2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THREE - Executive (§§ 1 — 9311) › Chapter 33 - Retirement of Government Personnel (§§ 761 — 830q) › § 776 - Employees Retirement System—Powers and duties of the Board

To carry out the provisions of §§ 761 et seq. of this title, the Board shall appoint an Administrator of the System and shall fix his/her salary, shall adopt bylaws for its internal organization and functioning, and shall approve those regulations that the Administrator prepares, from time to time for the administration of the system, pursuant to law and promulgate the same.
In addition to the duties arising from §§ 761 et seq. of this title, the Board shall have the following powers and duties:
(a) To hold regular meetings at least quarterly each year and such special meetings as may be deemed necessary. All meetings shall be open to the public. The Board shall keep a full record of all its proceedings.
(b) To consider and adopt resolutions on matters referred to it by the Administrator in connection with norms, changes, or revision of the system.
(c) To approve the investment of the funds of the system proposed by the Administrator.
(d) To investigate and decide on appeal, at the request of a party, controversies arising between members of the system and the Administrator. For the exercise of its functions and of the appellate jurisdiction conferred or that may hereafter be conferred upon it by this and any other retirement laws, the Board shall, unless otherwise provided, abide by the procedure and shall have the powers hereinbelow provided.
Appeals shall be made by filing a writ of appeal with the Secretary of the Board within the thirty (30) days following the date on which the initial resolution of the Administrator became final or on which his final decision upon reconsideration was deposited in the mail. Said writ shall set forth the grounds on which the claimant bases his appeal, pointing out the decision or part thereof with which he disagrees, and notice of the appeal shall be served on other parties, if any.
The Board shall hold the corresponding public hearing and shall decide in accordance with the evidence, sustaining, modifying or revoking the action of the Administrator, or it may render the resolution which in law the Administrator should have rendered, or it may remand the case to the Administrator. In the proceedings, the claimant shall have the right to appear in his own right or assisted by counsel.
Only such evidence as was submitted to the consideration of the Administrator upon his making his decision shall be admitted as appellant’s evidence. Nevertheless, the claimant may produce all the witnesses he may deem necessary provided an affidavit subscribed by them, embodying the testimony they will give, has been submitted to the consideration of the Administrator at the time he makes his decision. The rules of evidence prevailing in the court of justice shall not be compulsory in any proceeding before the Board.
The cases in which the Board intervenes may be heard by any one member of the Board or by an examiner designated by it. If the case [is] not heard by the Board in full, the findings and reconsiderations of the members present or of the examiner, together with a transcript of the evidence and any other evidence and considerations pertinent to the questions posed before the Board, shall be submitted to the other members of the Board for final decision.
The Board and each one of its members or representatives and the examiners appointed by it shall be empowered to administer oaths, subpoena witnesses and require the production of any documents or evidence pertinent to any proceeding authorized by this or any other retirement or annuity law which it is his duty to enforce. Any person who shall fail to appear after being summoned, without justifying his failure to appear, or who shall refuse to give testimony or to produce any document required of him, or who shall knowingly give a false testimony, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction by the Court of First Instance shall be punished by a maximum fine of one thousand dollars ($1000), or by imprisonment in jail for a maximum term of one year, or both.
Every summons issued by the Board, by any of its members or by the Secretary shall bear the seal of the Board and may be served in any point within the Commonwealth. Likewise, certifications issued by the Secretary on petition of an interested party shall also bear said seal.
In addition and regardless of the above provisions of this section, when a witness subpoenaed hereunder does not appear to testify or fails to produce the books, records or documents, as required of him, or whenever any witness thus subpoenaed shall refuse to answer any question in connection with any matter or investigation under the consideration of the Board, the chairman of the Board may request the assistance of the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico to require the attendance and the testimony of the witness and the production and surrender of the books, records or documents requested on the matter under consideration by the Board.
After the petition is filed in the Court of First Instance, said court shall issue a subpoena compelling the witness to appear and testify, or to produce the evidence requested, or both, before the Board, and disobedience of the order issued by the court shall be punished as contempt of court.
Every person, except government employees, summoned by and appearing before the Board as witness shall receive for each day of appearance a sum equal to that received by witnesses appearing before the courts of justice.
(e) As soon as possible, after the closing of each fiscal year, but not later than November 1 of each year review, approve, and direct to remit to the Governor and to the Legislature, an annual report containing among other things, a balance sheet of financial situation, a statement of receipts and expenditures for the year; a balance of actuarial valuation; detailed statement of the investments made or liquidated during the year; a report on the investment titles owned by the system; and other statistical and financial data considered necessary for a proper understanding of the situation of the system and of the result of its operations. The Board shall cause to be published, for the benefit of the members of the System, a summary of the annual report. In addition, it shall remit the operating budget of the System approved by the Board for the following fiscal year to the Legislature and the Governor, on or before June 15 of the fiscal year preceding the year which shall be governed by such budget. It shall also publish said approved operating budget on or before that same date on the Retirement System webpage, and make copies thereof available for the members or participants of the System who thus request it. The budget thus published shall remain in the Retirement System webpage during the entire fiscal year governed by the same.
(f) To make contracts, including contracts for professional services, and to sue and be sued under the name and style of the Employees Retirement System of the Commonwealth Government of Puerto Rico and its Instrumentalities.
(g) To contract with the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico for the investment of any moneys belonging to the system, subject to the limitations and conditions prescribed in §§ 761 et seq. of this title.
History —May 15, 1951, No. 447, p. 1298, § 16; June 28, 1961, No. 132, p. 283, § 1; Dec. 10, 1975, No. 14, p. 972, § 3; May 21, 1992, No. 10, § 8; renumbered as § 4-102 on Sept. 24, 1999, No. 305, § 32; May 1, 2006, No. 79, § 1.