Article 1. General Provisions of California Government Code >> Title 8. >> Chapter 11.5. >> Article 1.

(a) This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Judges' Retirement System II Law.
  (b) Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 75000) shall not apply to this chapter and shall not apply to judges, as defined in Section 75502.

Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions and general provisions set forth in this article govern the construction of this chapter.

(a) "Judge" means a justice of the Supreme Court or of a court of appeal, or a judge of a superior court, municipal court, or justice court who is first elected or appointed to judicial office on or after November 9, 1994, and is not a member of the Judges' Retirement System pursuant to Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 75000). A retired judge does not acquire status as a judge for the purposes of this chapter by reason of designation as a temporary judge of, or assignment by the Chairperson of the Judicial Council to, any of these courts. A former member of the Judges' Retirement System under Section 75002 who withdrew his or her contributions upon leaving office, and who takes judicial office on or after November 9, 1994, becomes a member of the system existing under Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 75000) and does not become a member of the Judges' Retirement System II. No person shall be a member of the Judges' Retirement System II who is or ever has been a member of the Judges' Retirement System pursuant to Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 75000).
  (b) "System" means the Judges' Retirement System II established by this chapter.
  (c) "Service" means the period of time a judge received a salary and made contributions to the system by reason of holding office as a judge of any one or more of the courts of this state specified in subdivision (a), computed in years and fractions of years.
  (d) "Final compensation" means the average monthly salary of a judge during the 12 months immediately preceding his or her retirement from or otherwise leaving judicial office and as limited by Section 75572.
  (e) "Benefit factor" means the percentage used in calculating a judge's monthly retirement allowance under Section 75522.
  (f) "Contributions" means the accumulated deductions from the judge's salary under Sections 75601 and 75602. References to payment to a judge of his or her contributions or to the determination of a judge's and spouse's shares in the contributions include both the contributions and interest thereon at the rates determined by the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System.
  (g) "Salary" means the compensation received by a judge as the emolument of the office of judge, but does not include any additional compensation received by reason of designation as a temporary judge or assignment by the Chairperson of the Judicial Council or the additional compensation pursuant to Section 68203.1.
  (h) "Board" means the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System.
  (i) "Fund" or "retirement fund" means the Judges' Retirement System II Fund established pursuant to Section 75600.
  (j) All references to "spouse," "surviving spouse," or "marriage" in this chapter apply equally to a domestic partner or domestic partnership, as defined in Section 297 of the Family Code, and all rights and responsibilities granted to a spouse or surviving spouse shall be granted equally to a domestic partner to the extent provided by Section 297.5 of the Family Code.

(a) This chapter shall be administered and governed pursuant to the Public Employees' Retirement Law to the same extent and with the same effect as if those provisions are contained in this chapter, except for those provisions that provide for the payment of an allowance or other benefit and except for those provisions that conflict with any provision of this chapter. To the extent applicable, the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System shall administer this chapter in conformance with the California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (Article 4 (commencing with Section 7522) of Chapter 21 of Division 7 of Title 1) to the same extent and with the same effect as if the provisions of the act are contained in the Judges' Retirement System II Law. If the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System determines that there is a conflict between the provisions of the California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 and this chapter, the provisions of the California Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 shall control.
  (b) All payments from the Judges' Retirement System II Fund shall be made upon warrants drawn by the Controller upon demands by the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System.

The board shall, annually, send each judge a member statement which shall include information regarding accrued service credit, accrued monetary credits, retirement eligibility dates, and other pertinent information.

(a) Any judge may elect, by written election filed with the board at any time prior to retirement, to make contributions, and receive service credit for, all of the time he or she served as a full-time subordinate judicial officer, as defined in Section 71601, prior to becoming a judge, excluding any period of time for which the judge is receiving, or is entitled to receive, a retirement allowance from any other public retirement system.
  (b) A judge electing to receive credit for service pursuant to this section shall, at the time of filing his or her election, pay into the Judges' Retirement Fund II, a sum equal to the actuarial present value of the increase in benefits due to the additional service. The amount shall be determined by the board in accordance with this section.

(a) A judge may elect, in writing filed with the Judges' Retirement System II, to make contributions and receive service credit in this system for active service, performed prior to entering this system, of not less than one year in the Armed Forces of the United States or not less than one year in the Merchant Marine of the United States prior to January 1, 1950, excluding any period of that active service for which the judge is receiving, or is entitled to receive, a retirement allowance from any other retirement system supported wholly or in part by public funds. The service credit for that service shall be granted on the basis of one year of credit for each year of credited service in this system, but may not exceed a total of four years of service credit regardless of the number of years of either that service or subsequent judicial service. A judge electing to receive credit for that service shall have at least one year of judicial service credited on the date of the election or the date of retirement. If the service described in this subdivision terminated with a dishonorable discharge, service credit in the system may not be granted under this section.
  (b) For purposes of this section, a judge means a judge as defined under Section 75502 or a judge who has retired under Section 75521 or 75522.
  (c) The retirement allowance of a retired judge who elects to receive service credit pursuant to this section shall be increased only with respect to the allowance payable on and after the date of election.
  (d) A judge who elects to receive credit for service pursuant to this section shall contribute to the Judges' Retirement Fund II a sum equal to the actuarial present value of the increase in benefits due to the additional service, as determined by the chief actuary and approved by the board.
  (e) An election by a judge to receive credit for service under this section shall be effective only if accompanied by a lump-sum payment or an authorization for payment, other than a lump-sum payment, in accordance with regulations adopted by the board.

(a) A judge may receive service credit for the purposes of retirement under Section 75522 or 75560, or for purposes of calculating survivor benefits under Section 75590, for the time during which he or she was absent from his or her position as a judge by reason of service with the uniformed services, if the judge returns to judicial office within six months of separation from an eligible period of service in the uniformed services, as prescribed in Chapter 43 (commencing with Section 4301) of Title 38 of the United States Code, and the judge elects and satisfies the requirements of subdivision (b).
  (b) In order to receive service credit under subdivision (a) a judge shall contribute an amount equal to the member contributions that would have been made by the judge during the absence as required under Sections 75061 and 75602. The judge's contributions shall be made prior to the judge's retirement and shall be effective only if accompanied by a lump-sum payment of the contributions due for the period during which the judge was absent due to service with the uniformed services. The judge's payment of contributions shall not exceed the amount the judge would have been required to contribute had the judge not served in the uniformed services and remained in judicial office continuously throughout the eligible period of service in the uniformed services.
  (c) Upon satisfaction of the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (b), the judge shall be credited with the service that would have accrued had the judge remained continuously employed and not undertaken service in the uniformed services.
  (d) Upon satisfaction of the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (b), the judge shall receive the monetary credits that would have accrued under Section 75520 if the member had not served in the uniformed services and had remained in judicial office continuously.
  (e) The system shall comply with Chapter 43 (commencing with Section 4301) of Title 38 of the United States Code, as that chapter may be amended from time to time.
  (f) For the purposes of this section:
  (1) "Uniformed services" means the Armed Forces, the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard when engaged in active duty for training, inactive duty training, or full-time National Guard duty, the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service, and any other category of persons designated by the President in time of war or national emergency.
  (2) "Service in the uniformed services" means the performance of duty on a voluntary or involuntary basis in a uniformed service under competent authority and includes: active duty, active duty for training, initial active duty for training, inactive duty training, full-time National Guard, or a period for which a person is absent from a position of employment for the purpose of an examination to determine the fitness of the employment for the purpose of performing funeral honors duty as provided in Section 12503 of Title 10 or Section 115 of Title 32 of the United States Code.

When a judge that satisfies the requirements of Section 75506.7 makes the contributions required to receive service credit for service with the uniformed services, the state shall contribute an amount equal to the contributions that would have been made by the state during the judge's absence. The state's contribution shall be based upon the judge's compensation earnable and the contribution rates in effect at the commencement of the absence.

(a) Any allowance payable to a retired judge or to a surviving spouse or to an eligible surviving child that has accrued and remained unpaid at the time of the death of the judge or the death of a surviving spouse or surviving child, or any unclaimed warrant issued prior to the date of death and returned to the board, shall be paid pursuant to the following order:
  (1) The survivor entitled to an allowance payable by the board.
  (2) The beneficiary designated by the surviving spouse, eligible surviving child, or retired judge if there is no eligible survivor.
  (3) The estate of the deceased, if there is no one entitled to payment under paragraph (1) or (2). The payment to the estate shall be paid to either the estate of the deceased or the duly authorized representative or representatives of the estate when this system receives a court order appointing an executor, administrator, or personal representative.
  (4) If the estate does not require probate and the deceased has a trust, the payment may, in the judgment of the board, be paid to the successor trustee named in the trust.
  (5) If the estate does not require probate and the deceased does not have a trust, the payment may, in the judgment of the board, be paid to the beneficiary or beneficiaries of the deceased named in a valid will.
  (b) If there is no qualifying beneficiary pursuant to paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (a), the payment shall be paid to the surviving next of kin of the deceased pursuant to the order of distribution specified in Section 21493.

The surviving spouse or eligible surviving child of a deceased judge who is receiving a monthly allowance from the system, or a retired judge, if there is no spouse or eligible child, may designate a beneficiary to receive the pro rata allowance remaining payable in the month of his or her death. The designation may be made, changed, or revoked at any time, and shall be in writing and filed with the system.