H. B. 3073


(By Delegate Warner)


[Introduced February 19, 2003; referred to the

Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance.]




A BILL to amend and reenact sections five and seven, article fourteen-d, chapter seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the deputy sheriffs retirement plan; allowing certain law- enforcement employees of the division of protective services to become members of the deputy sheriffs retirement system; setting forth contribution dates; transfer between retirement systems; repurchase of withdrawn time; and specifying effective date.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections five and seven, article fourteen-d, chapter seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 14D. DEPUTY SHERIFF RETIREMENT SYSTEM ACT.
§7-14D-5. Members.
(a) Any deputy sheriff first employed by a county in covered employment after the effective date of this article shall be a member of this retirement system and plan and does not qualify for membership in any other retirement system administered by the board, so long as he or she remains employed in covered employment.
(b) Any deputy sheriff employed in covered employment on the effective date of this article shall within six months of that effective date notify in writing both the county commission in the county in which he or she is employed and the board of his or her desire to become a member of the plan: Provided, That this time period is extended to the thirtieth day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine, in accordance with the decision of the supreme court of appeals in West Virginia Deputy Sheriffs' Association, et al v. James L. Sims, et al, No. 25212: Provided, however, That any deputy sheriff employed in covered employment on the effective date of this article has an additional time period consisting of the ten-day period following the day after which the amended provisions of this section become law to notify in writing both the county commission in the county in which he or she is employed and the board of his or her desire to become a member of the plan. Any deputy sheriff who elects to become a member of the plan ceases to be a member or have any credit for covered employment in any other retirement system administered by the board and shall continue to be ineligible for membership in any other retirement system administered by the board so long as the deputy sheriff remains employed in covered employment in this plan: Provided further, That any deputy sheriff who elects during the time period from the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, to the thirtieth day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine, or who so elects during the ten-day time period occurring immediately following the day after the day the amendments made during the one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine legislative session become law, to transfer from the public employees retirement system to the plan created in this article shall contribute to the plan created in this article at the rate set forth in section seven of this article retroactive to the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight. Any deputy sheriff who does not affirmatively elect to become a member of the plan continues to be eligible for any other retirement system as is from time to time offered to other county employees but is ineligible for this plan regardless of any subsequent termination of employment and rehire.
(c) Any deputy sheriff who was employed as a deputy sheriff prior to the effective date, but was not employed on the effective date of this article, shall become a member upon rehire as a deputy sheriff. For purposes of this section, the member's years of service and credited service prior to the effective date shall not be counted for any purposes under this plan unless: (1) The deputy sheriff has not received the return of his or her accumulated contributions in the public employees retirement fund system pursuant to section thirty, article ten, chapter five of this code; or (2) the accumulated contributions returned to the member from the public employees retirement system have been repaid pursuant to section twelve of this article. If the conditions of subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection are met, all years of the deputy sheriff's covered employment shall be counted as years of service for the purposes of this article. Each transferring deputy sheriff shall be given credited service for the purposes of this article for all covered employment transferred from the public employees retirement system regardless of whether such credited service (as that term is defined in section two, article ten, chapter five of this code) was earned as a deputy sheriff. All service in the public employees retirement system accrued by a transferring deputy sheriff shall be transferred into the plan created by this article and the transferring deputy sheriff shall be given the same credit for the purposes of this article for all such covered service which is transferred from the public employees retirement system as that transferring deputy sheriff would have received from the public employees retirement system if such transfer had not occurred. In connection with each deputy sheriff receiving credit for prior employment provided in this subsection, a transfer from public employees retirement system to this plan shall be made pursuant to the procedures described in section eight of this article.
(d) Once made, the election made under this section is irrevocable. All deputy sheriffs first employed after the effective date and deputy sheriffs electing to become members as described in this section shall be members as a condition of employment and shall make the contributions required by section seven of this article.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article, any individual who is a leased employee shall not be eligible to participate in the plan. For purposes of this plan, a "leased employee" means any individual who performs services as an independent contractor or pursuant to an agreement with an employee leasing organization or similar organization. If a question arises regarding the status of an individual as a leased employee, the board has final power to decide the question.
(f) On and after the first day of July, two thousand three, any certified police officer who is not drawing a retirement benefit from a West Virginia municipal policeman's retirement fund created pursuant to article twenty-two, chapter eight of this code, from the West Virginia deputy sheriffs retirement system created pursuant to article fourteen-d, chapter seven of this code, the division of public safety death, disability and retirement fund created in article two, chapter fifteen of this code, or the West Virginia state police retirement system created in article two-a, chapter fifteen of this code, or who is not vested in and eligible to draw a retirement from any of the foregoing pension and retirement plans, who is employed by the division of protective services or who becomes employed by the division of protective services created in article two-d, chapter fifteen of this code, may become a member of the retirement system established in this article. Any member employed as a certified police officer for the division of protective services may transfer up to five years service credit from the public employees retirement system: Provided, That the member contribution account and the employer contribution account for such member shall be transferred. Any member employed as a certified police officer for the division of public services may repurchase up to five years of service credit previously withdrawn from the retirement system created in this article by repaying amounts withdrawn plus interest as set by the board.
 §7-14D-7. Members' contributions; employer contributions.
There shall be deducted from the monthly salary of each member and paid into the fund an amount equal to eight and one-half percent of his or her monthly salary. Any active member who has concurrent employment in an additional job or jobs and such additional employment requires the deputy sheriff or other member to be a member of another retirement system which is administered by the consolidated public retirement board pursuant to article ten-d, chapter five of this code shall contribute to the fund the sum of eight and one-half percent of his or her monthly salary earned as a deputy sheriff or as a law enforcement member of the division of protective services as well as the sum of eight and one-half percent of his or her monthly salary earned from any additional employment which additional employment requires the deputy sheriff to be a member of another retirement which is administered by the consolidated public retirement board pursuant to article ten-d, chapter five of this code. An additional nine ten and one-half percent of the monthly salary of each member shall be paid to the fund by the county commission of the county in which the member is employed in covered employment. For each active member employed by the division of protective services in a law enforcement capacity, the division of protective services shall pay twelve and one-half percent of the monthly salary of each member to the fund. If the board finds that the benefits provided by this article can be actually funded with a lesser contribution, then the board shall reduce the required member and employer contributions proportionally. If the board finds the benefits provided by this article cannot be actuarially funded at the current level of contribution, the board may increase the contribution required of members and employees; Provided, That in no event may active members' contributions be increased beyond ten percent of his or her monthly salary.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow law enforcement officers employed by the Division of Protective Services, who are not retired from other state retirement plans, or who are not vested and eligible to retire from other state retirement plans, to become a member of the deputy sheriff's retirement system. The bill further provides that the Division of Protective Services shall contribute 12.5% of the salary of those officers who are members of DSRS.

 Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underlining indicates new language that would be added.