, the spouse shall sign
a waiver of benefit rights if the beneficiary is to be other than
the spouse.
(c) Option C - Ten Years Certain and Life Annuity. A life
annuity payable during the member's lifetime but in any event for
a minimum of ten years. If the member dies before the expiration
of ten years, the remaining payments shall be made to a designated beneficiary, if any, or otherwise to the member's estate.
(d) Option D - Level Income Annuity. A life annuity payable
monthly in an increased amount "A" from the time of retirement
until the member is social security retirement age, and then a
lesser amount "B" payable for the member's lifetime thereafter,
with these amounts computed actuarially to satisfy the following
two conditions:
(1) Actuarial equivalence. The actuarial present value at the
date of retirement of the member's annuity if taken in the normal
form must equal the actuarial present value of the term life
annuity in amount "A" plus the actual present value of the deferred
life annuity in amount "B".
(2) Level income. The amount "A" equals the amount "B" plus
the amount of the member's estimated monthly social security
primary insurance amount that would commence at the date amount "B"
becomes payable. For this calculation, the primary insurance
amount is estimated when the member applies for retirement, using
social security law then in effect, using assumptions established
by the board.
(e) Option E - Level Income Joint and Survivor Annuity. An
annuity structured under the same methodology as in subdivision (d)
of this section, with the term annuity amount "A" payable until the
member's social security retirement age and the amount "B" payable
as a fifty percent, sixty-six and two-thirds percent, seventy-five percent or one hundred percent joint and survivor annuity upon the
member's attaining social security retirement age with the members
selecting the applicable percentage rate, if the retiring member is
married, the spouse shall sign a waiver of benefit rights if the
beneficiary is to be other than the spouse.
(f) Option F - Increasing Annuity. A life annuity payable in
any of the forms described in this section, and subject to the
corresponding conditions, with the amount of monthly payment
increasing at one and one-half percent, two percent or two and one- half percent compounded annually throughout the life of the
annuity. Annuities taken in this form shall be adjusted the first
day of April of each year following the member's annuity starting
date with a prorated increase given on the first day of April to
retirees who have not yet been retired a full year on that date.
In the case of a member who has elected the options set forth
in subdivisions (b) and (e) of this section, respectively, and
whose beneficiary dies prior to the member's death, the member may
name an alternative beneficiary. If an alternative beneficiary is
named within eighteen months following the death of the prior
beneficiary, the benefit shall be adjusted to be the actuarial
equivalent of the member's normal form of benefit. If the election
is not made until eighteen months after the death of the prior
beneficiary, the amount shall be reduced so that it is only ninety
percent of the actuarial equivalent of the member's normal form of benefit.
§7-14D-13. Refunds to certain members upon discharge or
resignation; deferred retirement.
(a) Any member who terminates covered employment and is not
eligible to receive disability benefits under this article is, by
written request filed with the board, entitled to receive from the
fund the member's accumulated contributions. Except as provided in
subsection (b) of this section, upon withdrawal the member shall
forfeit his or her accrued benefit and cease to be a member.
(b) Any member who withdraws accumulated contributions from
either this plan or the public employees retirement system and
thereafter becomes reemployed in covered employment shall not
receive any credited service for the prior employment unless
following his or her return to covered employment, the member
redeposits in the fund the amount of the accumulated contributions,
together with interest on the accumulate contributions at the rate
determined by the board from the date of withdrawal to the date of
redeposit. Upon repayment he or she shall receive the same credit
on account of his or her former service as if no refund had been
made. The repayment shall be made in a lump sum within sixty
months of the deputy sheriff's reemployment sum or if later, within
sixty months of the effective date of this article.
(c) Every member who completes sixty months of covered
employment is eligible, upon cessation of covered employment, to either withdraw his or her accumulated contributions in accordance
with subsection (a) of this section, or to choose not to withdraw
his or her accumulated contribution and to receive retirement
income payments upon attaining early or normal retirement age.
§7-14D-14. Awards and benefits for disability -- Duty related.
Any member who after the effective date of this article and
during covered employment: (A) Has been or becomes either totally
or partially disabled by injury, illness or disease; and (B) the
disability is a result of an occupational risk or hazard inherent
in or peculiar to the services required of members; or (C) the
disability was incurred while performing law-enforcement functions
during either scheduled work hours or at any other time; and (D) in
the opinion of the board, the member is by reason of the disability
unable to perform adequately the duties required of a deputy
sheriff, is entitled to receive and shall be paid from the fund in
monthly installments during the lifetime of the member, or if
sooner until the member attains normal retirement age or until the
disability sooner terminates, the compensation under either
subdivision (a) or (b) of this section.
(a) If the member is totally disabled, the member shall
receive ninety percent of his or her average monthly compensation
for the twelve-month period preceding the member's disability, or
the shorter period if the member has not worked twelve months.
(b) If the member is partially disabled, the member shall receive forty-five percent of his or her average monthly
compensation for the twelve-month period preceding the member's
disability, or the shorter period if the member has not worked
twelve months.
If the member remains totally disabled until attaining sixty- five years of age, the member shall then receive the retirement
benefit provided for in sections eleven and twelve of this article.
If the member remains partially disabled until attaining sixty
years of age the member shall then receive the retirement benefit
provided for in sections eleven and twelve of this article.
§7-14D-15. Same -- Due to other causes.
(a) member who after the effective date of this article and
during covered employment: (1) Has been or becomes totally or
partially disabled from any cause other than those set forth in
section fourteen of this article and not due to vicious habits,
intemperance or willful misconduct on his or her part; and (2) in
the opinion of the board, he or she is by reason of the disability
unable to perform adequately the duties required of a deputy
sheriff, is entitled to receive and shall be paid from the fund in
monthly installments during the lifetime of the member, or if
sooner until the member attains normal retirement age or until the
disability sooner terminates the compensation set forth in, either
subsection (b) or (c) of this section.
(b) If the member is totally disabled, he or she shall receive sixty-six and two-thirds percent of his or her average monthly
compensation for the twelve-month period preceding the disability,
or the shorter period, if the member has not worked twelve months.
(c) If the member is partially disabled, he or she shall
receive thirty-three and one-third percent of his or her average
monthly compensation for the twelve-month period preceding the
disability, or the shorter period, if the member has not worked
twelve months.
(d) If the member remains disabled until attaining sixty
years of age, then the member shall receive the retirement benefit
provided for in sections eleven and twelve of this article.
(e) The board shall propose legislative rules for
promulgation in accordance with the provisions of article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code concerning member disability
payments so as to ensure that the payments do not exceed one
hundred percent of the average current salary in any given county
for the position last held by the member.
.
§7-14D-16. Same -- Physical examinations; termination of
disability.
The board may require any member who has applied for or is
receiving disability benefits under this article to submit to a
physical examination, mental examination or both, by a physician or
physicians selected or approved by the board and may cause all
costs incident to the examination and approved by the board to be paid from the fund. The costs may include hospital, laboratory, X
ray, medical and physicians' fees. A report of the findings of any
physician shall be submitted in writing to the board for its
consideration. If, from the report, independent information, or
from the report and any hearing on the report, the board is of the
opinion and finds that: (1) The member has become reemployed as a
law-enforcement officer; (2) two physicians who have examined the
member have found that considering the opportunities for law
enforcement in West Virginia, the member could be so employed as a
deputy sheriff; or (3) other facts exist to demonstrate that the
member is no longer totally disabled or partially disabled as the
case may be, then the disability benefits shall cease. If the
member was totally disabled and is found to have recovered, the
board shall determine whether the member continues to be partially
disabled. If the board finds that the member is no longer totally
disabled but is partially disabled, then the member shall continue
to receive partial disability benefits in accordance with this
article. Benefits shall cease once the member has been found to be
no longer either totally or partially disabled:
Provided, That the
board shall require recertification for each partial or total
disability at regular intervals as specified by the guidelines
adopted by the public employees retirement system.
§7-14D-17. Prior disability.
Any deputy sheriff who became totally disabled as a result of illness or injury incurred in the line of duty prior to the
effective date of this article may be a member of the plan at his
or her election and is entitled to disability, death and retirement
benefits under this article in lieu of any other disability, death
or retirement benefits provided by the state or his or her county
of employment:
Provided, That the deputy would have been eligible
for disability under section fourteen of this article had that
section been in effect at the time of the disability. The amounts
of the benefits shall be determined as if the disability first
commenced after the effective date of this article with monthly
compensation equal to that average monthly compensation which the
member was receiving in the plan year prior to the initial
disability.
§7-14D-18. Awards and benefits to surviving spouse -- When member
dies in performance of duty, etc.
(a) The surviving spouse of any member who, after the
effective date of this article while in covered employment, has
died or dies, by reason of injury, illness or disease resulting
from an occupational risk or hazard inherent in or peculiar to the
service required of members, while the member was or is engaged in
the performance of his or her duties as a deputy sheriff, or the
survivor spouse of a member who dies from any cause while receiving
benefits pursuant to section fourteen of this article, is entitled
to receive and shall be paid from the fund benefits as determined in subsection (b) of this section: To the surviving spouse
annually, in equal monthly installments during his or her lifetime
an amount equal to the greater of: (i) Two thirds of the base
salary received in the preceding twelve-month period by the
deceased member; or (ii) if the member dies after his or her early
or normal retirement age, the monthly amount which the spouse would
have received had the member retired the day before his or her
death, elected a one hundred percent joint and survivor annuity
with the spouse as the joint annuitant, and then died.
(b) Benefits for a surviving spouse received under this
section, section twenty and section twenty-one of this article are
in lieu of receipt of any other benefits under this article for the
spouse or any other person or under the provisions of any other
state retirement system based upon the member's covered employment.
§7-14D-19. Same -- When member dies from nonservice-connected
causes.
(a) In any case where a member who has been a member for at
least ten years, while in covered employment after the effective
date of this article, has died or dies from any cause other than
those specified in section eighteen of this article and not due to
vicious habits, intemperance or willful misconduct on his or her
part, the fund shall pay annually in equal monthly installments to
the surviving spouse during his or her lifetime, a sum equal to the
greater of: (i) One half of the base salary received in the preceding twelve-month employment period by the deceased member; or
(ii) if the member dies after his or her early or normal retirement
age, the monthly amount which the spouse would have received had
the member retired the day before his or her death, elected a one
hundred percent joint and survivor annuity with the spouse as the
joint annuitant, and then died. Where the member is receiving
disability benefits under section fourteen of this article at the
time of his or her death, the most recent monthly compensation
determined under section seventeen of this article shall be
substituted for the base salary in (i) of this section.
(b) Benefits for a surviving spouse received under this
section, section twenty and section twenty-one of this article are
in lieu of receipt of any other benefits under this article for the
spouse or any other person or under the provisions of any other
state retirement system based upon the member's covered employment.
§7-14D-20. Additional death benefits and scholarships --
Dependent children.
(a) In addition to the spouse death benefits in sections
eighteen and nineteen of this article, the surviving spouse is
entitled to receive and there shall be paid to the spouse one
hundred dollars monthly for each dependent child.
(b) If the surviving spouse dies or if there is no surviving
spouse, the fund shall pay monthly to each dependent child a sum
equal to one fourth of the surviving spouse's entitlement under either section nineteen or twenty of this article. If there is
neither a surviving spouse nor a dependent child, the fund shall
pay in equal monthly installments to the dependent parents of the
deceased member during their joint lifetimes a sum equal to the
amount which a surviving spouse, without children, would have
received:
Provided, That when there is only one dependent parent
surviving, that parent is entitled to receive during his or her
lifetime one-half the amount which both parents, if living, would
have been entitled to receive.
(c) Any person qualifying as a dependent child under this, in
addition to any other benefits due under this or other sections of
this article, is entitled to receive a scholarship to be applied to
the career development education of that person. This sum, up to
but not exceeding six thousand dollars per year, shall be paid from
the fund to any university or college in this state or to any trade
or vocational school or other entity in this state approved by the
board, to offset the expenses of tuition, room and board, books,
fees or other costs incurred in a course of study at any of these
institutions so long as the recipient makes application to the
board on an approved form and under such rules as the board may
provide, and maintains scholastic eligibility as defined by the
institution or the board. The board may propose legislative rules
for promulgation in accordance with article three, chapter twenty- nine-a of this code which define age requirements, physical and mental requirements, scholastic eligibility, disbursement methods,
institutional qualifications and other requirements as necessary
and not inconsistent with this section.
§7-14D-21. Burial benefit.
Any member who dies as a result of any service related illness
or injury after the effective date is entitled to a lump sum burial
benefit of five thousand dollars. If the member is married, the
burial benefit will be paid to the member's spouse. If the member
is not married, the burial benefit will be paid to the member's
estate for the purposes of paying burial expenses, settling the
member's final affairs, or both. Any unspent balance shall be
distributed as a part of the member's estate. If the member is not
entitled to a death benefit under sections nineteen and twenty of
this article, then if greater, the amount payable to the member's
estate shall be his or her accumulated contributions.
§7-14D-22. Double death benefits prohibited.
A surviving spouse is not entitled to receive simultaneous death
benefits under this article as a result of the death of two or more
members to whom the spouse was married. Any spouse who becomes
eligible for a subsequent death benefit under this article while
receiving a death benefit under this article shall receive the
higher benefit, but not both.
§7-14D-23. Loans to members.
(a) A member who is not yet receiving disability or retirement income benefits from the plan may borrow from the plan an amount up
to one half of his or her accumulated contributions, but not less
than five hundred dollars nor more than eight thousand dollars. No
loan may be made from the plan if the board determines that the
loans constitute more than fifteen percent of the amortized cost
value of the assets of the plan as of the last day of the preceding
plan year. The board may discontinue the loans any time it
determines that cash flow problems might develop as a result of the
loans. Each loan shall be repaid through monthly installments over
periods of six through sixty months and carry interest on the
unpaid balance and an annual effective interest rate that is two
hundred basis points higher than the most recent rate of interest
used by the board for determining actuarial contributions levels.
Monthly loan payments shall be calculated to be as nearly equal as
possible with all but the final payment being an equal amount. An
eligible member may make additional loan payments or pay off the
entire loan balance at any time without incurring any interest
penalty. At the member's option, the monthly loan payment may
include a level premium sufficient to provide declining term
insurance with the plan as beneficiary to repay the loan in full
upon the member's death. If a member declines the insurance and
dies before the loan is repaid, the unpaid balance of the loan
shall be deducted from the lump sum insurance benefit payable under
section twenty-one of this article.
(b) A member with an unpaid loan balance who wishes to retire
may have the loan repaid in full by accepting retirement income
payments reduced by deducting from the actuarial reserve for the
accrued benefit the amount of the unpaid balance and then
converting the remaining of the reserve to a monthly pension
payable in the form of the annuity desired by the member.
§7-14D-24. Service as sheriff.
Any member who after the effective date of this article is
elected sheriff of a county in West Virginia may elect to continue
as a member in this plan by paying the amounts required by section
seven of this article. Upon the election, service as a sheriff
shall be treated as covered employment and the sheriff is not
entitled to any credit for that service under any other retirement
system of the state.
§7-14D-25. Exemption from taxation, garnishment and other process.
The moneys in the fund and the right of a member, spouse or
other beneficiary to benefits under this article, to the return of
contributions, or to any retirement, death or disability payments
under the provisions of this article, are exempt from any state or
municipal tax; are not subject to execution, garnishment,
attachment or any other process whatsoever with the exception that
the benefits are subject to a qualified domestic relations order as
that term is defined in section 414 (p) of the Internal Revenue
Code; and are unassignable except as is provided in this article.
§7-14D-26. Fraud; penalties; and repayment.
Any person who knowingly makes any false statement or who
falsifies or permits to be falsified any record of the retirement
system in any attempt to defraud that system is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine not
to exceed one thousand dollars, by confinement in the county or
regional jail not to exceed one year, or by both a fine and
confinement. Any increased benefit received by any person as a
result of the falsification or fraud shall be returned to the fund
upon demand by the board.
§7-14D-27. Credit toward retirement for member's prior military
service; credit toward retirement when member has joined armed
forces in time of armed conflict.
(a) Any member who has previously served on active military
duty is entitled to receive additional years of service for the
purpose of determining his or her years of credited service for a
period equal to the active military duty not to exceed five years,
subject to the following:
(1) That he or she has been honorably discharged from the
armed forces;
(2) That he or she substantiates by appropriate documentation
or evidence his or her period of active military duty; and
(3) That he or she is receiving no benefits from any other
retirement system for his or her active military duty.
(b) In addition, any member who while in covered employment
was commissioned, enlisted or inducted into the armed forces of the
United States or, being a member of the reserve officers' corps,
was called to active duty in the armed forces between the first day
of September, one thousand nine hundred forty, and the close of
hostilities in World War II, or between the twenty-seventh day of
June, one thousand nine hundred fifty, and the close of the armed
conflict in Korea on the twenty-seventh day of July, one thousand
nine hundred fifty-three, between the first day of August, one
thousand nine hundred sixty-four, and the close of the armed
conflict in Vietnam, or during any other period of armed conflict
by the United States whether sanctioned by a declaration of war by
the Congress or by executive or other order of the president, is
entitled to and shall receive credited service, for a period equal
to the full time that he or she has or, pursuant to that
commission, enlistment, induction or call, shall have served with
the armed forces subject to the following:
(1) That he or she has been honorably discharged from the
armed forces;
(2) That within ninety days after honorable discharge from the
armed forces, he or she presented himself or herself to the county
commission and offered to resume service as a deputy sheriff; and
(3) That he or she has made no voluntary act, whether by
reenlistment, waiver of discharge, acceptance of commission or otherwise, to extend or participate in extension of the period of
service with the armed forces beyond the period of service for
which he or she was originally commissioned, enlisted, inducted or
called.
(c) The total amount of service allowable under subsections
(a) and (b) of this section may not exceed five years.
(d) Any service credit allowed under this section may be
credited one time only for each deputy sheriff, regardless of any
changes in job title or responsibilities.
§7-14D-28. Pro rata reduction of annuities.
Any provision in this article to the contrary notwithstanding,
if at the end of any fiscal year the total of the annuities paid
from the retirement fund during the said fiscal year is more than
ten percent of the sum of the balances in the fund at the end of
the said fiscal year, the said annuities payable in the next
ensuing fiscal year shall be reduced, pro rata, so that the sum of
the annuities so reduced shall not exceed ten percent of the sum of
the said balances in the fund. The said pro rata reduction shall
be applied to all annuities payable in the said ensuing fiscal
year.
§7-14D-29. Effective date; report to joint committee on government
and finance; special starting date for benefits.
(a) The provisions of this article become effective the first
day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight:
Provided, That no payout of any benefits may be made to any person prior to the
first day of January, two thousand:
Provided, however, That
members who retired due to a disability may begin receiving the
benefits at the rate and in the amount specified in either section
fourteen or section fifteen of this article, as the case may be,
from this fund after the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-nine:
Provided further, That until the thirtieth day
of June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine, those members who
retired due to a disability may draw benefits from this fund at the
rate and in the amount set forth in section twenty-five, article
ten, chapter five of this code.
(b) During the eighteen-month period before the pay-out of
benefits begins, the joint committee on government and finance
shall cause an interim study or studies to be conducted on
potential effects of the implementation of this retirement system,
including, but not limited to, potential funding mechanisms to
provide health insurance coverage for retirees in the fifty to
fifty-five age group.
§7-14D-30. Limitation of county liability.
No county which has timely met all of its obligations under
this article is liable for any payments or contributions to the
deputy sheriff retirement plan which are owed to the plan by
another county or counties. No county commission may deposit funds
into the deputy sheriff retirement fund in excess of the amount specified in section seven of this article, the fees set forth in
article fourteen-e of this chapter and the fees set forth in
section seventeen, article three, chapter seventeen-a of this code.
ARTICLE 14E. ESTABLISHMENT OF CERTAIN FEES; DEDICATION OF FEE TO
DEPUTY SHERIFF'S RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
§7-14E-1. Legislative findings and purpose.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the
preservation of peace is a necessary and important function and a
requirement for an orderly society. This important function is
carried on throughout the state of West Virginia at both the state
and local level. Very important components of law enforcement in
this state are the county sheriffs and their deputies.
(b) The Legislature, cognizant that it has enacted retirement
legislation for municipal police officers and for the state police,
declares that deputy sheriffs are now in need of a retirement
system. The Legislature further declares that the deputy sheriffs
of this state are professional law-enforcement officers who keep
the peace, help and protect the citizens of this state. The
Legislature finds that, when it comes to retirement, the deputy
sheriffs are treated differently than other law-enforcement
officers in this state.
(c) For the foregoing reasons, and for other important
reasons, the Legislature created the deputy sheriff's retirement
system under article fourteen-d of this chapter. The fees established in this article are to help ensure the actuarial
soundness of the deputy sheriff's retirement system.
§7-14E-2. Statewide uniform fees for reports generated by sheriff's
offices; dedication of fees.
(a) the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-
eight, the county commission of each county in this state shall set
a fee for obtaining certain reports. This fee shall be set at a
minimum of ten dollars for each report, with a maximum of twenty
dollars for each report. Ten dollars of the charge for each report
shall be deposited into the deputy sheriff's retirement fund
created in section six, article fourteen-d, chapter seven of this
code. The reports for which a charge may be made are traffic
accident reports, criminal investigation reports, incident reports
and property reports.
(b) Effective the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-eight, all sheriff's offices in this state shall collect a
fee of five dollars for performing the following services: adult
private employment fingerprinting; fingerprinting for federal
firearm permits; motor vehicle number identification; adult
identification card and photo-identification card. Upon
collection, these fees shall be deposited into the deputy sheriff's
retirement fund created in section six, article fourteen-d of this
chapter.
(c) Effective the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, all sheriff's offices in this state shall collect a
fee of five dollars for each nongovernmental background
investigation report. Upon collection, these fees shall be
deposited into the deputy sheriff's retirement fund created in
section six, article fourteen-d, chapter seven of this code.
(d)No charge may be made under this section for any report or
reports made to governmental agencies.
CHAPTER 17A. MOTOR VEHICLE ADMINISTRATION, REGISTRATION,
CERTIFICATE OF TITLE, AND ANTITHEFT PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 3. ORIGINAL AND RENEWAL OF REGISTRATION; ISSUANCE OF
CERTIFICATES OF TITLE.
§17A-3-17. Application for and renewal of registration; sheriffs
authorized to issue renewals of registration for certain
vehicles.
(a) Application for renewal of a vehicle registration shall be
made by the vehicle owner by proper application and payment of
taxes and registration fees provided by law.
(b) The division may receive applications for renewal of any
vehicle registration and each sheriff shall receive applications
from residents in his or her county for renewal of any Class A or
G vehicle registration. The division and each sheriff shall issue
the renewals of registration each receives, respectively, in
accordance with all of the provisions in this article pertaining to
renewal of vehicle registration including, but not limited to, the payment of the taxes and fees required thereunder.
(c) Each sheriff shall charge a service fee of one dollar for
each renewal of a Class A or G vehicle registration he or she
issues. Effective the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-eight, the sheriff shall pay one half of this fee into the
county general fund. The sheriff shall pay the remaining one half
of this fee into the deputy sheriff retirement fund created in
section six, article fourteen-d, chapter seven of this code.
(d) On the first day of each month, each sheriff shall pay
over to the commissioner all fees he or she collected during the
preceding month for renewal of Class A and G vehicle registrations,
except his or her service fees. The payment shall be accompanied
by a report showing the name of the county, the name and address of
the person who obtained the registration and paid the registration
fee therefor, the vehicle registered, the registration number, the
date the registration was issued, the signature of the sheriff and
any other information the commissioner may reasonably require in
order to maintain the functions and records of the department. The
commissioner shall deposit all fees he or she receives from the
sheriffs for renewal of Class A and G vehicle registrations in the
state treasury to the credit of the state road fund as provided in
section twenty-one, article two of this chapter.
(e) The commissioner shall provide each sheriff with the
necessary forms, supplies, registration plates, registration decals and instructions necessary to enable him or her to perform the
duties and functions specified in this section.
(f) No person may display upon a vehicle a new registration
plate or registration decal prior to the first day of the month
preceding the new registration period.