§ 5-1-106 — Retirement of judges of the supreme court or district courts; pension; assignment of retired judges

(a) A judge of the supreme court or district courts shall
retire when he attains the age of seventy (70) years. A judge is
eligible for retirement when he has served as a judge of the
supreme court, a district court or both for:
(i) Not less than eighteen (18) years;
(ii) Not less than fifteen (15) years and is
sixty-five (65) years of age or more;
(iii) Not less than twelve (12) years and is seventy
(70) years of age or more;
(iv) Not less than six (6) consecutive years and is
sixty-five (65) years of age or more;
(v) Less than six (6) years but continuously from the
date of appointment to the age of seventy (70) years;
(vi) Not less than twelve (12) years and is
fifty-five (55) years of age or more;
(vii) Not less than six (6) years and dies in office
or is retired by the supreme court for disability.
(b) Retired judges shall receive a maximum lifetime annual
pension of fifty percent (50%) of the salary currently
authorized by law for judges of the court from which they
retired. The pension of a judge retiring under paragraph
(a)(iv), (v), (vi) or (vii) of this section shall be that
proportion of the maximum allowable pension which the aggregate
number of years of his judicial service bears to eighteen (18)
years. The pension shall increase or diminish proportionately as
salaries of judges of the respective courts change. The pension
of any judge who retires under paragraph (a)(iv) of this section
at the age of seventy (70) with not less than six (6) but less
than twelve (12) years service shall be that proportion of the
maximum allowable pension which the aggregate number of years of
judicial service bears to twelve (12) years.
(c) To retire and receive a pension, a judge shall notify
in writing the governor and the state auditor the date he elects
to retire and shall furnish with the notice an affidavit showing
the date and place of his birth and his service as a judge
entitling him to a pension, provided, that a judge whose service
is terminated by expiration of the term for which he is elected
or appointed and whose service is such as to otherwise entitle
him to receive the pension herein provided, shall be deemed to
have retired.
(d) This section shall apply to judges who were appointed
prior to July 1, 1998 and to judges who have retired and are
receiving benefits under this section. Judicial retirement for
justices and judges appointed to the bench on or after July 1,
1998 is provided pursuant to W.S. 9-3-701 through 9-3-713.
(e) Any judge who is otherwise eligible to receive a
pension may receive the benefits accorded by this section if he
retires on the day of attainment of the age of seventy (70)
years, or prior thereto, provided that if he is a judge on the
effective date of this act, he may complete the present term for
which he was elected or appointed without the loss of any
pension benefits accorded by this section.
(f) Any justice of the supreme court, chancery court judge
or district court judge of this state, who has retired pursuant
to the provisions of this section, and who is not practicing
law, may, notwithstanding his retirement, be called upon, with
his consent, at the request of a district court judge or circuit
court judge, with the consent of the chief justice, or by the
chief justice, and assigned to service on any court. A retired
justice or judge shall receive as a salary during any period of
assignment an amount equal to the current compensation of a
judge of the court to which he is assigned. The salary received
by a retired justice or judge during any period of assignment
shall not affect the receipt of any retirement allowance
received by the retired justice or judge during the period of
assignment. Assignments of retired justices or judges under
this section shall only be made in a manner that does not
jeopardize the qualified status of state retirement plans
established by the Wyoming legislature. When called to serve, a
retired judge or justice shall receive the same per diem and
travel allowances as allowed active judges or justices. Per
diem, allowances and compensation shall be paid from the
contingent fund of the court to which the judge or justice is
assigned.
(g) In lieu of the service retirement allowances provided
in subsection (b) of this section, any judge specified in
subsection (a) of this section may elect one (1) of the
following forms of retirement benefits which shall be the
actuarial equivalent of the allowance to which he would
otherwise be entitled as determined by the actuary for the state
retirement system:
(i) A full joint and survivor benefit which provides
reduced monthly service retirement benefit payments during the
retired member's life and upon his death after retirement
continues payments in the same reduced amount to a designated
beneficiary during the life of that beneficiary;
(ii) A half joint and survivor benefit which provides
reduced monthly service retirement benefit payments during the
retired member's life and upon his death after retirement
continues payments, in the amount of one-half (1/2) of such
reduced amount, to the designated beneficiary during the life of
that beneficiary.
(h) A judge who is eligible for retirement may elect one
(1) of the retirement benefit forms in subsection (g) of this
section during the time the judge is serving in office. Payment
of the pension or survivor benefit shall commence upon the
retirement of the judge or upon the death of the judge while
serving in office, based on the years of service at retirement
or death in office. If a survivor benefit was elected as
provided in paragraph (g) of this section by a judge who is no
longer in active service and dies before retirement, the
survivor benefit shall commence upon the earliest date the judge
would have been eligible to retire unless the designated
beneficiary elects a later date.