Chapter 6. County Peace Officers And Fire Service Retirement, Disability And Death Benefit Plans of California Government Code >> Division 4. >> Title 3. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 6.

This chapter may be cited as the County Peace Officer and Fire Service Retirement Plan Law.

It is the intent of this chapter to enable any county to adopt such a retirement, disability and death benefit plan as may be determined upon by the board of supervisors or qualified electors thereof for those officers and employees in the public service whose duties expose them to more than ordinary risks, and in recognition of a public obligation to such officers and employees and to provide a means whereby such officers and employees who become incapacitated in the performance of their duties by injury, sickness, or age, may, without hardship or prejudice, be replaced by more capable officers and employees to the betterment of the public service, and whereby the surviving spouse, or minor children, or dependent parents of any such officer or employee may be provided for upon his death.

This chapter and every retirement, disability and death benefit plan adopted pursuant to its terms, shall be given a liberal interpretation with a view to carrying out its purposes.

For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this section, unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context: "County peace officers" shall comprehend and include all persons duly and regularly appointed under civil service rules and regulations and sworn in as provided by law to perform the duties of undersheriff, chief deputy sheriff, jailers, turnkeys, deputy sheriffs, bailiffs, process servers, constables, deputy constables, motorcycle officers, the head and assistant heads of all divisions of the sheriff's office, and all their regularly appointed deputies, detectives and investigators in the office of the district attorney whose duties are substantially similar to those of peace officers and marshals and deputy marshals. Clerks, bookkeepers, stenographers, and other employees who may have been appointed as deputy sheriffs or deputy marshals but who do not perform the duties of any of the peace officers enumerated and honorary deputy sheriffs or deputy marshals or other persons holding appointments as deputy sheriffs or deputy marshals who receive no compensation therefor and who do not regularly perform particular official duties are not included. The duly elected, qualified and acting sheriff of any county shall also be included in the phrase "county peace officers." "County foresters, fire wardens and firemen" shall comprehend and include all persons duly and regularly appointed under civil service rules and regulations to perform the duties of county forester, deputy or assistant county fire wardens, heads and assistant heads of all divisions of any county forester's or county fire warden's department, and all fire apparatus engineers, fire prevention inspectors, forest firemen, fire patrolmen, fire observers and foremen assigned to fire suppression crews, and all other personnel not specifically excluded, who are assigned to fire prevention and suppression in any county forester's or county fire warden's department and the officers, engineers and firemen of any county fire protection district, and all other personnel not specifically excluded, who are assigned to fire prevention and suppression in any fire protection district. Clerks, bookkeepers, stenographers, cooks, laborers, county fire protection district volunteer employees or persons who are not employed for full time duty, or other employees not performing the duties of any of the persons enumerated and any honorary deputy county fire warden or honorary deputy, county forester, or voluntary fire warden holding appointment as such but receiving no compensation therefor and not regularly performing particular official duties are not included. "City police officers" shall comprehend and include all persons duly and regularly appointed under civil service rules and regulations and sworn in as provided by law to perform the duties of a regular police officer in the organized police department of a municipal corporation. "City firemen" shall comprehend and include all persons duly and regularly appointed under civil service rules and regulations to perform the duties of a regular fireman in the organized fire department of a municipal corporation.

Subject only to the limitations of this chapter, any county may, by ordinance adopted by a four-fifths ( 4/5) vote of the board of supervisors, or by a majority vote of the qualified electors of said county, establish and maintain a retirement, disability and death benefit plan for county peace officers, foresters, fire wardens, and firemen.

Any retirement plan established pursuant to this chapter shall be under the exclusive control and management of a "board of administration" to be composed of not less than three (3) nor more than seven (7) members. The members of said board shall be chosen in such manner, shall serve for such terms and receive such compensation as may be provided in the ordinance creating the retirement plan. The county treasurer shall be ex officio a member of said board.

When any county establishes a retirement plan under the provisions of this chapter, there shall be created in the treasury of the county and opened upon the books of the auditor and treasurer of the county, a trust fund to be known as the "peace officers and fire service retirement fund" for the payment of administration expense and retirement, disability and death benefit allowances. Said fund shall consist of all moneys paid into said fund in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and of the ordinance creating the retirement plan and earnings from investments. The board of administration shall have exclusive control of the administration, investment and reinvestment of said fund, provided, however, that all money in said fund shall be kept on deposit in the county treasury or be invested in bonds or other securities authorized by the laws of the State of California as legal investments for savings banks. Such bonds or securities shall be placed in the custody of the county treasurer for safekeeping.

All transfers or payments to said fund and all withdrawals and cash transactions shall be accounted for upon the books of the auditor and treasurer.

All warrants drawn on said fund shall be on order of the board of administration and shall be signed by the treasurer and at least one other member of the board who shall be designated by the board. Every warrant shall be countersigned, numbered and recorded by the county auditor.

Any retirement plan established pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, shall supersede any existing retirement system for county peace officers or county foresters, fire wardens and firemen, and all money, property and investments standing to the credit of the fund of the superseded system shall be transferred to the county peace officers and fire service retirement fund created by this chapter, whether such money and investments were derived from member contributions, county contributions, earnings, accumulations or profits from investments, or otherwise.

In the event a retirement plan adopted pursuant to the authority of this chapter supersedes an existing system as hereinbefore provided, then, and in that event, the plan adopted under this chapter shall provide for the continued membership, with full service credit, of all persons who are members of the superseded system at the time such new plan becomes operative and for the continuation of all pensions, annuities, retirement allowances and death benefits to all pensioners, retired members and beneficiaries of the superseded system, in amounts not less than would have been payable to them under such superseded system.

It shall be competent in any plan adopted under this chapter to provide for the inclusion therein, as members thereof, the city police officers and city firemen of any municipal corporation which elects to bring itself within the operation of such plan.

Any such inclusion shall be made by ordinance adopted by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of the legislative body of such municipal corporation, or by a majority vote of the qualified electors thereof.

Whenever any municipal corporation elects to include its city police officers and city firemen in a county retirement plan pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, such city shall assume all cost and expense to the plan, arising out of all retirement, disability and death benefits payable, or to become payable to, or on account of its police officers and firemen to the same extent, in the same manner and at the same time or times as the county assumes and discharges its liabilities for the payment of retirement, disability and death benefits to county peace officers and county foresters, fire wardens and firemen, and administration expense shall be prorated each year between the county and any municipal corporation or corporations joining the county plan in the proportion that each of their active membership bears to the total active membership under the plan.

Not later than August 1st of each year, the board of administration of any retirement plan established under the provisions of this chapter, shall file with the board of supervisors a written statement showing the amounts necessary to be provided by the county during the current fiscal year for the maintenance of the peace officers and fire service retirement fund and administration expense. Such statement shall be filed with said board not less than thirty days prior to the time established by law for the annual levying of taxes in such county.

The board of supervisors shall, each year at the same time and in the same manner as all other county taxes are levied, levy a special tax in such amount as will be clearly sufficient to produce the total amount shown in the statement filed with said board by the board of administration of the retirement plan.

In the event any municipal corporation has been included in said plan, as hereinbefore provided, then and in that event, said board of administration shall, not later than thirty days prior to the time established by law for the annual levying of municipal taxes, file with the legislative body of such municipal corporation a written statement showing the amounts necessary to be provided by such municipal corporation under said plan for the ensuing fiscal year.

The legislative body of the municipal corporation with whom such statement is filed shall, each year at the same time and in the same manner as all other municipal taxes are levied, levy a special tax in such amount as will be clearly sufficient to produce the total amount shown in the statement filed with said legislative body by the board of administration of the retirement plan. Such special tax shall be in addition to all other taxes authorized by law to be levied by said municipal corporation.