Revision: Jan. 12, 2010, midnight
SB 361-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2010 SESSION
10/05
SENATE BILL 361-FN
AN ACT relative to benefits related to service of certain part-time district court justices.
SPONSORS: Sen. Hassan, Dist 23
COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration
This bill grants an allowance for justices, and their surviving spouses, who served prior to court unification in 1984 as part-time district court justices but who had full-time case loads.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
10-2924
10/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT relative to benefits related to service of certain part-time district court justices.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Benefits Granted; Certain Part-time District Court Justices and Surviving Spouses.
I. Any person who served as a part-time district court justice prior to court unification in 1984, but whose case load, in the determination of the chief justice of the supreme court, actually reflected that his or her appointment should have been full time, and who was required to retire due to age prior to 1990, shall be entitled to a retirement benefit during the remainder of his or her life as if the justice’s appointment had been full time. Upon the death of the justice, the justice’s surviving spouse shall be entitled to a reduced retirement benefit during the remainder of his or her life.
II. The amount of the benefit, which shall begin on the effective date of this act, shall be determined by the chief justice of the supreme court to be the equivalent of a retirement benefit the retired justice or surviving spouse would have received annually under the provisions of former RSA 502-A:6-a prior to its repeal.
III. The sums necessary to annually fund this act are hereby appropriated to the chief justice of the supreme court. The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sums out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
10-2924
12/31/09
SB 361-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to benefits related to service of certain part-time district court justices.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch states this bill will increase state general fund expenditures by $62,066 in FY 2011 and each year thereafter. There is no fiscal impact on county and local expenditures or state, county, and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch states this bill will grant retirement benefits to a part-time district court justice or their surviving spouse if the following conditions are met: 1) the justice served prior to court unification in 1984; 2) the justice served until the mandatory retirement age of 70 which occurred prior to 1990; and 3) the chief justice of the supreme court determines the justice’s caseload was such that the justice’s appointment should have been full-time. The amount of the benefit, prospective only, is the amount the retired justice or surviving spouse would have received pursuant to RSA 502-A:6-a. The amount is 75% of the current salary for a retired district court justice or 50% to a surviving spouse who remains unmarried. The salary for a district court justice used in calculating retirement benefits is $124,132. A retired district court justice meeting the conditions of this bill would be eligible for a benefit of $93,099 annually and a surviving spouse would be eligible for a benefit of $62,066 annually. The Branch is not aware of any retired district court justices that would meet the conditions of this bill and aware of only one surviving spouse that would be eligible for the retirement benefit.
The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for the sums necessary to annually fund this bill out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.