§ 36-8-10-12 — Pension trust

(a) The department and a trustee may
establish and operate an actuarially sound pension trust as a retirement
plan for the exclusive benefit of the employee beneficiaries. However,
a department and a trustee may not establish or modify a retirement
plan after June 30, 1989, without the approval of the county fiscal body
which shall not reduce or diminish any benefits of the employee
beneficiaries set forth in any retirement plan that was in effect on
January 1, 1989.
(b) The normal retirement age may be earlier but not later than the
age of seventy (70). However, the sheriff may retire an employee who
is otherwise eligible for retirement if the board finds that the employee
is not physically or mentally capable of performing the employee's
duties.
(c) Joint contributions shall be made to the trust fund:
(1) either by:
(A) the department through a general appropriation provided to
the department;
(B) a line item appropriation directly to the trust fund; or
(C) both; and
(2) by an employee beneficiary through authorized monthly
deductions from the employee beneficiary's salary or wages.
However, the employer may pay all or a part of the contribution
for the employee beneficiary.
Contributions through an appropriation are not required for plans
established or modifications adopted after June 30, 1989, unless the
establishment or modification is approved by the county fiscal body.
(d) For a county not having a consolidated city, the monthly
deductions from an employee beneficiary's wages for the trust fund
may not exceed six percent (6%) of the employee beneficiary's average
monthly wages. For a county having a consolidated city, the monthly
deductions from an employee beneficiary's wages for the trust fund
may not exceed seven percent (7%) of the employee beneficiary's
average monthly wages.
(e) The minimum annual contribution by the department must be
sufficient, as determined by the pension engineers, to prevent
deterioration in the actuarial status of the trust fund during that year. If
the department fails to make minimum contributions for three (3)
successive years, the pension trust terminates and the trust fund shall
be liquidated.
(f) If during liquidation all expenses of the pension trust are paid,
adequate provision must be made for continuing pension payments to
retired persons. Each employee beneficiary is entitled to receive the net
amount paid into the trust fund from the employee beneficiary's wages,
and any remaining sum shall be equitably divided among employee
beneficiaries in proportion to the net amount paid from their wages into
the trust fund.
(g) If a person ceases to be an employee beneficiary because of
death, disability, unemployment, retirement, or other reason, the
person, the person's beneficiary, or the person's estate is entitled to
receive at least the net amount paid into the trust fund from the person's
wages, either in a lump sum or monthly installments not less than the
person's pension amount.
(h) If an employee beneficiary is retired for old age, the employee
beneficiary is entitled to receive a monthly income in the proper
amount of the employee beneficiary's pension during the employee
beneficiary's lifetime.
(i) To be entitled to the full amount of the employee beneficiary's
pension classification, an employee beneficiary must have contributed
at least twenty (20) years of service to the department before
retirement. Otherwise, the employee beneficiary is entitled to receive
a pension proportional to the length of the employee beneficiary's
service.
(j) This subsection does not apply to a county that adopts an
ordinance under section 12.1 of this chapter. For an employee
beneficiary who retires before January 1, 1985, a monthly pension may
not exceed by more than twenty dollars ($20) one-half (1/2) the amount
of the average monthly wage received during the highest paid five (5)
years before retirement. However, in counties where the fiscal body
approves the increases, the maximum monthly pension for an employee
beneficiary who retires after December 31, 1984, may be increased by
no more or no less than two percent (2%) of that average monthly wage
for each year of service over twenty (20) years to a maximum of
seventy-four percent (74%) of that average monthly wage plus twenty
dollars ($20). For the purposes of determining the amount of an
increase in the maximum monthly pension approved by the fiscal body
for an employee beneficiary who retires after December 31, 1984, the
fiscal body may determine that the employee beneficiary's years of
service include the years of service with the sheriff's department that
occurred before the effective date of the pension trust. For an employee
beneficiary who retires after June 30, 1996, the average monthly wage
used to determine the employee beneficiary's pension benefits may not
exceed the monthly minimum salary that a full-time prosecuting
attorney was entitled to be paid by the state at the time the employee
beneficiary retires.
(k) The trust fund may not be commingled with other funds, except
as provided in this chapter, and may be invested only in accordance
with statutes for investment of trust funds, including other investments
that are specifically designated in the trust agreement.
(l) The trustee receives and holds as trustee all money paid to it as
trustee by the department, the employee beneficiaries, or by other
persons for the uses stated in the trust agreement.
(m) The trustee shall engage pension engineers to supervise and
assist in the technical operation of the pension trust in order that there
is no deterioration in the actuarial status of the plan.
(n) Within ninety (90) days after the close of each fiscal year, the
trustee, with the aid of the pension engineers, shall prepare and file an
annual report with the department. The report must include the
following:
(1) Schedule 1. Receipts and disbursements.
(2) Schedule 2. Assets of the pension trust listing investments by
book value and current market value as of the end of the fiscal
year.
(3) Schedule 3. List of terminations, showing the cause and
amount of refund.
(4) Schedule 4. The application of actuarially computed "reserve
factors" to the payroll data properly classified for the purpose of
computing the reserve liability of the trust fund as of the end of
the fiscal year.
(5) Schedule 5. The application of actuarially computed "current
liability factors" to the payroll data properly classified for the
purpose of computing the liability of the trust fund as of the end
of the fiscal year.
(o) No part of the corpus or income of the trust fund may be used or
diverted to any purpose other than the exclusive benefit of the members
and the beneficiaries of the members.
[Pre-Local Government Recodification Citations: subsection
(a) formerly 17-3-14-11 part; subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g),
(h), (i), (j), (k), (l), (m), (n) formerly 17-3-14-10 part.]
As added by Acts 1981, P.L.309, SEC.61. Amended by
P.L.203-1984, SEC.1; P.L.38-1986, SEC.7; P.L.313-1989, SEC.4;
P.L.312-1989, SEC.5; P.L.267-1993, SEC.1; P.L.152-1994, SEC.2;
P.L.230-1996, SEC.3; P.L.233-1997, SEC.1; P.L.40-1997, SEC.10;
P.L.234-1997, SEC.1; P.L.253-1997(ss), SEC.32; P.L.173-2007,
SEC.46.