Terms Used In Iowa Code > Chapter 411 - Retirement System for Police Officers and Fire Fighters

• Actuarial equivalent: means a benefit of equal value, when computed upon the basis of mortality tables adopted by the system, and interest computed at the rate established by the actuary. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Amount earned: shall mean the amount of money actually earned by a beneficiary in some definite period of time. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Average final compensation: means the average earnable compensation of the member during the three years of service the member earned the member's highest salary as a police officer or fire fighter, or if the member has had less than three years of service, then the average earnable compensation of the member's entire period of service. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Bailiff: a court officer who enforces the rules of behavior in courtrooms.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Beneficiary: shall mean any person receiving a retirement allowance or other benefit as provided by this chapter. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Board of trustees: means the board created by section 411. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Cancer: means prostate cancer, primary brain cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, uterine cancer, malignant melanoma, leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, bladder cancer, colorectal cancer, multiple myeloma, testicular cancer, and kidney cancer. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Child: includes only an individual who is under the age of eighteen years, an individual who is under the age of twenty-two years and is a full-time student, or an individual who is disabled at the time under the definitions used in section 202 of the Social Security Act as amended if the disability occurred to the individual during the time the individual was under the age of eighteen years and the parent of the individual was an active member of the system. See Iowa Code 411.1
• cities: means any city or cities participating in the statewide fire and police retirement system as required by this chapter. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Clerk: means the recording and recordkeeping officer of a city regardless of title. See Iowa Code 362.2
• compensation earnable: shall mean the annual compensation which a member receives for services rendered as a police officer or fire fighter in the course of employment with a participating city. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Council: means the governing body of a city. See Iowa Code 362.2
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• fire fighters: shall mean only the members of a fire department who have passed a regular mental and physical civil service examination for fire fighters and who shall have been duly appointed to such position. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
• fund: means the fire and police retirement fund. See Iowa Code 411.8
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Infectious disease: means HIV or AIDS as defined in section 141A. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Internal Revenue Code: means the federal Internal Revenue Code as defined in section 422. See Iowa Code 411.5
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Majority leader: see Floor Leaders
• Medical board: shall mean the single medical provider network designated by the system as the medical board as provided for in section 411. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Member: means a member of the retirement system as defined by section 411. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Member in good standing: means a member in service who is not subject to removal by the employing city of the member pursuant to section 400. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Membership service: shall mean service as a police officer or a fire fighter rendered for a city which is credited as service pursuant to section 411. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• month: means a calendar month, and the word "year" and the abbreviation "A. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Officer: means a natural person elected or appointed to a fixed term and exercising some portion of the power of a city. See Iowa Code 362.2
• Pensions: means annual payments for life derived from appropriations provided by the participating cities and the state and from contributions of the members which are deposited in the fire and police retirement fund. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Person: means an individual, firm, partnership, domestic or foreign corporation, company, association or joint stock association, trust, or other legal entity, and includes a trustee, receiver, assignee, or similar representative thereof, but does not include a governmental body. See Iowa Code 362.2
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• police officers: shall mean only the members of a police department who have passed a regular mental and physical civil service examination for police officers, and who shall have been duly appointed to such positions. See Iowa Code 411.1
• property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
• reemployment: means the employment of a person as a police officer or fire fighter by any participating city after the person has commenced receiving a service retirement allowance under section 411. See Iowa Code 411.3
• Retirement allowance: shall mean the pension, or any benefits in lieu thereof, granted to a member upon retirement. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Rule: includes "regulation". See Iowa Code 4.1
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Superintendent of public safety: shall mean any elected city official who has direct jurisdiction over the fire or police department, or the city manager in cities under the city manager form of government. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Surviving spouse: shall mean the surviving spouse of a deceased member. See Iowa Code 411.1
• system: means the statewide fire and police retirement system established by this chapter for the fire fighters and police officers of the cities described in section 411. See Iowa Code 411.1
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• United States: includes all the states. See Iowa Code 4.1
• Vested member: means a member who has become eligible to receive monthly retirement benefits upon the member's retirement as the result of either completing at least four years of service or of attaining the age of fifty-five while performing membership service. See Iowa Code 411.1
• week: means seven consecutive days. See Iowa Code 4.1
• year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1