House Bill 302

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-13-17, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE MEMBERS OF THE HIGHWAY SAFETY PATROL RETIREMENT SYSTEM TO RECEIVE CREDITABLE SERVICE IN THAT SYSTEM AT NO COST FOR PREVIOUS SERVICE AS A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER FOR ANOTHER JURISDICTION OR ENTITY; TO AMEND SECTION 25-11-137, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING PROVISION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 25-13-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-13-17. (1) All persons who are covered under the terms of this chapter on July 1, 1958, and who become members of the retirement system shall cease to be members under the provisions of Sections 25-11-101 through 25-11-139 upon July 1, 1958, and shall become members of this retirement system with full credit for all prior service with the Highway Safety Patrol.

(2) In computing the period of service of a member of the Highway Safety Patrol, any member who served on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States, or who served in maritime service during periods of hostility in World War II, shall be entitled to creditable service at no cost for his service on active duty in the Armed Forces or in that maritime service, provided he entered state service after his discharge from the Armed Forces or entered state service after he completed that maritime service. The maximum period for that creditable service for all military service as defined in this subsection (2) shall not exceed four (4) years, unless positive proof can be furnished by the person that he was retained in the Armed Forces during World War II or in maritime service during World War II, by causes beyond his control and without opportunity of discharge. The member shall furnish proof satisfactory to the Board of Trustees of the Public Employees' Retirement System of certification of military service or maritime service records showing dates of entrance into active duty service and the date of discharge. No creditable service shall be granted for any military service or maritime service to a member who qualifies for a retirement allowance in another public retirement system administered by the Board of Trustees of the Public Employees' Retirement System based in whole or in part on that military or maritime service. In no case shall the member receive creditable service if the member received a dishonorable discharge from the Armed Forces of the United States.

The credit for military service granted in this subsection shall apply to all persons who have retired from the Highway Patrol and who qualify for credit as outlined above, whether they retired before or after July 1, 2000; but this provision shall not operate to require any back payments of retirement.

(3) (a) Any member of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System whose membership service is interrupted as a result of qualified military service within the meaning of Section 414(u)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code, and who has received the maximum service credit available under subsection (2) of this section, shall receive creditable service for the period of qualified military service that does not qualify as creditable service under subsection (2) of this section upon reentering membership service in an amount not to exceed five (5) years if:

(i) The member pays the contributions he would have made to the retirement system if he had remained in membership service for the period of qualified military service based upon his salary at the time his membership service was interrupted;

(ii) The member returns to membership service within ninety (90) days of the end of his qualified military service; and

(iii) The employer at the time the member's service was interrupted and to which employment the member returns pays the contributions it would have made into the retirement system for that period based on the member's salary at the time the service was interrupted.

(b) The payments required to be made in paragraph (a)(i) of this subsection may be made over a period beginning with the date of return to membership service and not exceeding three (3) times the member's qualified military service; however, in no event shall that period exceed five (5) years.

(c) The member shall furnish proof satisfactory to the board of trustees of certification of military service showing dates of entrance into qualified service and the date of discharge as well as proof that the member has returned to active employment within the time specified.

(4) In computing the period of service of a member of the Highway Safety Patrol, any member who served as a law enforcement officer for a jurisdiction or entity other than the Highway Safety Patrol shall be entitled to creditable service at no cost for that service as a law enforcement officer, provided that the member entered employment with the Highway Safety Patrol after he completed that service as a law enforcement officer. The maximum period for that creditable service for all previous service as a law enforcement officer shall not exceed four (4) years. The member shall furnish proof satisfactory to the Board of Trustees of the Public Employees' Retirement System of records of the member's service as a law enforcement officer. No creditable service shall be granted for any service as a law enforcement officer to a member who qualifies for a retirement allowance in another public retirement system administered by the Board of Trustees of the Public Employees' Retirement System based in whole or in part on that service as a law enforcement officer.

SECTION 2. Section 25-11-137, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-11-137. (1) (a) Any law enforcement officer or fireman who has been covered under this article or under Section 21-29-101 et seq., Section 21-29-201 et seq., or Section 25-13-1 et seq., and who changes his employment from one jurisdiction to another jurisdiction, or has previously made that change, may elect to transfer retirement service credit earned while covered under the retirement system of the former jurisdiction to that of the latter as provided in this section.

(b) Any law enforcement officer or fireman transferring as described in paragraph (a) of this subsection and having paid retirement funds under this article or under Section 21-29-101 et seq., Section 21-29-201 et seq., or Section 25-13-1 et seq., must pay into the retirement system to which he is transferring the full amount of employee contributions that he would have paid into that system if he had been a member of that system for each year of creditable service that is being transferred, together with regular interest that would have been earned by that system on those contributions, and he must also pay, or the system from which he is transferring must pay, into the system to which he is being transferred, an amount equal to that which the employer would have paid if he had been a member of that system for each year transferred, together with regular interest that would have been earned by that system on those contributions. The retirement system from which he is being transferred shall be required to pay into the system to which he is transferring any funds credited to his account. Any additional funds that may be required shall be paid by the person being transferred. Those payments may be made in quarterly increments. Failure to make these proper adjustment payments will void any transfer of service credits.

(2) The benefits that are being currently paid by the system in which the law enforcement officer or fireman has last been a member, and the requirements for retirement or disability benefits, shall be those applicable to the officer falling under the provisions of this section. Any law enforcement officer or fireman who elects to transfer retirement service credit may immediately transfer the funds and service as provided for in subsection (1) of this section; however, the amounts that are transferred by the law enforcement officer or fireman and his employer, if applicable, and the service credit related to the transfer of funds, shall not be used in any benefit calculation or determination of eligibility for benefits until the person has remained a contributing member of the retirement system to which he is transferring for the minimum period necessary to qualify for a monthly retirement allowance or benefit. Upon the complete transfer and payment of that credit, all time spent in the covered law enforcement or fire department service, as noted above, within and for the State of Mississippi or the political subdivisions thereof, shall apply to the time required by law necessary to effect the retirement or disability of the officer.

(3) The provisions of this section requiring the payment of employee and employer contributions from one (1) retirement system to another shall not apply in the case of creditable service received by members of the Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System for previous service as a law enforcement officer, as provided in Section 25-13-17(4).

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2005.