RBH No. 6162
1 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2 1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
3 HOUSE BILL 2142 By: McDugle
4
5
6 AS INTRODUCED
7 An Act relating to the Oklahoma Law Enforcement
Retirement System; amending 47 O.S. 2021, Section 2-
8 300, which relates to definitions; modifying
membership definition; providing for certain election
9 by common school district with respect to police
officers performing service at schools offering
10 instruction for specified grade levels; providing
procedures for police officers to become members of
11 the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System;
providing for transfer of service credit; providing
12 for purchase at actuarial cost; providing for
treatment of service not purchased; providing for
13 election with respect to certain police officers
based upon prior membership in the Teachers'
14 Retirement System of Oklahoma; providing for
codification; providing an effective date; and
15 declaring an emergency.
16
17
18 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
19 SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 47 O.S. 2021, Section 2-300, is
20 amended to read as follows:
21 Section 2-300. As used in Section 2-300 et seq. of this title:
22 1. "System" means the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement
23 System;
24 2. "Act" means Section 2-300 et seq. of this title;
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1 3. "Board" means the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement Board
2 of the System;
3 4. "Executive Director" means the managing officer of the
4 System employed by the Board;
5 5. "Fund" means the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement Fund;
6 6. a. "Member" means:
7 (1) all commissioned law enforcement officers of the
8 Oklahoma Highway Patrol Division of the
9 Department of Public Safety who have obtained
10 certification from the Council on Law Enforcement
11 Education and Training, and all cadets of a
12 Patrol Academy of the Department of Public
13 Safety,
14 (2) law enforcement officers and criminalists of the
15 Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation,
16 (3) law enforcement officers of the Oklahoma State
17 Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control
18 designated to perform duties in the investigation
19 and prevention of crime and the enforcement of
20 the criminal laws of this state,
21 (4) law enforcement officers of the Oklahoma
22 Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission
23 designated to perform duties in the investigation
24
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1 and prevention of crime and the enforcement of
2 the criminal laws of this state,
3 (5) employees of the Communications Section of the
4 Oklahoma Highway Patrol Division, radio
5 technicians and tower technicians of the
6 Department of Public Safety, who are employed in
7 any such capacity as of June 30, 2008, and who
8 remain employed on or after July 1, 2008, until a
9 termination of service, or until a termination of
10 service with an election of a vested benefit from
11 the System, or until retirement. Effective July
12 1, 2008, a person employed for the first time as
13 an employee of the Department of Public Safety in
14 the Communications Division as an information
15 systems telecommunication technician of the
16 Department of Public Safety shall not be a member
17 of the System,
18 (6) park rangers of the Oklahoma Tourism and
19 Recreation Department and any park manager or
20 park supervisor of the Oklahoma Tourism and
21 Recreation Department, who was employed in such a
22 position prior to July 1, 1985, and who elects on
23 or before September 1, 1996, to participate in
24 the System, and
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1 (7) inspectors of the Board of Pharmacy; and
2 (8) law enforcement officers employed by a common
3 school district performing services at a school
4 offering instruction in the ninth grade or higher
5 that makes an election to participate in the
6 System pursuant to the provisions of Section 2 of
7 this act.
8 b. Effective effective July 1, 1987, a member does not
9 include a "leased employee" as defined under Section
10 414(n)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
11 amended. Effective July 1, 1999, any individual who
12 agrees with the participating employer that the
13 individual's services are to be performed as a leased
14 employee or an independent contractor shall not be a
15 member regardless of any classification as a common-
16 law employee by the Internal Revenue Service or any
17 other governmental agency, or any court of competent
18 jurisdiction.
19 c. All all persons who shall be offered a position of a
20 commissioned law enforcement officer as an employee of
21 one of the agencies described in subparagraph a of
22 this paragraph shall participate in the System upon
23 the person meeting the requisite post-offer-pre-
24
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1 employment physical examination standards which shall
2 be subject to the following requirements:
3 (1) all such persons shall be of good moral
4 character, free from deformities, mental or
5 physical conditions, or disease and alcohol or
6 drug addiction which would prohibit the person
7 from performing the duties of a law enforcement
8 officer,
9 (2) the physical-medical examination shall pertain to
10 age, sight, hearing, agility and other conditions
11 the requirements of which shall be established by
12 the Board,
13 (3) the person shall be required to meet the
14 conditions of this subsection prior to the
15 beginning of actual employment but after an offer
16 of employment has been tendered by a
17 participating employer,
18 (4) the Board shall have authority to deny or revoke
19 membership of any person submitting false
20 information in such person's membership
21 application, and
22 (5) the Board shall have final authority in
23 determining eligibility for membership in the
24
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1 System, pursuant to the provisions of this
2 subsection;
3 7. "Normal retirement date" means the date at which the member
4 is eligible to receive the unreduced payments of the member's
5 accrued retirement benefit. Such date shall be the first day of the
6 month coinciding with or following the date the member:
7 a. completes twenty (20) years of vesting service, or
8 b. attains sixty-two (62) years of age with ten (10)
9 years of vesting service, or
10 c. attains sixty-two (62) years of age, if:
11 (1) the member has been transferred to this System
12 from the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement
13 System on or after July 1, 1981, and
14 (2) the member would have been vested had the member
15 continued to be a member of the Oklahoma Public
16 Employees Retirement System.
17 With respect to distributions under the System made for calendar
18 years beginning on or after January 1, 2005, the System shall apply
19 the minimum distribution incidental benefit requirements, incidental
20 benefit requirements, and minimum distribution requirements of
21 Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended,
22 in accordance with the final regulations under Section 401(a)(9) of
23 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, including Treasury
24 Regulations Sections 1.401(a)(9)-1 through 1.401(a)(9)-9; provided
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1 that for individuals who attain seventy and one-half (70 1/2) years
2 of age after December 31, 2019, distributions shall be made when the
3 individual attains seventy-two (72) years of age, pursuant to the
4 provisions of the SECURE Act of 2019, Pub. L. 116-94, Sections
5 401(a)(9)(B)(iv)(I), 401(a)(9)(C)(i)(I) and 401(a)(9)(C)(ii)(I) of
6 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, notwithstanding any
7 provision of the System to the contrary. With respect to
8 distributions under the System made for calendar years beginning on
9 or after January 1, 2001, through December 31, 2004, the System
10 shall apply the minimum distribution requirements and incidental
11 benefit requirements of Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue
12 Code of 1986, as amended, in accordance with the regulations under
13 Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended,
14 which were proposed in January 2001, notwithstanding any provision
15 of the System to the contrary.
16 Effective July 1, 1989, notwithstanding any other provision
17 contained herein to the contrary, in no event shall commencement of
18 distribution of the accrued retirement benefit of a member be
19 delayed beyond April 1 of the calendar year following the later of:
20 (1) the calendar year in which the member reaches seventy and one-
21 half (70 1/2) years of age for a member who attains this age before
22 January 1, 2020, or, for a member who attains this age after January
23 1, 2020, the calendar year in which the member reaches seventy-two
24 (72) years of age; or (2) the actual retirement date of the member.
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1 A member electing to defer the commencement of retirement benefits
2 pursuant to Section 2-308.1 of this title may not defer the benefit
3 commencement beyond the age of sixty-five (65).
4 Effective September 8, 2009, notwithstanding anything to the
5 contrary of the System, the System, which as a governmental plan
6 (within the meaning of Section 414(d) of the Internal Revenue Code
7 of 1986, as amended), is treated as having complied with Section
8 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, for all
9 years to which Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code of
10 1986, as amended, applies to the System if the System complies with
11 a reasonable and good faith interpretation of Section 401(a)(9) of
12 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
13 A member who was required to join the System effective July 1,
14 1980, because of the transfer of the employing agency from the
15 Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System to the System, and was
16 not a member of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System on
17 the date of such transfer shall be allowed to receive credit for
18 prior law enforcement service rendered to this state, if the member
19 is not receiving or eligible to receive retirement credit or
20 benefits for such service in any other public retirement system,
21 upon payment to the System of the employee contribution the member
22 would have been subject to had the member been a member of the
23 System at the time, plus five percent (5%) interest. Service credit
24 received pursuant to this paragraph shall be used in determining the
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1 member's retirement benefit, and shall be used in determining years
2 of service for retirement or vesting purposes;
3 8. "Actual paid base salary" means the salary received by a
4 member, excluding payment for any accumulated leave or uniform
5 allowance. Salary shall include any amount of nonelective salary
6 reduction under Section 414(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
7 9. "Final average salary" means the average of the highest
8 thirty (30) consecutive complete months of actual paid gross salary.
9 Gross salary shall include any amount of elective salary reduction
10 under Section 457 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended,
11 and any amount of nonelective salary reduction under Section 414(h)
12 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Effective July 1,
13 1992, gross salary shall include any amount of elective salary
14 reduction under Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
15 amended. Effective July 1, 1998, gross salary shall include any
16 amount of elective salary reduction not includable in the gross
17 income of the member under Section 132(f)(4) of the Internal Revenue
18 Code of 1986, as amended. Effective July 1, 1998, for purposes of
19 determining a member's compensation, any contribution by the member
20 to reduce his or her regular cash remuneration under Section
21 132(f)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, shall be
22 treated as if the member did not make such an election. Only salary
23 on which required contributions have been made may be used in
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1 computing the final average salary. Gross salary shall not include
2 severance pay.
3 In addition to other applicable limitations, and notwithstanding
4 any other provision to the contrary, for plan years beginning on or
5 after July 1, 2002, the annual gross salary of each "Noneligible
6 Member" taken into account under the System shall not exceed the
7 Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 ("EGTRRA")
8 annual salary limit. The EGTRRA annual salary limit is Two Hundred
9 Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00), as adjusted by the Commissioner for
10 increases in the cost of living in accordance with Section
11 401(a)(17)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The
12 annual salary limit in effect for a calendar year applies to any
13 period, not exceeding twelve (12) months, over which salary is
14 determined ("determination period") beginning in such calendar year.
15 If a determination period consists of fewer than twelve (12) months,
16 the EGTRRA salary limit will be multiplied by a fraction, the
17 numerator of which is the number of months in the determination
18 period, and the denominator of which is twelve (12). For purposes
19 of this section, a "Noneligible Member" is any member who first
20 became a member during a plan year commencing on or after July 1,
21 1996.
22 For plan years beginning on or after July 1, 2002, any reference
23 in the System to the annual salary limit under Section 401(a)(17) of
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1 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, shall mean the EGTRRA
2 salary limit set forth in this provision.
3 Effective January 1, 2008, gross salary for a plan year shall
4 also include gross salary, as described above, for services, but
5 paid by the later of two and one-half (2 1/2) months after a
6 member's severance from employment or the end of the calendar year
7 that includes the date the member terminated employment, if it is a
8 payment that, absent a s