Opinion ID: 1343017
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: propriety of circuit court's order of april 21, 1994

Text: This civil action was initiated in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County in order to preserve and protect the Teachers Retirement System from further erosion caused by an ever increasing, unfunded, accrued liability. [23] All parties to this proceeding acknowledge that the reason for the unfunded liability was the failure to appropriate sufficient funds to assure that future benefits could be paid as well as the diversion of funds that were dedicated to the Teachers Retirement System which were being used for other purposes. [24] As we have discussed, the relief that was requested to address the problem associated with the unfunded liability of the Teachers Retirement System was: (1) a writ of mandamus to compel respondents to administer the Teachers Retirement System in an actuarially sound basis; [25] and (2) injunctive measures designed to prevent the respondents from transferring Teachers Retirement System funds to reimburse the Public Employees Insurance Agency for retirees' health insurance. The threshold issue that commands discussion at this time is whether any relief granted by the circuit court was moot prior to the entry of its April 21, 1994 order. The examination of the mootness issue is required because before the entry of the circuit court's final order, the West Virginia Legislature enacted S.B. 1000 [expressed as W.Va.Code 18-9A-6a(c)], which by all accounts satisfactorily addressed any problems associated with the funding deficiencies of the Teachers Retirement System. The essential ingredients, which are the subject of this appeal, were stated in the following sections of the circuit court's final order: (1) That a writ of mandamus is appropriate because the petitioners have a clear legal right to the relief sought; the respondents owe a constitutional and statutory duty to the petitioners; and, there is no other adequate remedy at law; (2) A permanent injunction enjoining the Teachers Retirement System from making payments to the Public Employees Insurance Agency for health insurance for retirees; (3) W.Va.Code 18-9A-6a (S.B. 1000) designed to create an unfunded liability allowance, will eliminate the unfunded liability in the Teachers Retirement System over the next 40 years; (4) That the case be dismissed from the active docket of the Court, without prejudice, with leave for the petitioners to reactivate the case at any future date upon ten days notice by filing a Motion with the Court alleging that the State failed to properly fund the required unfunded liability allowance as required in W.Va.Code 18-9A-6a; and (5) That the petitioners are entitled to their attorneys' fees and expenses to be paid by the respondents upon the submission of affidavits in itemized statements by counsel for the petitioners reserving the right in the Court to resolve any disputes that may arise in regard to the issue of attorneys' fees and expenses. Since the mootness doctrine would affect some, but not all, of the various elements of the final order, we will discuss what portion of that order must be vacated by the application of the mootness doctrine and what portions should survive this appeal and chart the future course of the funding requirements of the Teachers Retirement System.