§ 24-8-701. Legislative history, findings, and intent

(a) It is found and determined by the General Assembly that the creation of the Tier Two Actual Judicial Service Benefit Plan is part of a history of judicial retirement legislation that has sought to develop a more equitable retirement system for judges and thereby remove the need for judges to be involved in the political process through lobbying for retirement benefits and privileges.

(b)

1. (1) At one time member contributions were not sufficient to fund the system and therefore it was necessary for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and other members of the judicial system to ask the General Assembly for funds to pay benefits for retired judges and justices. In 1983 the need for members of the judiciary to be involved in the political process was reduced by the establishment of an actuarial funding method and by transfer of the administration of the Arkansas Judicial Retirement System to the Arkansas Public Employees’ Retirement System.

2. (2) Initially the Arkansas Judicial Retirement System allowed a judge with fifteen (15) years of elective service to retire upon reaching age sixty-five (65). However, this system was awkward and some judges with many years of service did not qualify for benefits because the system did not provide for graduated benefits. Because of this “all or nothing” plan, the law has been amended a number of times to help judges qualify for benefits through use of credited service.

3. (3) The use of credited service substantially changed the Arkansas Judicial Retirement System. The system was changed to allow an active member with ten (10) years of credited service to retire upon reaching age sixty-five (65) and to allow other members with twenty (20) years of credited service to retire regardless of age, or a member with fourteen (14) years of service to retire upon reaching age sixty-five (65). At the time of the passage of this act, the average retirement benefit paid by the Arkansas Judicial Retirement System was based on approximately twelve (12) years of actual service.

4. (4) The reasons for including credited service are not as strong as they once were because reciprocity exists among state-supported retirement systems. A judge with military service and who is employed or becomes employed in a position covered by another state-supported retirement system may obtain credited service in the other system for that military service.

5. (5) In 1997 legislation was adopted to authorize the establishment of a judicial deferred retirement option plan. The legislation was enacted in response to the average retirement benefit paid by the Arkansas Judicial Retirement System being based on only twelve (12) years of actual service. The legislature sought to encourage longer actual service by judges and justices.

6. (6) For two (2) years the Joint Committee on Public Retirement and Social Security Programs and the Arkansas Judicial Council discussed ways to establish a fair retirement system and to eliminate the need for members of the judicial system to be involved in the political process in order to obtain equitable treatment. It was agreed that the Arkansas Judicial Retirement System had good benefits but that other aspects of the system needed revision. After discussion and negotiation between the Joint Committee on Public Retirement and Social Security Programs and the Arkansas Judicial Council it was agreed that the authorization for a judicial deferred retirement option plan should be repealed and that a new system judicial retirement plan should be established that would be based on actual service and which would provide graduated benefits for judges and justices.

(c) It is found and determined by the General Assembly that the legislative history of the development of the Tier Two Actual Judicial Service Benefit Plan demonstrates that the purpose of this subchapter is to provide a fair retirement plan based on actual service and to provide for graduated benefits for retired judges and justices. Therefore, any future attempt to add credited service into this plan would run contrary to the legislative history of this act and the agreements that resulted in the adoption of this plan, and would constitute a major breach of a negotiated change in judicial retirement that balanced the removal of credited service provisions with provisions to allow judges and justices to have graduated benefits and earlier benefit rights.