2023 Tennessee Code › Title 8 - PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES (§§ 8-1-101 — 65-168) › Appendix - SUPERSEDED RETIREMENT SYSTEMS (§§ 8-107 — 65-168) › ATTORNEYS GENERAL RETIREMENT SYSTEM (§§ 8-618 — 8-622) › Section 8-620 - Membership - Contributions - Retirement fund - Benefits

A.
Membership optional. After September 1, 1958 membership in this retirement system shall be optional with each attorney general as the same is defined in § 8-618. Any attorney general desiring membership in this system shall within six (6) months next after September 1, 1958, signify his desire to become a member thereof by notifying the state treasurer. In case such notice be given to the treasurer subsequent to September 1, 1958, such attorney general shall be required to pay into the hands of the state treasurer the contributions to such retirement fund accruing subsequent to September 1, 1958. Any attorney general becoming such subsequent to September 1, 1958, shall have six (6) months within which to elect to join such system. Upon joinder, he shall contribute to such system from the date of such assumption of office.
Provided further, that beginning with the period July 1, 1968, any attorney general who is presently not a member of said retirement system and who desires to become a member thereof, may become eligible for membership and receive credit for such service toward his retirement in said system for which he may be eligible, or for any subsequent period he may have become attorney general. Upon electing to become a member, such person shall notify the state treasurer in writing of his intention to become a member, and he shall pay to the state treasurer in a lump sum the total amount of the contributions he would have paid into said retirement system plus interest at the rate of four per cent (4%) per annum, compounded annually, as though he had been a member of said retirement system since he first became eligible, or for any subsequent period he may have become attorney general. Upon joinder, he shall make the required monthly contribution.
From and after April 1, 1963, it shall be mandatory that each person appointed or elected as attorney general become a member of this retirement system, except, the mandatory requirement of this section shall not apply to any assistant attorney general or criminal investigator.
B.
Contributions. Every member of said retirement system shall contribute monthly to such retirement system six per cent (6%) of his salary beginning as of September 1, 1958, and continuing through June 30, 1970, and three per cent (3%) of his salary beginning July 1, 1970 and continuing so long as he shall be a member of same. Retirement under §§ 8-618 - 8-622, shall discontinue the membership of the person so retiring. Such contribution shall be paid to the treasurer by withholding the amount thereof from the salary check or voucher of such member.
C.
Retirement trust fund. For the purpose of paying the retirement sums provided in §§ 8-618 - 8-622, there is created a trust fund in the office of the state treasurer to be known as the attorney general's retirement fund. Into it, there shall be paid the contributions herein required for members of such retirement system, plus the fees levied by §§ 8-618 - 8-622 for such retirement. There shall also be paid into said fund such net amounts as are collected subsequent to July 1, 1955, for such retirement purposes. Each member of such system and each retired member shall have a vested interest in the trust fund herein created and no part of the same shall be diverted to any other purpose nor appropriated by the legislature to different uses. All retirement payments falling due under the terms of §§ 8-618 - 8-622 shall be made solely and exclusively from the trust fund herein created and no money shall be drawn from the general fund of this state or the treasury for the payment of such obligations. Any member of said retirement system who shall die, resign or otherwise cease to become a member of the system shall be entitled to have repaid him upon request all sums which he has paid into said system by way of such contributions. In lieu of such withdrawal of funds from this system, such member may elect to allow his funds to remain therein, in which case, when such member shall attain the age of fifty-four years with at least ten (10) years of service as attorney general, he shall be entitled to an annual retirement allowance of three and seventy-five hundredths per cent (3.75%) of his benefit base, multiplied by the number of his years of service, which allowance shall be payable in equal monthly instalments for the remainder of his life. Provided further, any person who has been a member of said retirement system for a period of at least five (5) years and such person shall die, resign, or cease to be a member of said retirement system, the contributions paid into said retirement system shall bear interest thereon at the rate of three per cent (3%) per annum.
D.
Custody and maintenance of retirement fund. The state treasurer shall be the custodian of the fund herein set up and his official bond shall be liable for the handling thereof. He may invest any moneys in his hands from said fund in securities which at the time of making the investment are, by statute, permitted for the funds of the Tennessee state retirement system. A statement of the financial condition of such trust fund shall be published by the treasurer in connection with his annual report.
The treasurer shall employ an actuary who shall be the technicial adviser on matters regarding the operation of the fund created by this section and shall perform such other duties as are required by the state treasurer in connection therewith. The fee for his services shall be paid from income received on the investments of the fund.
The retirement system created by §§ 8-618 - 8-622 shall be maintained on an acutarially sound basis with the cost of contributions that would have been made had an acutarially sound contributory system been in effect prior to September 1, 1958, being liquidated by the state over a period of forty (40) years.
On or before the first day of January, next preceding each regular meeting of the general assembly beginning on or after January 1, 1959, the treasurer, on the advice of the actuary, shall certify to the state budget director the amount needed, over and above the amount contributed by the members and the amount received from the litigation tax levied by § 8-622, to make the system actuarially sound as of that date.
The state budget director shall include in the budget an appropriation equal to the amount certified to him by the treasurer to be paid into said retirement fund.
E.
Retirement allowance and early retirement. The retirement allowance to any person retiring under the provisions of §§ 8-618 - 8-622, shall be three and seventy-five hundredths per cent (3.75%) of his benefit base multiplied by his number of years of service, subject to a maximum allowance of seventy-five per cent (75%) of his benefit base. Such retirement shall be payable monthly as salaries are now paid by law and shall be paid from the trust fund herein set up, and shall not be subject to execution or attachment but shall be wholly exempt from the claims of creditors. Where any person subject to §§ 8-618 - 8-622, shall be a member of the state retirement system, such time as may have been credited to him by such retirement system in any of the capacities above defined shall be prima facie correct. In computing the length of time of service fractions of a year of six (6) months or more shall be treated as a full year of service.
Any member of said retirement system who has reached the age of fifty-four (54) years with ten (10) years creditable service shall be eligible for early retirement. Each member retiring under the early retirement provisions of this section shall receive a monthly retirement benefit payable on the date of a member's retirement and on the first day of each month thereafter during his lifetime equal to the number of years of service multiplied by three and seventy-five hundredths per cent (3.75%) of his benefit base. The surviving spouse of any member of said retirement system who has met the early retirement provisions of this section and who dies before retirement, shall be entitled to a pre-retirement death benefit. The amount of the death benefit to said surviving spouse shall be a monthly income payable in the same amount as she would have received had the member retired on the day prior to his death and chosen option 2 as set out in subsection I of this section. Any member of said retirement system who has reached the age of seventy (70) years with five (5) years creditable service shall be eligible for retirement.
The surviving spouse of any member of said retirement system who had eighteen (18) years or more of creditable service but died in office subsequent to January 1, 1969, prior to attaining the age of fifty-four (54) years shall be entitled to the same benefit as if the deceased member had attained the age of fifty-four (54) years and had accepted early retirement.
The surviving spouse of any district attorney general who retired from service prior to the establishement of the attorney general retirement system, having served as many as thirty (30) years and who was at least fifty-four (54) years of age at the time of his retirement, shall be paid a benefit equal to one-half (1/2) the monthly retirement allowance that such district attorney general would have been entitled to if he had continued in service and retired under the provisions of this system.
F.
Retirement for disability. After September 1, 1958 any member of this retirement system who shall become totally and permanently disabled after a service of at least ten (10) years with service as an attorney general as herein defined or not less than twenty (20) years of creditable service for that period of time shall be entitled to be retired for disability and shall receive a monthly retirement allowance equal to the number of years of service multiplied by three and seventy-five hundredths per cent (3.75%) of his benefit base. In case of a cessation of total and permanent disability, such allowance shall cease. Examinations and certifications for disability shall be made by the medical panel of the Tennessee state retirement system and their conclusions shall be binding. Reexaminations may be made periodically to determine continuity of such disability. Provided further, notwithstanding any other provision in §§ 8-618 - 8-622 to the contrary, any person as of June 30, 1965, who (a) is over age seventy (70), (b) is not covered for benefits in the attorney general retirement system, (c) is covered for benefits in the Tennessee state retirement system, and (d) had served for at least ten (10) years as an attorney general prior to the date of the establishment of the Tennessee state retirement system, shall be eligible to receive credit for service in the attorney general retirement system for that period of time prior to the date of the establishment of the Tennessee state retirement system during which he was an attorney general provided written application for such credit is made in accordance with § 8-621 prior to September 30, 1965. If said person so applies for credit for such service, he shall not be eligible to receive credit for that service in the Tennessee state retirement system. Also, if said person applies for credit for such service, he shall be eligible to receive a retirement benefit from the attorney general retirement system upon his retirement as an employee of the state of Tennessee. The amount of such benefit shall be determined and shall be payable in accordance with subsection F of this section, except that the amount of average compensation which shall be considered in determining his benefit shall be based on the salary of said person earned as attorney general in those years for which he has applied for credit in the attorney general system.
G.
[Deleted by 1970 amendment.]
H.
Effect of amendments; retirement prior to September 1, 1958. The provisions of §§ 8-619 - 8-621 as amended by chapter 154 of the Public Acts of 1955, shall take effect from and after September 1, 1958, but prior to such effective date, any member of this system, eligible for retirement, may retire under the provisions of chapter 81, Public Acts of 1953, or §§ 8-618 - 8-622 as enacted by chapter 6 of the Public Acts of 1955 prior to amendment and his retirement allowance shall be paid from the fees collected under § 8-622.
I.
Optional benefits. With the provision that no optional election shall become effective within thirty (30) days after retirement or within thirty (30) days after electing an option, and that a retired member dying within such period shall be considered in active service at the time of death, until the first payment on account of any retirement allowance becomes normally due, he may elect to receive the actuarial equivalent of the retirement allowance otherwise payable to him at retirement in the form of a reduced retirement allowance, with the provisions that:
Option 1. Upon his death such reduced benefits shall be continued throughout the life of and paid to such person as he shall have nominated by written designation duly acknowledged and filed with the treasurer of the state at the time of his retirement; or
Option 2. Upon his death one-half (1/2) of such reduced benefits shall be continued throughout the life of and paid to such person as he shall have nominated by written designation duly acknowledged and filed with the treasurer of the state at the time of his retirement.
Option 3. A joint and survivor benefit in the amount of the normal retirement allowance shall be payable for the life of the retired attorney general and thereafter one-half (1/2) of such amount shall be payable to his widow for life or until her remarriage.
Any attorney general having retired under §§ 8-618 - 8-622, as amended, prior to September 1, 1958, may elect to receive the actuarial equivalent of the retirement allowance now payable to him in the form of a reduced allowance, under the provisions of Option 3, provided such election is made within ninety (90) days after April 24, 1972.
The election of an option shall be null and void if the contingent annuitant dies before benefits commence. If an attorney general has duly designated a contingent annuitant and is eligible to retire at the time of his death, a benefit will be payable to the contingent annuitant as though the attorney general had retired the day before his death.
If an attorney general has not duly designated a contingent annuitant and is eligible at the time of his death to have retired under this attorney general's retirement system, the benefit will be an amount payable monthly to his widow, if she is then living, for the remainder of her unremarried lifetime, determined in the same way as an Option 1 (joint and survivor) benefit, or the benefit may be a refund of his contributions to the attorney general's retirement system if the widow so elects.
Acts 1953, ch. 81, § 3 (Williams, § 9969.4); 1957, ch. 183, §§ 1-3; 1959, ch. 330, § 1; 1963, ch. 183, § 2; 1963, ch. 302, § 1; 1965, ch. 220, § 1; 1965, ch. 242, § 1; 1968 (Adj. S.), ch. 560, §§ 1, 2; 1968 (Adj. S.), ch. 423, § 1; 1970 (Adj. S.), ch. 395, §§ 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; 1972 (Adj. S.), ch. 715, § 1; 1972 (Adj. S.), ch. 825, § 1.