§ 24-4-751 — Additional funding for retirement benefits

(a) The government entity that had previously established a local municipal judge's retirement fund shall be required to contribute an amount of money that represents the actuarially determined accrued liability for those judges and former judges who were covered by the local fund on December 31, 2004. (b) The assets in the local municipal judge retirement fund, not to exceed the amount in subsection (a) of this section, shall be paid to the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System on January 1, 2008. (c) If the local municipal judge retirement fund does not have sufficient money available to pay the amount determined in subsection (a) of this section to the system on January 1, 2008, then the remaining amount of actuarially determined accrued liability shall be paid on or before December 31 each year after for up to the next thirty (30) years based on a thirty-year amortization period. (d) (1) If the amount in the municipal judge retirement fund is greater than the actuarially determined amount of the liabilities to be transferred to the system, that excess may be retained by the sponsoring government entity for the sole purpose of paying the retirement benefits of district judges. (2) If at any time in the future an obligation to fund the system no longer exists, then any excess shall be retained by the sponsoring government entity. (e) (1) The accrued benefit used to determine the accrued liability under this section shall be determined by: (A) Calculating the benefit that the judge would be eligible to receive on December 31, 2004, as provided by law before July 16, 2003, if the judge was eligible to begin receiving benefits on January 1, 2005; and (B) Multiplying the amount in subdivision (e)(1)(A) of this section by the number of years of eligible service and then dividing by the greater of either the number of years of service needed to be eligible to retire or the current years of eligible service. (2) The service years shall be determined under the law before January 1, 2005. (f) The accrued benefit determined under subsection (e) of this section for any retiree or surviving spouse who is receiving benefits on December 31, 2004, shall be the amount that he or she is receiving or entitled to receive on that date.

Legislative History

Acts 2007, No. 177, § 10.