§ 100-A:14 — Administration

I. The administration of this system is vested in a board of 13 trustees. Each newly appointed or reappointed trustee shall have familiarity with or experience in finance or business management. The state treasurer shall be an ex officio voting member of the board. The governor and council shall appoint 4 trustees, to be known as nonmember trustees, who shall be qualified persons with investment and/or financial experience as provided in this paragraph and not be members of the system, and who shall serve for a term of 3 years and until their successors are appointed and qualified. The nonmember trustees of the board shall have substantial experience in the field of institutional investment or finance, taking into account factors such as educational background, business experience, and professional licensure and designations. The original appointment of the nonmember trustees shall be made to provide for staggered terms. The remaining 8 members of the board shall consist of: one employee member, one teacher member, one permanent police member, one permanent fireman member, and 4 employer members. The New Hampshire state employees' association, the New Hampshire education association, the New Hampshire police association, and the New Hampshire state permanent firemen's association shall each annually nominate from their members a panel of 5 persons, all of whom shall be active members of the retirement system, no later than May 31 of each year, and the panels so named shall be filed with the secretary of state no later than June 10 of each year. From the above named panels the governor and council shall appoint the active member trustees of the board as needed so as to maintain the representation on the board. The governor and council shall appoint the employer members of the board with one member nominated by the New Hampshire Association of Counties, one member nominated by the New Hampshire Municipal Association, one member nominated by the New Hampshire School Boards Association, and one member to represent management of state employees. Members appointed to the board in the manner aforesaid shall serve for a term of 3 years. Each member so appointed shall hold office until his or her successor shall be appointed and qualified. Whenever a vacancy occurs, the governor and council shall fill the vacancy by appointing a member who shall serve for the unexpired term. The governor shall designate one of the nonmember trustees to serve as chairman of said board of trustees.
II. The board of trustees shall establish such rules and regulations as it deems necessary for the proper administration of this chapter.
III. The members of the board of trustees shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary travelling and other expenses and disbursements incurred or made by them in the discharge of their official duties.
IV. Each trustee, including the chairman, shall be entitled to one vote in the board of trustees. Seven trustees shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business of the board of trustees. Seven votes shall be necessary for any resolution or action by the board at any meeting.
V. The board of trustees shall have the full power to employ and compensate such employees on such terms as may be necessary as charges upon the funds of the retirement system, and establish personnel policies without regard to any personnel or civil service law or personnel or civil service rule of the state. The employees of the retirement system shall not be classified employees of the state within the meaning of RSA 21-I:49. Notwithstanding, any individual employed by the retirement system whose employment calls for 30 hours or more work in a normal calendar week, and whose position is anticipated to have a duration of 6 months or more, shall be entitled to elect to receive such health, dental, life insurance, deferred compensation, and retirement benefits as are afforded to classified employees of the state. Upon election by such individual, the retirement system shall pay from its funds the state's share of such benefits. Any remaining costs of health, dental, and life insurance benefits which an individual elects to receive pursuant to this paragraph, shall be withheld from such individual's salary as a payroll deduction. Written notice of the availability of these benefit options shall be provided to each individual upon employment by the retirement system. It may also engage such actuarial, medical, and like services as may be required to transact the business of the system. The compensation for such special services, and all other expenses of the board necessary, hereto, shall be paid at such rates and in such amounts as the board shall approve. Service as an employee of the retirement system shall be creditable service for purposes of RSA 21-I:30. Any retirement system employee who transfers, without a break in service, to a state classified service position shall transfer all the days of sick leave credit and annual leave credit that the retirement system employee has accumulated pursuant to this section. At the time of such a transfer, the employee shall immediately begin to accrue annual and sick leave as granted at the time of the transfer by the receiving agency according to the employee's continuous years worked.
V-a. The board of trustees shall have the power to purchase, receive, take by grant, gift, devise, bequest, or otherwise acquire, own, hold, improve, employ, use, and otherwise deal in and with property or any interest therein, whether tangible or intangible, for the purposes of this chapter.
VI. The board of trustees shall keep in convenient form such data as may be necessary for actuarial valuation of the various funds of the retirement system and for checking the experience of the system.
VII. The board of trustees shall keep a record of all its proceedings. It shall annually make a report showing the fiscal transactions of the retirement system for the preceding fiscal year, the amount of the accumulated cash and securities of the system and the last balance sheet showing the financial condition of the system by means of an actuarial valuation of the assets and liabilities of the system, and shall file the same with the secretary of state.
VII-a. The board of trustees shall submit a report each quarter by January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1, to the chairpersons of the house and senate executive departments and administration committees. Such report shall describe recent board actions including any changes to actuarial assumptions and investment returns.
VIII. Immediately after the establishment of the retirement system, the board of trustees shall adopt mortality and service tables for use in all calculations in connection with the system, and shall certify the rates of contribution payable under the provisions hereof. The board of trustees shall also determine from time to time the rate or rates of regular interest for use in all calculations, except as otherwise provided, with the rate of 4 percent per annum compounded annually applicable from the date of establishment until changed by the board.
IX. In 1970, and at least once in each 5-year period thereafter, the board shall have an actuary make an actuarial investigation into the mortality, service and compensation experience of the members and beneficiaries of the retirement system, and a valuation of the assets and liabilities of its funds, and taking into account the result of such investigation and valuation, the board shall adopt such mortality, service and other tables as shall be deemed necessary, and certify the rates of contribution payable under the provisions of this chapter.
X. On the basis of regular interest and the tables last adopted by the board of trustees, the board shall have an actuary make periodic valuations of the contingent assets and liabilities of the funds of the retirement system. Such valuations shall be prepared at least once in each 2-year period commencing June 30, 1977.
XI. The board of trustees shall annually notify each active member of the amount of his earnable compensation, contributions deducted, and interest credited on his contributions during the previous fiscal year; the total of his member annuity savings fund; his date of birth; his accrued service credits; and such other information as the board of trustees believe will inform the member of his status in the system. The notice shall be prepared prior to the end of each calendar year based on information through June 30 of such year. The first notice shall be due by December 31, 1976.
XII. The executive director appointed pursuant to RSA 100-A:44 shall notify the selectmen of all towns, all city councils, and the superintendent or chief fiscal officer of all school districts within 10 days of the introduction and within 30 days of the enactment of any legislative measure relative to the retirement systems which would affect the retirement system costs to cities, towns and school districts. For the purposes of this paragraph, "legislative measure" shall mean any bill or joint resolution introduced in either the senate or the house of representatives but shall not include amendments to bills or joint resolutions.
XIII. Administrative Cost Assessment. Other provisions of law notwithstanding, the cost of administration of the retirement system as provided in this section shall be a charge upon the funds of the retirement system. The amount of administrative expense recorded monthly by the department of administrative service, division of accounting services, shall be paid to the state treasurer by the board of trustees. The board shall biennially review the administrative expenses for the previous biennium and shall submit in a budget for legislative appropriation, those amounts that the board, in its reasonable discretion, may deem necessary for the efficient operation of the system. Administrative balances accrued prior to June 30, 2001 shall be retained by the retirement system and expended for ongoing operations.
XIII-a. Notwithstanding the requirements of paragraph XIII, the cost to the retirement system of the actuarial and professional assessment of proposed legislation required by RSA 14:44 shall be initially paid from assets of the retirement system, but shall be submitted to the governor for reimbursement. Not later than 30 days after the adjournment of each legislative session, the governor shall reimburse the retirement system for such costs. The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
XIV. The board of trustees shall have the authority to recover for the retirement system any benefits deemed not payable under this chapter as a result of a death of any retiree or beneficiary, or as the result of the remarriage of a surviving spouse in receipt of benefits.
XV. The board of trustees shall, consistent with RSA 21-I:13, V, provide the commissioner of the department of administrative services with information necessary for the commissioner to carry out the responsibilities set forth in RSA 21-I:27, including such information as the name and social security number of each covered retiree, spouse, and dependent; the retiree agency-identifying information in a format compatible with the billing needs of the department; and such other information that the commissioner of the department of administrative services shall request in order to carry out the retiree health benefits program administration.
XVI. Access to Information From Vital Records for Retirement System Purposes. The retirement system shall have a direct and tangible interest in death, marriage, and divorce vital records information of members and beneficiaries, limited to name of registrant, date of birth, place of birth, social security number, date of vital event, place of vital event, marital status, and name of spouse. The secretary of state and the executive director of the New Hampshire retirement system shall enter into a memorandum of understanding for the purposes of delineating specific procedures for access to this limited data set.

Legislative History

1967, 134:1, 405:7. 1973, 524:2. 1974, 40:74. 1975, 461:1. 1977, 488:1-3; 600:17. 1979, 434:29, I. 1985, 55:24. 1988, 193:11. 1994, 269:1. 2000, 246:2. 2001, 158:6, 77. 2002, 140:3. 2003, 132:1. 2004, 146:1. 2005, 53:2. 2006, 120:11; 178:4. 2007, 263:38; 268:3, 4. 2008, 300:15, 16. 2011, 224:174, 175. 2012, 175:2, eff. July 1, 2012. 2014, 30:3, eff. July 22, 2014. 2018, 203:6, eff. July 1, 2018. 2019, 339:1, eff. Nov. 5, 2019.