SB462 (2016) Detail

Allowing part-time circuit court judges to retire and elect senior active status.


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SB 462-FN - AS INTRODUCED

 

2016 SESSION

\t16-2798

\t10/09

 

SENATE BILL\t462-FN

 

AN ACT\tallowing part-time circuit court judges to retire and elect senior active status.

 

SPONSORS:\tSen. Carson, Dist 14; Sen. Lasky, Dist 13; Rep. Wall, Straf. 6

 

COMMITTEE:\tExecutive Departments and Administration

 

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ANALYSIS

 

\tThis bill allows a part-time judge of the circuit court to retire under the provisions of RSA 100-A and elect senior active status.

 

\tThis bill was requested by the judicial branch.

 

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Explanation:\tMatter added to current law appears in bold italics.

\t\tMatter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

\t\tMatter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

\t16-2798

\t10/09

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Sixteen

 

AN ACT\tallowing part-time circuit court judges to retire and elect senior active status.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

\t1  New Hampshire Retirement System; Exception for Part-Time.  Amend RSA 100-A:1, XXXIV to read as follows:

\t\tXXXIV.  "Part-time'' for purposes of employment of a retired member of the New Hampshire retirement system, but excepting per diem court security officers and court bailiffs and part-time judges in senior active status, means employment during a calendar year by one or more employers of the retired member which shall not exceed 32 hours in each normal calendar week.  Employment in some instances may exceed 32 hours in any normal calendar week provided that in such case, the part-time employment of the retired member shall not exceed 1,300 hours in a calendar year, so long as such part-time employment does not occur outside of a 5-consecutive-month period in any 12-month period.

\t2  New Hampshire Retirement System; Restoration to Service; Exception Added.  Amend RSA 100-A:7 to read as follows:

\t100-A:7  Restoration to Service.  If a disability beneficiary or any other beneficiary is restored to service, the beneficiary's retirement allowance shall cease, the beneficiary shall again become a member of the retirement system and the beneficiary shall contribute at the percentage payable pursuant to RSA 100-A:16, I(a).  Anything herein to the contrary notwithstanding, any credit for membership service and for any prior service on the basis of which the beneficiary's creditable service was computed at the time of the beneficiary's former retirement shall be restored to full force and effect; upon subsequent retirement, the beneficiary shall receive a retirement allowance based on the beneficiary's combined creditable service and the member's average final compensation.  The provisions of this section shall not apply to part-time judges of the circuit court retired under this chapter and serving as senior active status judges under RSA 493-A:1.

\t3  Retired Judges; Senior Active Status.  Amend RSA 493-A:1, I to read as follows:

\t\tI.  Any full-time justice of the supreme, superior, district, or probate court who retires or has retired from regular active service prior to age 70 pursuant to RSA 100-C or any predecessor judicial retirement plan or system, or a part time judge of the circuit court who retires prior to age 70 under RSA 100-A, may elect to take either senior active status or retired status for the period prior to the time when the justice reaches age 70.  A justice who desires to be designated on senior active status shall make such election by providing written notice to the chief justice or administrative justice of the court from which he or she retired.  The first such election shall be made not later than 30 days prior to the date the justice's retirement becomes effective and shall be valid for one year from the date of the justice's retirement.  Thereafter, a justice who desires to remain in senior active status shall provide a similar notice on an annual basis to the chief or administrative justice of the court from which the justice retired not later than 30 days prior to the anniversary date of the justice's retirement.  Judges retired on the effective date of this section shall make the first such election not later than 30 days after the effective date of this section.  Each election shall be valid for a period of one year, except that an election made for the year in which the justice reaches age 70 shall terminate on the day before the justice turns 70.  A justice who desires to be designated on retired status may do so at any time following his or her retirement from regular active service by providing written notice of this election to the chief or administrative justice of the court from which the justice retired; provided, however, that once a justice elects to be designated on retired status such election shall be final and the justice shall not thereafter be allowed to return to senior active status.

\t4  Retired Judges; Compensation for Retired Part-time Judge in Senior Active Status.  Amend RSA 493-A:1-b to read as follows:

\t493-A:1-b  Compensation.  Any retired full-time justice of the supreme, superior, district, or probate court who serves after retirement as a senior active status justice or a judicial referee shall be allowed his or her expenses and a per diem compensation determined by the supreme court upon recommendation by the judicial branch administrative council and based on the daily equivalent of the annual salary the retired justice would then be earning pursuant to RSA 491-A:1; provided however, that in any calendar year the total of the service retirement benefits that the retired justice receives pursuant to RSA 100-C:5 plus the compensation provided by this section shall not exceed the annual salary the retired justice would then be earning pursuant to RSA 491-A:1.  Any part-time judge of the circuit court retired under RSA 100-A who serves after retirement as a senior active status judge shall receive per diem compensation determined by the supreme court based on the equivalent compensation under RSA 490-F for part-time judges.

\t5  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

 

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t16-2798

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t12/16/15

 

SB 462-FN- FISCAL NOTE

 

AN ACT\tallowing part-time circuit court judges to retire and elect senior active status.

 

 

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Judicial Branch and New Hampshire Retirement System state this bill, as introduced, will have an indeterminable impact on state expenditures in FY 2017 and each year thereafter.  There will be no impact on state, county and local revenue or on county and local expenditures.

 

METHODOLOGY:

The Judicial Branch states this bill would amend RSAs 100-A and 493-A to allow part-time circuit court judges, who are members of the New Hampshire Retirement System, to retire and elect senior active status.  The Branch does not expect the number of days the retired judge would work in senior active status to be more than the number of days the part-time judge worked prior to retirement.  In addition, when a retired part-time judge works as a senior active judge, the Branch would not have to pay the 12.5% employer contribution to the New Hampshire Retirement System.  The Branch indicates the bill would result in some savings to the Branch, but the savings are expected to be less than $10,000 annually.

 

The New Hampshire Retirement System states this bill would allow a part-time circuit court judge to retire and elect senior active status.  The System states, based on information provided by the System’s actuary, there may be a minimal fiscal impact if the 14 current active part-time judges accelerate their retirement to twice the assumed retirement rates.  This accelerated retirement would increase the actuarial accrued liability by $100,000.  This would result in negligible impact on the funding ratio (<0.01% of the total liability) and the employer contribution rate (<0.01% of payroll).