Arkansas Code of 1987 (2023) › Title 24 - RETIREMENT AND PENSIONS (§§ 24-1-101 — 24-12-204) › Chapter 6 - STATE POLICE RETIREMENT (§§ 24-6-101 — 24-6-508) › Subchapter 2 - STATE POLICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM (§§ 24-6-201 — 24-6-228) › Section 24-6-217 - Benefits - Death before retirement

(a)
(1)
A member's surviving spouse who has the care of the member's dependent child or children shall receive a pension equal to the greater of one thousand eight hundred dollars ($1,800) per annum or seventy-five percent (75%) of the pension to which the member would have been entitled had he or she retired the day preceding the date of his or her death, even if the member was not eligible to retire.
(2)
When the surviving spouse no longer has the care of the dependent child, the pension shall be reduced to the greater of one thousand two hundred dollars ($1,200) per annum or fifty percent (50%) of the pension to which the member would have been entitled had he or she retired the day preceding the date of his or her death, even if the member was not eligible to retire.
(3)
Upon the surviving spouse's remarriage or death, the pension provided for in this subsection shall terminate.
(b)
(1)
A member's surviving spouse who does not have in his or her care the member's dependent child or children shall receive a pension equal to the greater of one thousand two hundred dollars ($1,200) per annum or fifty percent (50%) of the pension to which the member would have been entitled had he or she retired the day preceding the date of his or her death, even if the member was not eligible to retire.
(2)
Upon the surviving spouse's remarriage or death, the pension provided for in this subsection shall terminate.
(c)
(1)
If a member dies and does not leave a spouse, or the surviving spouse remarries or dies and there is a surviving dependent child or children of the member, each such child shall receive a pension of an equal share of the greater of one thousand eight hundred dollars ($1,800) per annum or seventy-five percent (75%) of the pension to which the member would have been entitled had he or she retired the day preceding the date of his or her death, even if the member was not eligible to retire.
(2)
The annual pension payable to any such child shall not exceed fifteen percent (15%) of the final average annual salary of the deceased member.
(d)
(1)
In the event a member who has five (5) or more years of credited service in the State Police Retirement System dies and leaves neither a spouse nor children eligible for pensions provided for in subsections (a)-(c) of this section, and there is surviving the member his or her parents, whom are claimed as dependent upon the member's federal tax return for not less than one (1) year immediately preceding the member's death, each dependent parent shall receive a pension of an equal share of fifty percent (50%) of the pension to which the member would have been entitled had he or she retired the day preceding the date of the member's death, even if the member was not eligible to retire.
(2)
Upon the remarriage or death of the parent, his or her pension shall terminate.
(e)
(1)
(A)
A child is a dependent child for purposes of receiving a survivor's annuity until the child's death, marriage, or attainment of eighteen (18) years of age, whichever occurs first.
(B)
(i)
However, the age-eighteen maximum shall be extended as long as the child is continuously enrolled as a full-time student at an accredited secondary school or accredited postsecondary institution of higher education, but in no event beyond his or her attainment of twenty-three (23) years of age.
(ii)
The age-eighteen maximum shall also be extended for any child who has been deemed physically or mentally incompetent by a court with jurisdiction over the individual or by the Board of Trustees of the State Police Retirement System, for as long as the incompetency exists.
(2)
Once a child ceases to be a dependent child, his or her annuity shall terminate and there shall be a redetermination of the amount payable to any remaining dependent children.
(3)
The board is authorized to establish through rules a means of verification of a surviving dependent child under this section for purposes of pension benefits.
(f)
(1)
If a surviving spouse who is receiving survivor's benefits under this section remarries, and the benefits are discontinued, and the surviving spouse again becomes unmarried, benefits provided in this section for the spouse shall be resumed.
(2)
Benefits shall be resumed for any surviving spouse who had remarried but is unmarried on that date, but no such benefits will be paid the surviving spouse for any period prior to July 1, 1991.
(g)
(1)
If the member is killed while in the official line of duty and the surviving spouse is eligible for a deferred benefit under this section, the surviving spouse may elect to receive a reduced benefit beginning immediately.
(2)
The reduction of the benefit otherwise defined in this section shall be:
(A)
Five-tenths of one percent (0.5%) per month for each of the first sixty (60) months that the benefit begins before it would have otherwise begun; plus
(B)
Twenty-five hundredths of one percent (0.25%) per month for each month more than sixty (60) months that the benefit begins before it would have otherwise begun.
(3)
However, the total reduction under this subsection shall not be more than fifty percent (50%).
(4)
Those who otherwise would have been eligible for this benefit on or after July 1, 2002, may also elect this reduced benefit prospectively.
Amended by Act 2023, No. 250,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2023.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 315,§ 2875, eff. 7/24/2019.
Acts 1951, No. 311, § 5; 1953, No. 309, § 1; 1957, No. 308, § 1; 1959, No. 484, § 5; 1971, No. 130, §§ 1, 2; 1981, No. 909, § 8; A.S.A. 1947, § 42-455; Acts 1989, No. 529, § 2; 1991, No. 387, § 2; 2003, No. 1735, § 2.