COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 441
(By Senators Walker and Wehrle)
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[Originating in the Committee on Pension;
reported March 1, 1994.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section fifteen, article ten, chapter
five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact section
six, article nine, chapter fifty-one of said code, all
relating to certain public retirement systems; and limiting
military service credit for public retirement systems.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section fifteen, article ten, chapter five of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section six, article
nine, chapter fifty-one of said code 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 10. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ACT.
§5-10-15. Military service credit.
Any member of the retirement system who entered or enters
the active service of the armed forces of the United States
during any period of compulsory military service shall receive
credited service for said time spent in the armed forces of the
United States, not to exceed five years if such member pays to
the members' deposit fund the amount he or she may have withdrawn
therefrom, together with regular interest from the date of
withdrawal to the date of repayment:
Provided, That any person
becoming a member after the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-four, shall not be entitled to receive a credit
for service in the armed forces of the United States if he or she
is receiving benefits from any other retirement system for the
service. In any case of doubt as to the period of service to be
so credited a member, the board of trustees shall have final
power to determine such period. During the period of such armed
service and until a return to the employ of a participating
public employer, a member's contributions to the retirement
system shall be suspended and any balance remaining to his or her
credit in the members' deposit fund shall be accumulated at
regular interest.
CHAPTER 51. COURTS AND THEIR OFFICERS.
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 ofthis 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 andto 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,
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
available military service to not exceed five years:
Provided,That any person becoming a member of the judge's retirement
system after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-four, shall not be entitled to receive a credit for
service in the armed forces of the United States if he or she is
receiving benefits from any other retirement system for the
service.
(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 or she 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 of this chapter.
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