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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 58th Legislature (2021)
SENATE BILL 889 By: Weaver
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to law enforcement pension; amending
47 O.S. 2011, Section 2-300, as amended by Section 1,
Chapter 383, O.S.L. 2015 (47 O .S. Supp. 2020, Section
2-300), which relates to definitions; updating
language to conform with Internal Revenue Service
Code and Treasury Regulations ; and declaring an
emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 47 O.S. 2011, Section 2 -300, as
amended by Section 1, Chapter 383, O.S.L. 2015 (47 O.S. Supp. 2020,
Section 2-300), is amended to read as follows :
Section 2-300. As used in Section 2-300 et seq. of this tit le:
1. “System” means the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement
System;
2. “Act” means Section 2-300 et seq. of this title;
3. “Board” means the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement Board
of the System;
4. “Executive Director” means the managing officer o f the
System employed by the Board;
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5. “Fund” means the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement Fund;
6. a. “Member” means:
(1) all commissioned law enforcement officers of the
Oklahoma Highway Pat rol Division of the
Department of Public Safety who have obtai ned
certification from the Council on Law Enforcement
Education and Training, and all cadets of a
Patrol Academy of the D epartment of Public
Safety,
(2) law enforcement officers and criminalists of the
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation,
(3) law enforcement officers of the Oklahoma State
Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control
designated to perform duties in the investigation
and prevention of crime and the enforcement of
the criminal laws of this state,
(4) law enforcement officers of the Oklah oma
Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission
designated to perform duties in the investigation
and prevention of cr ime and the enforcement of
the criminal laws of this state,
(5) employees of the Communication s Section of the
Oklahoma Highway Patrol Division, radio
technicians, and tower technicians of the
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Department of Public Safety, who are employed in
any such capacity as of June 30, 2008, and who
remain employed on or after July 1, 2008 , until a
termination of service, or until a termination of
service with an election of a vested benefit from
the System, or until retirement. Effective July
1, 2008, a person employ ed for the first time as
an employee of the Department of Public Safety i n
the Communications Division as an information
systems telecommunication technician of the
Department of Public Safety shall not be a member
of the System,
(6) park rangers of the Ok lahoma Tourism and
Recreation Department and any park manager or
park supervisor of the Oklaho ma Tourism and
Recreation Department , who was employed in such a
position prior to July 1, 1985, and who elects on
or before September 1, 1996, to participate in
the System, and
(7) inspectors of the Board of Pharmacy .
b. Effective July 1, 1987, a member d oes not include a
“leased employee” as defined under Section 414(n)(2)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
Effective July 1, 1999, any individual wh o agrees with
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the participating employer that the individual ’s
services are to be performed a s a leased employee or
an independent contractor shall not be a member
regardless of any classification as a common -law
employee by the Internal Revenue Service or any other
governmental agency, or any court of competent
jurisdiction.
c. All persons who shall be offered a position of a
commissioned law enforcement officer as an employee of
one of the agencies described in subparagraph a of
this paragraph shall parti cipate in the System upon
the person meeting the requisite post -offer-pre-
employment physical examination standards which shall
be subject to the following requirements:
(1) all such persons shall be of good moral
character, free from deformities, mental o r
physical conditions, or disease and alcohol or
drug addiction which wo uld prohibit the pers on
from performing the duties of a la w enforcement
officer,
(2) the physical-medical examination shall pertain to
age, sight, hearing, agility and other conditions
the requirements of which shall be established by
the Board,
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(3) the person shall be require d to meet the
conditions of this subs ection prior to the
beginning of actual employment but after an offer
of employment has been tendered by a
participating employer,
(4) the Board shall have authority to deny or revoke
membership of any person submitting false
information in such person ’s membership
application, and
(5) the Board shall have final authority in
determining eligibility for membership in the
System, pursuant to the provisions of this
subsection;
7. “Normal retirement dat e” means the date at which the member
is eligible to recei ve the unreduced payments of the member ’s
accrued retirement benefit. Such date shall be the first day of the
month coinciding with or following the date the member:
a. completes twenty (20) years of vesting service, o r
b. attains sixty-two (62) years of age with ten (10)
years of vesting service, or
c. attains sixty-two (62) years of age, if:
(1) the member has been tr ansferred to this System
from the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement
System on or after July 1, 1981 , and
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(2) the member would have been vested had the member
continued to be a member of the Oklahoma Public
Employees Retirement System.
With respect to distributions under the System made for calendar
years beginning on or after Januar y 1, 2005, the System shall apply
the minimum distribution incidental benefit requirements, incidental
benefit requirements, and minimum distribution requirements of
Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended,
in accordance with the final regulations un der Section 401(a)(9) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, which were issued in
April 2002 and June 2004 including Treasury Regulations Secti ons
1.401(a)(9)-1 through 1.401(a)(9) -9; provided, however, that for
distributions required to be made after December 31, 2019 , for
individuals who attai n seventy and one-half (70 1/2) years of a ge
after that date, the distributions shall reflect that age seventy
and one-half (70 1/2) was stricken and age seventy-two (72) was
inserted in Sections 401(a)(9)(B)(iv)(I), 401(a)(9)(C)(i)(I) and
401(a)(9)(C)(ii)(I) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
amended, notwithstanding any provision of the System to the
contrary. With respect to distributions under the System made for
calendar years beginning on or af ter January 1, 2001, through
December 31, 2004, the System shall apply the minimum distribution
requirements and incidental benefit requirements of Secti on
401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, in
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accordance with the regulations under Section 401(a)(9) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, which were proposed in
January 2001, notwithstanding any provision of the System to the
contrary.
Effective July 1, 1989, notwithstanding any other provision
contained herein to the contr ary, in no event shall commencement of
distribution of the accrued retirement benefit of a member be
delayed beyond April 1 of the calendar year followin g the later of:
(1) the calendar year in which the member reaches seventy and one -
half (70 1/2) years of age for a member who attained this age before
January 1, 2020, or, effective for distributions required to be made
after December 31, 2019, the calendar year in which the member
reaches seventy-two (72) years of age for a membe r who attains age
seventy and one-half (70 1/2) after December 31, 2019; or (2) the
actual retirement date of the member. The preceding sentence does
not allow deferral of A member electing to defer the commencement of
retirement benefits pursuant to Sect ion 2-308.1 of this title may
not defer the benefit commencement beyond the age of sixty-five
(65).
Effective September 8, 2009, notwithstanding anything to the
contrary of the System, the System, which as a governmental plan
(within the meaning of Section 414(d) of the Internal Re venue Code
of 1986, as amended), is treated as having complied with Section
401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, for all
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years to which Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986, as amended, app lies to the System if the System complies with
a reasonable and good fai th interpretation of Section 401(a)(9) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
A member who was required to join the System effective July 1,
1980, because of the transfer of the employing agency from the
Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement Syst em to the System, and was
not a member of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System on
the date of such transfer shall be allowed to receive credit for
prior law enforcement serv ice rendered to this state , if the member
is not receiving or eligible t o receive retirement credit or
benefits for such service in any other public retirement system,
upon payment to the System of the employee contribution the member
would have been subje ct to had the member been a member of the
System at the time, plus five percent (5%) interest. Service credit
received pursuant to this paragraph shall be used in determin ing the
member’s retirement benefit, and shall be used in determining years
of service for retirement or vesti ng purposes;
8. “Actual paid base salary ” means the salary received by a
member, excluding payment for any accumulated leave or uniform
allowance. Salary shall include any amount of nonelective salary
reduction under Section 414 (h) of the Internal Revenu e Code of 1986;
9. “Final average salary ” means the average of the highest
thirty (30) consecutive complete months of actual paid gross salary.
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Gross salary shall include any amount of elective salary reduction
under Section 457 of the Internal Revenue C ode of 1986, as amended,
and any amount of non elective salary reduction under Section 414(h)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Ef fective July 1,
1992, gross salary shall include any amount of elective salary
reduction under Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
amended. Effective July 1, 1998, gross salary shall include any
amount of elective salary reduction not inc ludable in the gross
income of the member under Section 132(f)(4) of the Internal Re venue
Code of 1986, as ame nded. Effective July 1, 1998, for purposes of
determining a member’s compensation, any contribution by the member
to reduce his or her regular ca sh remuneration under Section
132(f)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as ame nded, shall be
treated as if the member did not make such an election. Only salary
on which required contributions have been made may be used in
computing the final averag e salary. Gross salary shall not include
severance pay.
In addition to other applic able limitations, and notw ithstanding
any other provision to the contrar y, for plan years beginning on or
after July 1, 2002, the annual gross salary of each “Noneligible
Member” taken into account under the System shall not exceed the
Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (“EGTRRA”)
annual salary limit. T he EGTRRA annual salary limit is Two Hundred
Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00), as adjusted by the Comm issioner for
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increases in the cost of living in accordance with Section
401(a)(17)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The
annual salary limit in effect for a calendar year applies to any
period, not exceeding twelve (12) months, over whi ch salary is
determined (“determination period ”) beginning in such calendar year.
If a determination period c onsists of fewer than twelve (12) months,
the EGTRRA salary limit will be multiplied by a fraction, the
numerator of which is the number of months in the determination
period, and the denominator of which is twelve (12). For purp oses
of this section, a “Noneligible Member” is any member who first
became a member during a plan year commencing on or after July 1,
1996.
For plan years beginning on or after July 1, 2002, any reference
in the System to the annual salary limit under Sec tion 401(a)(17) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, shall mean the EGTRRA
salary limit set forth in this provision.
Effective January 1, 2008, gross salary fo r a plan year shall
also include gross salary, as described above, for services, but
paid by the later of two and one-half (2 1/2) months after a
member’s severance from employment or the end of the calendar year
that includes the date the member terminate d employment, if it is a
payment that, absent a severance from employment, would hav e been
paid to the member while the member continued in employment with the
employer.
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Effective January 1, 2008, any payments not described above
shall not be considered gr oss salary if paid after severance from
employment, even if they are paid by the lat er of two and one-half
(2 1/2) months after the date of severance from e mployment or the
end of the calendar year that includes the date of severance from
employment, except payments to an individual who does not currently
perform services for the employer by reason of qualified mi litary
service within the meaning of Section 4 14(u)(5) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, to the extent these payments do
not exceed the amounts the individual would have received if the
individual had continued to perform services for the e mployer rather
than entering qualified militar y service.
Effective January 1, 2008, back pay, within the meaning of
Section 1.415(c)-2(g)(8) of the Income Tax Regulations, shall be
treated as gross salary for the limitation year t o which the back
pay relates to the extent the back pay represents wages and
compensation that would otherwise be included in this definition.
Effective for years beginning after December 31, 2008, gross
salary shall also include differential wage payments under Section
414(u)(12) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amend ed;
10. “Credited service” means the period of service used to
determine the amount of benefits pay able to a member. Credited
service shall consist of the period during which the mem ber
participated in the Sy stem or the predecessor Plan as an active
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employee in an eligible membership classification, plus any service
prior to the establishment of the pr edecessor Plan which was
credited under the predecessor Plan and for law enforcement officers
and criminalists of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and
the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control
who became members of the Sy stem on July 1, 1980, any service
credited under the Oklahoma Public Employees Retir ement System as of
June 30, 1980, and for members of the Communications and Lake Patrol
Divisions of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, who became
members of the System on July 1, 1981, any service credited under
the predecessor Plan or the Oklahoma Public Employees Retireme nt
System as of June 30, 1981, and for law enf orcement officers of the
Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission who became members of
the System on July 1, 1982, any service credited under the Oklahoma
Public Employees Retir ement System as of June 30 , 1982, and for park
rangers of the Oklahoma T ourism and Recreation Department who became
members of the System on July 1, 1985, any service credi ted under
the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System as of June 30, 1985,
and for inspectors of the Oklah oma State Board of Pharmacy who
became members of the System on July 1, 1986, any service credited
under the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System as of June 30,
1986, for law enforcement officers of the Oklahoma Capitol Pat rol
Division of the Depart ment of Public Safety who became members of
the System effective July 1, 1993, any service credited under the
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Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System as of June 30, 1993, and
for all commissioned officers in the Gunsmith/Ammun ition Reloader
Division of the Department of Public Safety who became me mbers of
the System effective July 1, 1994, any service credited under the
Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System as of June 30, 1994, and
for the park managers or park supervisor s of the Oklahoma Tourism
and Recreation Department who were employed in such a position prior
to July 1, 1985, and who elect to become members of the System
effective September 1, 1996, any service transferred pursuant to
subsection C of Section 2 -309.6 of this title and any servi ce
purchased pursuant to subsection B of Secti on 2-307.2 of this title.
Effective August 5, 1993, an authorized leave of absence shall
include a period of absence pursuant to the Family and Medical Leave
Act of 1993;
11. “Disability” means a physical or mental condition which, in
the judgment of the Board, totally and presumably permanently
prevents the member from engaging in the usual and custom ary duties
of the occupation of the member and thereafter prevents the member
from performing the duties of an y occupation or service for which
the member is qualified by reason of training, education or
experience. A person is not under a disability when capable of
performing a service to the employer, regardless of occupation,
providing the salary of the employ ee is not diminished thereby;
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12. “Limitation year” means the year used in applying the
limitations of Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code o f 1986,
which year shall be the calendar year;
13. “Line of duty” means any action which a member whose
primary function is crime control or reduction or e nforcement of the
criminal law is obligated or authorized by rule, regulations,
condition of employment or service, or law to perform , including
those social, ceremonial , or athletic functions to which the memb er
is assigned, or for which the member is com pensated, by the agency
the member serves;
14. “Personal injury” or “injury” means any traumatic injury as
well as diseases which are caused by or result from such an injury,
but not occupational diseases;
15. “Catastrophic nature” means consequences of an injury that
permanently prevent an individual from performing any gainful work;
16. “Traumatic injury” means a wound or a condition of the body
caused by external force , including injuries inflicted by bull ets,
explosives, sharp instruments, blunt obje cts or other physical
blows, chemicals, electricity, climatic conditions, infectious
diseases, radiation, and bacteria, but excluding stress and strain;
and
17. “Beneficiary” means the individual designated by the member
on a beneficiary designation form supplied by the Oklahoma Law
Enforcement Retirement System, or , if there is no designated
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beneficiary or if the designated beneficiary predeceases the member,
the estate of the member. If the member’s spouse is not designated
as the sole primary benefici ary, the member’s spouse must sign a
consent.
SECTION 2. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is here by
declared to exist, by r eason whereof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage an d approval.
58-1-949 CB 1/21/2021 4:18:24 PM