A. Before the establishment of the public safety personnel retirement system, municipal firemen and policemen, employees of the Arizona highway patrol and other public safety personnel in the state of Arizona were covered under various local, municipal and state retirement programs. These heterogeneous programs provided for wide and significant differentials in employee contribution rates, benefit eligibility provisions, types of benefit protection and benefit formulas.

Terms Used In Arizona Laws 38-841

  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Eligible groups: means only the following who are regularly assigned to hazardous duty:

    (a) Municipal police officers who are certified peace officers. See Arizona Laws 38-842

  • Employee: means any person who is employed by a participating employer and who is a member of an eligible group but does not include any persons compensated on a contractual or fee basis. See Arizona Laws 38-842
  • Employers: means :

    (a) Cities contributing to the fire fighters' relief and pension fund as provided in sections 9-951 through 9-973 or statutes amended thereby and antecedent thereto, as of June 30, 1968 on behalf of their full-time paid firefighters. See Arizona Laws 38-842

  • 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
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • retired: means termination of employment after a member has fulfilled all requirements for a pension, for an employee who becomes a member of the system on or after January 1, 2012 and before July 1, 2017, attains the age and service requirements for a normal retirement date or for an employee who becomes a member of the system on or after July 1, 2017 attains the age and credited service requirements for a normal retirement date. See Arizona Laws 38-842
  • Service: means the last period of continuous employment of an employee by the employers before the employee's retirement, except that if such period includes employment during which the employee would not have qualified as a member had the system then been effective, such as employment as a volunteer firefighter, then only twenty-five percent of such noncovered employment shall be considered as service. See Arizona Laws 38-842
  • State: means the state of Arizona, including any department, office, board, commission, agency or other instrumentality of this state. See Arizona Laws 38-842
  • System: means the public safety personnel retirement system established by this article. See Arizona Laws 38-842

B. In order to provide a uniform, consistent and equitable statewide program for public safety personnel who are regularly assigned hazardous duty in the employ of the state of Arizona or a political subdivision thereof, this retirement system was created effective as of July 1, 1968, as an amendment to and continuation of three prior systems. Groups of employees covered under the three prior systems as of June 30, 1968, and the assets and liabilities accumulated thereunder for such employees, are transferred with prior service credits to this retirement system as of the effective date, and both they and their employers shall be required to make stipulated contributions to support the system’s benefit structure on a sound actuarial basis. Future employees in such groups shall commence participation in, and contributions to, the system immediately on commencement of covered employment.

C. The provisions of this system shall not be construed to authorize the granting of any retirement benefits to persons who are retired as of the effective date of this article, except as described in sections 38-849 and 38-853.

D. Additional eligible groups of public safety personnel will participate in the system pursuant to election by their employer for such coverage under an appropriate joinder agreement.

E. The public safety personnel retirement system is a jural entity that may sue and be sued.

 

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