MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Appropriations

By: Representative Green (96th)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 25-13-1, 25-13-3, 25-13-5, 25-13-7, 25-13-9, 25-13-11, 25-13-12, 25-13-13, 25-13-19, 25-13-21 AND 25-13-29, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT COUNTY SHERIFFS SHALL BE MEMBERS OF THE MISSISSIPPI HIGHWAY SAFETY PATROL RETIREMENT SYSTEM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 25-13-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-13-1. There is * * * established a retirement system for the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol, as defined in this chapter, effective July 1, 1958, under which members of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol and, from and after July 1, 1997, county sheriffs may retire for superannuation or may retire for reason of disability, and providing benefits to surviving spouses and dependent children of such patrol officers and county sheriffs. This retirement system is designed to supplement and is in addition to the provisions of Sections 25-11-1 through 25-11-21. Under the terms of this chapter, the highway safety patrol officers, as defined herein, and county sheriffs retain all the benefits of old age and survivors insurance under the federal laws administered by the Department of * * *  Health and Human Services, or its successor, as provided in the federal and state agreement executed on July 2, 1952, but shall not be eligible for benefits under Sections 25-11-101 through 25-11-139, which is the Public Employees' Retirement System. This chapter is a substitute for and in lieu of those sections, and is designed to provide more liberal benefits for the highway safety patrol officers and county sheriffs by reason of the dangerous nature of their employment.

SECTION 2. Section 25-13-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-13-3. Where used in this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the term "Highway Patrol" or "Highway Safety Patrol" for the purpose of establishing membership in this system for persons presently employed by the Highway Safety Patrol shall mean and include all the officers of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol who have completed a course of instruction in an authorized highway patrol training school on general law enforcement, and who have served for a period of at least five (5) years prior to the passage of this chapter as a uniformed officer of the Highway Safety Patrol in the enforcement of the traffic laws of the State of Mississippi, or in the driver's license division, or who are now engaged in such service. New members shall include all the officers of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol who have completed a course of instruction in an authorized highway patrol training school on general law enforcement, and who serve as sworn officers of the Highway Patrol in the enforcement of the laws of the State of Mississippi.

Any former sworn officer of the Highway Safety Patrol who returns to service with the Highway Safety Patrol in any capacity, and who has had not less than two (2) years of prior service as a sworn officer of the Highway Safety Patrol, and who was disabled by wounds or accident in line of duty may become a member of the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System even though his present duties would not otherwise qualify him for such membership, and he may continue such membership so long as he remains in the employ of the Highway Safety Patrol.

Membership in the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System shall be retroactive to the date of such patrol officer's return to employment with the Highway Safety Patrol, and any funds contributed by him, previous to the passage of this chapter, to the Public Employees' Retirement System shall be transferred to his credit in the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System, and the employer's contributions made to the Public Employees' Retirement System for such patrol officer shall also be transferred to the employer's credit in the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System; and the difference between the contributions for both the employer and the employee made to the Public Employees' Retirement System, and those which should have been made to the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System by both employer and employee for such patrol officer since the date of his return to the Highway Safety Patrol shall be paid into the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System.

In order to be eligible for service retirement benefits under this retirement system any member must have served at least five (5) years as a sworn officer of the Highway Patrol engaged in the enforcement of the laws of the State of Mississippi, or at least five (5) years as a sworn agent of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, or at least five (5) years as a county sheriff, or a combination of at least five (5) years as a sworn agent of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, * * * a sworn officer of the Highway Patrol and a county sheriff. If such officer is transferred from duty making him eligible for membership in this retirement system to other duties for which credit is not allowed by this system, and he has not been credited with a minimum of five (5) years in this system as a sworn officer of the Highway Patrol engaged in the enforcement of the laws of this state, then a sufficient amount of contributions by both the employer and the employee, as determined by the Public Employees' Retirement System, shall be transferred from this system to his account in the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi to make him a member of that system with full credit for his years of service with the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol, and he shall become a member of the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi with prior service credits. Any funds to the employees' credit in the Highway Safety Patrol System above the amount required to make him fully and currently credited in the Public Employees' Retirement System shall be refunded to him at the time of the transfer of his account.

All county sheriffs holding office on July 1, 1997, shall become members of the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System on that date, unless they file with the board of trustees of the system within thirty (30) days after July 1, 1997, on a form prescribed by the board of trustees, a notice of election not to be covered in the membership of the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System and a duly executed waiver of all present and prospective benefits that otherwise would inure to them on account of their membership in the system. All county sheriffs who first hold that office after July 1, 1997, shall become members of the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System as a condition of their office.

All county sheriffs who become members of the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System shall cease to be members of the Public Employees' Retirement System under the provisions of Section 25-11-101 et seq. upon July 1, 1997, and shall become members of the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System with full credit for all prior service performed before July 1, 1997, for which contributions were made to the Public Employees' Retirement System. All contributions made to the Public Employees' Retirement System by any such county sheriff, plus interest credited thereto, inuring to the credit of that sheriff shall be transferred by the Public Employees' Retirement System to the credit of that sheriff in the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System, and shall be considered an asset to the credit of that sheriff in this retirement system.

SECTION 3. Section 25-13-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-13-5. Creditable service on which a member's service or disability retirement benefit is based shall consist of "prior service" and membership service. Prior service shall mean service performed for the Highway Safety Patrol as defined in Section 25-13-3 before the chapter becomes effective, * * * service performed as a sworn agent for the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics before March 29, 1991, and service performed as a county sheriff before July 1, 1997, for which contributions were made to the Public Employees' Retirement System. No prior service credits shall be granted any person who reenters the employment of the Highway Safety Patrol after the effective date of this chapter, except that any former sworn officer of the Highway Safety Patrol who returns to the Highway Safety Patrol in any capacity, and who has had not less than two (2) years of prior service as a sworn officer of the Highway Safety Patrol, and who was disabled by wounds or accident in line of duty, may become a member of the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System with full credit for any previous service as set forth in Section 25-13-3 with the Highway Safety Patrol. Membership service shall mean all services for which credit may be allowed under this chapter subsequent to July 1, 1958, and for county sheriffs, after July 1, 1997, and all lawfully credited unused leave as of the date of withdrawal from service, as certified by the appointing authority.

SECTION 4. Section 25-13-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-13-7. The Board of Trustees of the Public Employees' Retirement System, as created by Sections 25-11-1 through 25-11-139, shall act as custodian of * * * the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System; shall receive to the credit of such system all donations, bequests, appropriations, and all funds available as an employer's contribution thereto from any source whatsoever; and the Highway Safety Patrol or the county, in the case of county sheriffs, shall each month deduct from the salary of each member, as defined in Section 25-13-3, five percent (5%) thereof, and shall pay the amount so deducted to the Board of Trustees of the Public Employees' Retirement System to be credited to the * * * Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System.  * * * However, * * * the * * * board of trustees may, biennially, following March 18, 1977, vary the percentage of employee contribution on the basis of the liabilities of the retirement system for the various allowances and benefits as shown by actuarial valuation. From the funds credited to this account, the board of trustees * * * shall pay retirements, disability benefits, survivors benefits, expenses and shall refund contributions as provided in this chapter. The * * * fund for the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System shall be maintained as a separate fund, separate from all other funds held by the Board of Trustees of the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi and shall be used only for the payment of benefits provided for by this chapter, or amendments thereto.

SECTION 5. Section 25-13-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-13-9. (1) Upon application of a member or his employer, any member who has not attained the age of fifty-five (55) years may be retired by the administrative board created by this chapter, not less than thirty (30) and not more than ninety (90) days next following the date of filing such application, on a disability retirement allowance, provided that the Medical Board for the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi, after a medical examination, shall certify that he is mentally or physically incapacitated for the performance of duty, that such incapacity is likely to be permanent, and that such sickness or injury was caused or sustained as a direct result of duty in the Highway Safety Patrol after the effective date of this chapter or duty as a county sheriff after June 30, 1997.

Any former uniformed highway safety patrol officer who has had not less than two (2) years of prior service with the Highway Safety Patrol and who was disabled by wounds or accident in line of duty, and who has returned to duty with the Highway Safety Patrol, and who becomes a member of the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System with prior years service credits as provided in this chapter, may, if his disability from his previous wounds or accident received in line of duty returns and he again becomes totally and permanently disabled, receive full benefits as a disability retirant for service-connected disability.

Upon the application of a member or his employer, any member who is not yet eligible for service retirement benefits and who has had at least ten (10) years of creditable service may be retired by the administrative board, not less than thirty (30) and not more than ninety (90) days next following the date of filing such application, on disability retirement allowance, provided that the medical board of the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi, after a medical examination, shall certify that he is mentally or physically incapacitated for the further performance of duty, that such incapacity is likely to be permanent, and that he should be retired. Such disability need not be service-connected.

(2) Upon retirement for disability, a member shall receive a disability benefit equal to fifty percent (50%) of his average salary for the two (2) years immediately preceding his retirement, but not less than any retirement benefits for which he may be eligible at the date he is granted disability.

(3) Once each year during the first five (5) years following retirement of a member on a disability retirement allowance, and once in every period of three (3) years thereafter, the administrative board may, and upon his application shall, require any disability beneficiary who has not yet attained the age of fifty-five (55) years to undergo a medical examination, such examination to be made at the place of residence of the beneficiary or other place mutually agreed upon, by the Medical Board of the Public Employees' Retirement System. Should any disability beneficiary who has not yet attained the age of fifty-five (55) years refuse to submit to any medical examination provided for herein, his allowance may be discontinued until his withdrawal of such refusal, and should his refusal continue for one (1) year all his rights in that part of the disability benefit provided by employer contributions shall be revoked by the administrative board.

(4) If the medical board reports and certifies to the administrative board that such disability beneficiary is engaged in, or is able to engage in, a gainful occupation paying more than the difference between his disability benefit and the average compensation, and if the administrative board concurs in such report, the disability benefit shall be reduced to an amount which, together with the amount earnable by him, shall equal the amount of his average compensation. If his earning capacity be later changed, the amount of the * * * benefit may be further modified; provided, that the revised benefit shall not exceed the amount originally granted nor an amount which, when added to the amount earnable by the beneficiary, equals the amount of his average compensation.

(5) Should a disability beneficiary under the age of fifty-five (55) years be restored to active service at a compensation not less than his average compensation, his disability benefit shall cease; he shall again become a member of the retirement system, and he shall contribute thereafter at the same rate he paid prior to disability. Any such prior service certificate on the basis of which his service was computed at the time of retirement shall be restored to full force and effect. In addition, upon his subsequent retirement he shall be credited with all creditable service as a member, including the period for which he was paid disability benefits.

SECTION 6. Section 25-13-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-13-11. Any member upon withdrawal from service, upon or after attainment of the age of fifty-five (55) years, who shall have completed at least five (5) years of creditable service, or any member upon withdrawal from service upon or after attainment of the age of forty-five (45) years, who shall have completed at least twenty (20) years of creditable service, or any member upon withdrawal from service, regardless of age, who shall have completed at least twenty-five (25) years of creditable service, shall be entitled to receive a retirement allowance which shall be payable the first of the month following receipt of the member's application in the office of the Executive Director of the Public Employees' Retirement Service, but in no event before withdrawal from service.

Any member whose withdrawal from service occurs prior to attaining the age of fifty-five (55) years, who shall have completed more than five (5) years of creditable service and shall not have received a refund of the member's accumulated contributions, shall be entitled to receive a retirement allowance beginning upon his attaining the age of fifty-five (55) years of the amount earned and accrued at the date of withdrawal from service.

The annual amount of the retirement allowance shall consist of:

(a) A member's annuity, which shall be the actuarial equivalent of the accumulated contributions of the member at the time of retirement, computed according to the actuarial table in use by the system.

(b) An employer's annuity which, together with the member's annuity provided above, shall be equal to two and one-half percent (2-1/2%) of the average compensation, based on the four (4) highest consecutive years, for each year of membership service.

(c) A prior service annuity equal to two and one-half percent (2-1/2%) of the average compensation, based on the four (4) highest consecutive years, for each year of prior service for which the member is allowed credit.

(d) In the case of retirement of any member prior to attaining the age of fifty-five (55) years, the retirement allowance shall be computed in accordance with the formula hereinabove set forth in this section, except that the employer's annuity and prior service annuity above described shall be reduced three percent (3%) for each year of age below fifty-five (55) years, or three percent (3%) for each year of service below twenty-five (25) years of creditable service, whichever is lesser.

(e) Upon retiring from service, a member shall be eligible to obtain retirement benefits, as computed above, for life, except that the aggregate amount of the employer's annuity and prior service annuity above described shall not exceed more than eighty-five percent (85%) of the average compensation regardless of the years of service.

(f) Any member in the service who shall have attained the age of sixty (60) years shall be retired forthwith; however, a county sheriff who attains the age of sixty (60) years during his term of office shall be retired at the end of his term of office.

(g) Any retired member who is receiving a service or disability retirement allowance on or after July 1, 1980, shall receive at least Fifteen Dollars ($15.00) per month for each year of creditable service and proportionately for each quarter-year thereof, reduced in accordance with this section.

(h) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter pertaining to the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System, no payments may be made for a retirement allowance on a monthly basis for a period of time in excess of that allowed by any applicable federal law.

(i) Any retired member or beneficiary thereof who is eligible to receive a retirement allowance on July 1, 1990, shall receive a ten percent (10%) ad hoc increase in the annual retirement allowance of the retired member or beneficiary. In no case shall any retired member who has completed at least fifteen (15) years of creditable service receive less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) per month; in no case shall any retired member who has completed ten (10) or more years of creditable service, but less than fifteen (15) years of creditable service, receive less than Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00) per month; and in no case shall any retired member who has completed less than ten (10) years of creditable service receive less than Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) per month. In no case shall a beneficiary who is receiving a retirement allowance receive less than Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) per month or Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00) per year.

SECTION 7. Section 25-13-12, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-13-12. (1) Members of the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System who have retired and who on December 1 of each year are receiving a retirement allowance for service or disability retirement, or their beneficiaries, shall receive in one (1) additional payment an amount equal to a cumulative percentage of (a) two and one-half percent (2-1/2%) of the annual retirement allowance for each full fiscal year of retirement through June 30, 1985, and (b) for each full fiscal year of retirement after June 30, 1985, the annual percentage increase in each fiscal year of the consumer price index set by the United States government in each fiscal year, not exceeding two and one-half percent (2-1/2%) for any fiscal year, times the amount of the annual retirement allowance. The cumulative percentage provided in this subsection for any particular year shall not be less than the cumulative percentage provided for the previous year.

(2) Persons who on December 1 of each year are receiving a retirement allowance for service or disability retirement, or their beneficiaries, may receive, in addition to the amount provided in subsection (1) of this section, a payment, as determined by the board, calculated in increments of one-quarter of one percent (1/4 of 1%), not to exceed one and one-half percent (1-1/2%) of the annual retirement allowance, for each full year of retirement, provided that any such payment shall be contingent upon the reserve for annuities in force for retired members and beneficiaries providing sufficient investment gains in excess of the accrued actuarial liabilities for the previous fiscal year as certified by the actuary and determined by the board.

(3) The percentages in this section shall be based on each full fiscal year that the retired member or beneficiary has actually drawn retirement payments from the date of retirement, or the date of last retirement if there is more than one (1) retirement date.

(4) Each retired member or beneficiary thereof who receives an annual retirement allowance based on the average compensation for a period of five (5) successive or joined years and who receives a retirement allowance for the month of June, 1986, shall receive an ad hoc increase of three percent (3%) in such retirement allowance effective July 1, 1986.

(5) Persons eligible to receive the payments provided in subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall receive such payments in one (1) additional payment, except that such person may elect by an irrevocable agreement on a form prescribed by the board of trustees to receive such payments in not less than equal monthly installments not to exceed six (6) months during the remaining months of the current fiscal year. In the event of death of a person or a beneficiary thereof receiving monthly benefits, any remaining amounts shall be paid in a lump sum to the designated beneficiary.

SECTION 8. Section 25-13-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-13-13. (1) Upon the death of any member of the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System who has retired for service or disability and who has not elected any other option under Section 25-13-16, his surviving spouse shall receive one-half (1/2) the benefit which he was receiving and each child not having attained his nineteenth birthday shall receive one-fourth (1/4) of his benefit, but not more than one-half (1/2) of the benefits shall be paid for the support and maintenance of two (2) or more children. Upon each child's attaining the age of nineteen (19) years, the child shall no longer be eligible for such benefit, and when all of such children have attained their nineteenth birthday, only the surviving spouse shall be eligible for one-half (1/2) the amount of his benefit. The surviving spouse shall continue to be eligible for such benefit in the amount of fifty percent (50%) of his retirement benefit so long as the spouse may live and until the spouse remarries. In the event of the spouse's remarriage at any time, the spouse's eligibility for the fifty percent (50%) benefits shall cease and terminate, but the spouse will be eligible to continue to receive benefits for their children until the last child attains his or her nineteenth birthday in the manner aforesaid.

(2) Upon the death of any member of the retirement system who has served the minimum retirement period required for eligibility for a retirement allowance, his surviving spouse and family shall receive all the benefits payable to the highway patrolman's beneficiaries as if he had retired at the time of his death. Such benefits cease as to the spouse upon remarriage but continue to be payable to each child until he reaches the age of nineteen (19) years. Such benefits are payable on a monthly basis.

(3) The surviving spouse and/or the dependent children of an active member who is killed in the line of performance of duty or dies as a direct result of an accident occurring in the line of performance of duty shall qualify, on approval of the board, for a retirement allowance on the first of the month following the date of death, but not before receipt of application by the board. The spouse shall receive a retirement allowance equal to one-half (1/2) of the average compensation of the deceased member. In addition to the retirement allowance for the spouse, or if there is no surviving spouse, a retirement allowance shall be paid in the amount of one-fourth (1/4) of the average compensation for the support and maintenance of one (1) child or in the amount of one-half (1/2) of the average compensation for the support and maintenance of two (2) or more children. Such benefits shall cease to be paid for the support and maintenance of each child upon such child attaining the age of nineteen (19) years; however, the spouse shall continue to be eligible for the aforesaid retirement allowance. Benefits may be paid to a surviving parent or lawful custodian of such children for the use and benefit of the children without the necessity of appointment as guardian. Such retirement allowance shall cease to the spouse upon remarriage but continue to be payable for each dependent child until the age of nineteen (19) years.

(4) All benefits accruing to any child under the provisions of this chapter shall be paid to the parent custodian of the children or the legal guardian. The widow of any highway patrolman, killed in the line of duty at any time before or after July 1, 1958, and who has not remarried, and each child until he reaches the age of nineteen (19) years, shall be entitled to the retirement benefits provided for herein, which benefits shall accrue from and after May 5, 1976, and upon application of the widow.

(5) Children receiving the benefits provided herein, who are permanently or totally disabled, shall continue to receive such benefits for as long as the medical board or other designated governmental agency certifies that such disability continues. The age limitation for benefits payable to a child under any provision of this section shall be extended beyond age nineteen (19), but in no event beyond the attainment of age twenty-three (23), as long as the child is a student regularly pursuing a full-time course of resident study or training in an accredited high school, trade school, technical or vocational institute, junior or community college, college, university or comparable recognized educational institution duly licensed by a state. A student child whose birthday falls during the school year (September 1 through June 30) is considered not to reach age twenty-three (23) until the July 1 following the actual twenty-third birthday. A full-time course of resident study or training means a day or evening noncorrespondence course that includes school attendance at the rate of a least thirty-six (36) weeks per academic year or other applicable period with a subject load sufficient, if successfully completed, to attain the educational or training objective within the period generally accepted as minimum for completion, by a full-time day student, of the academic or training program concerned.

SECTION 9. Section 25-13-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-13-19. In any case in which a highway patrol officer or county sheriff has been a member of the Public Employees' Retirement System under Sections 25-11-101 through 25-11-139 and has made contributions thereto, all employee's contributions, plus interest credited thereto, inuring to the credit of any such highway patrol officer or county sheriff shall be transferred by the Public Employees' Retirement System to the credit of the individual highway patrol officer or county sheriff in the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System established by this chapter, and shall be considered an asset to the credit of the highway patrol officer or county sheriff in this retirement system.

SECTION 10. Section 25-13-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-13-21. In the event a highway patrol officer ceases to work for the Highway Safety Patrol for any reason other than occupational disease contracted or for any accident sustained by the patrol officer by reason of his service or discharge of his duty with the Highway Safety Patrol, and if the highway patrol officer is not eligible for retirement either for service or disability, or if a county sheriff ceases to hold the office of sheriff for any reason other than occupational disease contracted or for any accident sustained by the sheriff by reason of his service or discharge of his duty as a sheriff, and if the sheriff is not eligible for retirement either for service or disability, the patrol officer or sheriff shall be refunded the amount of his total contribution under the provisions of this chapter, including any credit transferred to his account in this system from any other system, at his request; and should he die before retirement, such fund is to be refunded to any beneficiary he may name.

If any highway patrol officer or county sheriff who shall receive a refund reenters the service of the Highway Safety Patrol or again holds the office of county sheriff and again becomes a member of the system and remains a contributor for four (4) years, he may repay all amounts previously received by him as a refund, together with regular interest covering the period from the date of refund to the date of repayment. Upon such repayment, the highway patrol officer or county sheriff shall again receive credit for the entire period of creditable service which he forfeited upon the receipt of the refund.

SECTION 11. Section 25-13-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-13-29. At least once in each biennium the administrative board shall cause an actuarial valuation to be made by an actuary who shall certify to the assets and liabilities of the system and the amount of employer's contributions required for membership service and prior service. The cost of the survey shall be paid from any funds available to the Highway Safety Patrol.

On account of each member there shall be paid quarterly into the * * * Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System by the Highway Safety Patrol or, in the case of county sheriffs, by the county, from any funds available an amount equal to a certain percentage of the compensation of each member to be known as the "normal contributions," and an additional amount equal to a percentage of his compensation to be known as the "accrued liability contribution." The rate percent of such contributions shall be fixed on the basis of the liabilities of the retirement system for the various allowances and benefits as shown by the actuarial valuation. Until changed by the administrative board, the normal contribution shall be a maximum of thirteen and 93/100 percent (13.93%) and the accrued liability contribution shall be a maximum of one and 40/100 percent (1.40%) of the annual compensation of all members, or a total of fifteen and 33/100 percent (15.33%).

SECTION 12. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1997.