Oklahoma Administrative Code › Title 590 - Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System › Chapter 10 - Public Employees Retirement System › Subchapter 1 - General Provisions › Section 590:10-1-18 - Release of records

Current through Vol. 41, No. 20, July 1, 2024
(a) Pursuant to 74
				O.S. §
									932, a
				retired, vested or active member's name, age, amount of contributions paid in,
				benefits being paid, amount of credited service and documents verifying
				credited service or benefits may be released. All other information in a
				member's retirement file remains confidential, including information or
				documents pertaining to joint annuitants or beneficiaries.
(b) The System will only disclose information
				or records that are clearly required to be disclosed under the law. All
				requests for information must be in writing and state the specific information
				requested and the purpose for the request. The request must also specify the
				plan that it applies to. Requests which do not specify the plan name shall be
				presumed to apply to OPERS only. In addition, the request must provide
				sufficient information to easily identify the member. While a Social Security
				number may not be required, the date of birth, agency number, first and middle
				initial or other identifying information must be provided. Search and copy fees
				will be in accordance with OPERS adopted and published fee schedule.
(c) Information which does not currently
				exist does not have to be "created" nor does information have to be provided in
				a format or medium that does not currently exist.
(d) In order to comply with this provision,
				the following information may be supplied upon request:
(1) Member's name - OPERS, URSJJ and
				SoonerSave computer records maintain only first and middle initials, and not
				the full name.
(2) Member's age -
				In order to protect our members from potential identity theft, only the current
				age of the member expressed in whole years shall be provided in response to a
				general request for the age of a member.
(3) Amount of contributions paid in -
				Contribution statements will show only employee contributions into OPERS and
				URSJJ. Employer contributions for individual employees are not complete. In
				response to a general request for a member's "contributions", only the employee
				contributions will be provided. If a specific request for employer
				contributions is made, we will provide a copy of the incomplete record with an
				explanation of the time period covered. For the SoonerSave accounts, the
				deferral amounts into the 457 Plan are not "contributions" and will not be
				disclosed. The employer contributions and the transfer of contributions to the
				Savings Incentive Plan will be provided if specifically requested, however, the
				amount of interest or earnings will not be released as it is not a
				"contribution". All account balances for the SoonerSave plans which reflect
				investment earnings will not be released.
(4) Benefits being paid - This information is
				available only for retired members of OPERS and URSJJ who are currently
				receiving benefits. SoonerSave does not pay "benefits", therefore, payments
				from the plan including any distribution amounts, hardship distributions or
				distribution schedules will not be released.
(5) Amount of credited service - This
				information may not be available for OPERS or URSJJ members who are active and
				have never had a benefit estimate completed. Therefore, general requests for
				credited service will be provided on retired or vested members only, and
				specific requests for credited service for active members will be provided only
				if the information exists in the file. Credited service is not relevant to or
				contained in the SoonerSave plans' records and cannot be provided.
(6) Any documents verifying credited service
				or benefits - This information will be provided only if specifically requested
				for OPERS and URSJJ. The decision whether a document is used to verify credited
				service or benefits is discretionary and any release of these documents will be
				approved by the Executive Director on a case-by-case basis. The documents must
				have all confidential information redacted prior to being released. SoonerSave
				accounts do not contain information on either credited service or benefits,
				therefore, documents will not be released from the SoonerSave files.