Revision: March 27, 2010, midnight
SB 361-FN – AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
03/03/10 0825s
03/24/10 1134s
2010 SESSION
10/05
SENATE BILL 361-FN
AN ACT relative to benefits related to service of certain part-time district court justices and judges of probate retiring because of permanent disability.
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. The bill also adds a benefit to a surviving spouse of certain retired judges of probate.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
03/24/10 1134s
03/03/10 0825s
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 and judges of probate retiring because of permanent disability.
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 fund the benefits under this section may be paid from existing appropriations to the judicial branch.
2 Judges of Probate; Retirement Due to Disability; Surviving Spouse. Amend RSA 547:19-a to read as follows:
547:19-a Retirement Due to Disability; Surviving Spouse. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, any judge of probate who is not a full-time judge covered by RSA 100-C and who shall become unable to perform his or her duties because of permanent disability shall be retired from regular active service on the bench for the remainder of his or her term to age 70. Any such judge who desires to retire because of inability to perform his or her duties shall certify to the governor and council his or her disability to perform [his] those duties. If they find him or her unable to perform [his] those duties because of permanent disability, the governor and council shall order [his] the judge’s retirement from regular active service. If a judge of probate who is not a full-time judge covered by RSA 100-C and who is permanently disabled to perform his or her duties shall be unable or unwilling to certify his or her disability, any 3 justices of the probate court shall certify in writing [his] such judge’s disability to the governor and council, who shall, if they find [him] the judge after due notice and hearing, unable to perform his or her duties because of permanent disability, order his or her retirement from regular active service. The governor and council upon retirement of any such judge of probate as provided herein shall appoint a successor [to serve out the remainder of the term]. Any judge of probate who is not a full-time judge covered by RSA 100-C and who has served in such capacity for a period of at least 10 years in said office, and retired from regular active service because of permanent disability, shall receive during the remainder of his or her term a salary equal to one-half the salary being paid to [him] the judge at the time of [his] retirement, except in case of [his] such judge’s election to take other retirement benefits as hereinafter provided. If a judge of probate who is not a full-time judge covered by RSA 100-C dies while serving in such capacity or while on disability retirement from such capacity as provided in this section, his or her surviving spouse shall receive during the remainder of said probate judge’s term a payment equal to one-half the salary of said probate judge at the time of death or such disability retirement, except in case of the probate judge electing to take other retirement benefits as hereinafter provided. Any judge retired from active regular service under the provisions hereof who is also a member of the state employees’ retirement system or the New Hampshire retirement system shall be entitled to retire with disability benefits under either of said systems, upon notification to the retirement board. If, however, said judge elects to take payments under the provisions of this section he or she shall thereby forfeit all rights to any benefits provided under said employees’ or New Hampshire retirement system.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
LBAO
10-2924 Amended 03/15/10
SB 361 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to benefits related to service of certain part-time district court justices and judges of probate retiring because of permanent disability.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch states this bill, as amended by the Senate (Amendment #2010-0825s), will increase state general fund expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2011 and each year thereafter. There is no fiscal impact on county and local expenditures or state, county, and local revenue.
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.
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 $124,131.66. A retired district court justice meeting the conditions of this bill would be eligible for a benefit of $93,098.75 annually and a surviving spouse would be eligible for a benefit of $62,065.83 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.
Additionally, this bill will provide a surviving spouse of a part-time probate court judge who retired with a disability or died in office with a pension equal to one-half of the salary the judge was receiving when they became disabled or died. The Branch states there are three part-time probate court judges whose spouses could be covered by this bill. The Branch states it is not able to determine the exact fiscal impact of this bill as it is not known when a sitting judge will either die in office or become disabled and die. The Branch indicates the current salary, based on caseload, for the three part-time judges are $56,225, $47,957 and $20,558.