Missouri Code of State Regulations › Title 16 - RETIREMENT SYSTEMS › Division 50 - The County Employees' Retirement Fund › Chapter 2 - Membership and Benefits › Section 16 CSR 50-2.160 - Administration of Fund

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 14, July 15, 2024
PURPOSE: This rule sets forth general rules regarding
				  the administration of the plan.
(1) Plan Administration. The board shall have
				sole discretionary responsibility for the operation, interpretation, and
				administration of the plan and for determining eligibility for plan benefits.
				Any action taken on any matter within the discretion of the board shall be
				final, conclusive, and binding on all parties. In order to discharge its duties
				hereunder, the board shall have the power and authority to delegate ministerial
				duties and to employ such outside professionals as may be required for prudent
				administration of the plan. The board shall also have authority to enter into
				agreements as may be necessary to implement this plan. Any individual member of
				the board who is otherwise eligible may participate in the plan, but shall not
				be entitled to make decisions solely with respect to his or her own
				participation and benefits under the plan.
(2) To implement the plan, the board shall
				enter into a trust agreement, so that plan funds shall be segregated from an
				employer's own assets and held in trust by the trustee for the exclusive
				benefit of Participantsts and their beneficiaries. Any or all benefits that may
				accrue to any Participantst or beneficiary under this plan shall be subject to
				the terms and conditions of said trust agreement. Except as provided in section
				(5), it shall be impossible under any circumstances at any time for any part of
				the corpus or income of the trust fund to be used for, or diverted to purposes
				other than the exclusive benefit of Participantsts and their beneficiaries and
				paying administrative expenses of the plan or to revert to or inure to the
				benefit of an employer, except as otherwise permitted or required by
				law.
(3) Plan Expenses. All
				expenses of plan administration, including (by way of illustration and not
				limitation) those incurred by the board and the fees of the trustee shall be
				paid from the trust fund. Notwithstanding the foregoing, expenses incurred in
				connection with a distribution of benefits (including without limitation, a
				refund of contributions) may be allocated to and charged against the
				Participantst's interest in the plan.
(4) Claims for Benefits. A claim for a
				benefit under this plan shall be reviewed by the board (or by its designee) in
				accordance with the procedure outlined in
				16 CSR
				50-2.035. An appeal of an adverse claim decision shall
				be processed in accordance with
				16 CSR
				50-1.020.
(5) Facility of Payments. If any
				Participantst shall be physically, mentally, or legally incapable of receiving
				or acknowledging receipt of any payment under the plan to which he or she is
				entitled, the board, upon the receipt of satisfactory evidence of his or her
				incapacity and satisfactory evidence that another person or institution is
				maintaining him/her and that no guardian or committee has been appointed for
				him/her, may cause any payment otherwise payable to him/her to be made to such
				person or institution so maintaining him/her.
(6) In the event that a person required to
				provide notice under the plan claims to have mailed or otherwise sent such
				notice, but the notice was not received by the board or other intended
				recipient, the board may, in its discretion, conduct an investigation into the
				facts and circumstances to determine whether notice was in fact properly sent.
				In the event that the board determines that such notice was properly sent, even
				if not received, the board may, in its sole discretion, deem such notice
				properly given in accordance with the plan based on the facts and
				circumstances.
(7) With respect to
				any individual who becomes a Participantst on or after January 1, 2006, the
				county clerk shall provide the board or its designee with a copy of the Form
				I-9 with respect to such Participantst, or such other information as the board
				may designate as appropriate, including, for example, such Participantst's
				driver's license, Social Security card, and/or birth certificate, upon such
				Participantst's entry date or at such other time and in such manner as may be
				prescribed by the board or its designee.
(8) Upon termination or partial termination
				of the plan, a Participantst's interest under the plan as of such date shall
				become fully vested to the extent funded.
*Original authority: 50.1032, RSMo
					 1995.