Opinion ID: 1043075
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The effective date of retirement specified

Text: on the application form. To retire from PERS, NRS 286.541(1) requires the member to file a completed application for service retirement allowances with PERS. NRS 286.541(2) defines the effective date of retirement from PERS. It is the later of the four listed conditions. It can be the day after the employee's last day of employment, if the other three conditions have been met. NRS 286.541(2)(a). It can be the day the completed application form is filed with PERS, if the other three conditions have been met. NRS 286.541(2)(b). It can be the day after the employee's last day of creditable service, if the other conditions have occurred. NRS 286.541(2)(c). Or it can be the effective date specified on the application, again if the other three conditions have been satisfied. NRS 286.541(2)(d). Even if an employee has met all the other conditions of NRS 286.541(2), paragraphs (a) and (c) preclude that employee from effectively retiring until the day after the employee's last day of creditable service, whichever is later. Together, paragraphs (a) and (c) thus prevent an in-service distribution. But the district court held that NRS 286.541(2) sets a retirement date only for purposes of calculating benefits, thus allowing Judge Smith to retire from PERS even after going to work for a PERSeligible employer. It reasoned that the statute is codified in the benefits section of NRS Chapter 286 and that PERS's retirement application states retirement benefits are effective on whichever event listed in NRS 286.541(2)(a)-(d) occurs last. This interpretation is surely wrong. It contradicts the plain language of the statute, and [w]ords may not be supplied in a statute where the statute is intelligible. 2A Norman J. SUPREME COURT OF NEVADA 9 (0) 1947A Singer & J.D. Shambie Singer, Statutes and Statutory Construction § 47:38 (7th ed. 2007). Here, the statute conveys in no uncertain terms that retirement from PERS becomes effective when the last of the four specified events occurs. The statute does not establish a retirement date for a limited purpose, and it never uses the word benefits. Although the district court is correct that NRS 286.541(2) is codified in the benefits section of Chapter 286, the statute defines eligibility to receive benefits. It would not make sense if NRS 286.541(2) applied solely to calculating benefits because other sections, such as NRS 286.495 and NRS 286.510, explain credit for service and how a member's designated retirement date affects his or her benefits. But there is no other statute that defines what conditions must be met before a member can effectively retire. While not controlling, an agency's interpretation of a statute is persuasive, State v. Morros, 104 Nev. 709, 713, 766 P.2d 263, 266 (1988), when the statute is one the agency administers. Elliot, 114 Nev. at 32 n.1, 952 P.2d at 966 n.1. The PERS Board governs PERS. See NRS 286.120. It has interpreted NRS 286.541(2) so as to comport with the statute's language and PERS's overarching obligation to comply with the Internal Revenue Service provisions applicable to governmental retirement plans. PERS indicates in its Preretirement Guide and its briefs that it does not limit NRS 286.541 to the calculation of benefits. Instead, PERS determines a member's effective retirement date based on information the member provides and which of the four events listed in NRS 286.541(2) occurs last. Thus, we conclude that an employee cannot effectively retire from PERS until the day when the last of the four enumerated requirements is complete. 10