SECTIONS 75600-75613 - California Statutes

GOVERNMENT CODE

SECTION 75600-75613

75600. There is in the State Treasury, subject to the control of
the board, a trust fund known as the Judges' Retirement System II
Fund. The fund shall receive all assets paid into it including,
without limitation, judges' contributions made pursuant to Sections
75601 and 75602 and the state's contributions made pursuant to
Section 75600.5. All retirement allowances payable by law to judges
to whom this chapter is applicable shall be paid from that fund.
Notwithstanding Section 13340, all moneys in the fund are
continuously appropriated without regard to fiscal years, for
payments which shall be made upon warrants drawn by the Controller
upon demands made by the board.

75600.5. (a) The Controller shall at the end of each month
ascertain the aggregate amount of the annual salaries, not including
the additional compensation pursuant to Section 68203.1, of all
judges covered by the Judges' Retirement System II, and out of the
General Fund he or she shall transfer monthly into the Judges'
Retirement System II Fund a sum equal to 18.8 percent of one-twelfth
of the aggregate amount of those salaries.
(b) As of June 30 of the first year this chapter is in effect, and
annually thereafter, the board shall make an actuarial investigation
into the fund's experience, the ages of member judges, and other
facts necessary to determine the actuarial soundness of the fund.
Based on its investigation, the board shall determine the state
contribution necessary to maintain or restore the actuarial soundness
of the fund, stated as a percentage of judges' salaries.
(c) The state's contribution as fixed under this chapter shall be
adjusted thereafter from time to time in the annual Budget Act
according to the following method. As part of the proposed budget
submitted pursuant to Section 12 of Article IV of the California
Constitution, the Governor shall include the contribution rate
submitted by the board pursuant to subdivision (b). The Legislature
shall adopt the contribution rate and authorize the appropriation in
the Budget Act.

75601. Except as provided in Section 75605, the Controller shall at
the end of each month deduct 8 percent from the monthly salary, not
including the additional compensation pursuant to Section 68203.1, of
each justice of the Supreme Court and of the courts of appeal and of
the portion paid by the state of the monthly salary of each judge of
the superior court and shall cause this amount to be paid into the
Judges' Retirement System II Fund.

75602. Except as provided in Section 75605, the Controller or the
auditor of each county shall deduct 8 percent from the portion paid
by a county, or the Controller and the auditor, if appropriate, of
the monthly salary, not including the additional compensation
pursuant to Section 68203.1, of each judge of the superior court and
cause this amount to be paid into the Judges' Retirement System II
Fund.

75603. The Legislature reserves the right to increase the rates of
contribution prescribed by Sections 75601 and 75602 in the amounts as
it may find appropriate.

75604. The Legislature reserves the right to reduce any benefits
applicable to any person who becomes a judge who is subject to this
chapter.

75605. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the state
and the county may pick up, for the sole purpose of deferring income
taxes thereon, as authorized by Section 414(h)(2) of the Internal
Revenue Code (26 U.S.C.A. Sec. 414(h)(2)) and Section 17501 of the
Revenue and Taxation Code, all of the normal contributions required
to be deducted under Sections 75601 and 75602, inclusive, and paid
into the Judges' Retirement System II Fund. The payments shall be
reported as employer-paid normal contributions and shall be credited
to the judge's account.
(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the
authority of the state or the county to periodically eliminate the
pickup by the state of all of the normal contributions required to be
paid by a judge, as authorized by this section.
(c) This section shall not affect the computation of a judge's
retirement allowance pursuant to this chapter.

75605.1. Calculations of retirement benefits and monetary credit
under this chapter for any judge in the Voluntary Waiver of Salary
Program, as described in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section
68106, shall include salary and contributions that would have been
paid had the judge not been in the program. The state shall pay the
costs that result from the increased benefits and monetary credits.

75606. (a) A judge who has filed a declaration of candidacy for
election or reelection to a judicial office may not withdraw his or
her contributions under Section 75520 until after the election. If a
judge is elected or reelected to a judicial office, he or she may not
withdraw the contributions until that time as the judge has declined
to accept the office or has ceased to hold the office to which he or
she has been elected.
(b) A judge who has been appointed, commissioned, or nominated to
a judicial office of this state may not withdraw his or her
contributions under Section 75520 until the judge has declined to
serve or terminated his or her service in the latter office.

75607. The board may invest the money contained in the Judges'
Retirement System II Fund in the same manner and subject to the same
restrictions as investments of the Public Employees' Retirement Fund.

75608. The Treasurer is the custodian of the Judges' Retirement
System II Fund. At the end of each month the board shall ascertain
the written notices of voluntary retirement and the written
certificates of involuntary retirement that have been filed with the
Judges' Retirement System II and cause warrants to be drawn upon the
State Treasury in favor of each retired judge for the amount of the
retirement allowance to which he or she is entitled.

75609. A retired judge or the surviving spouse of a judge, entitled
to receive an allowance pursuant to this chapter, may authorize
deductions to be made from the allowance, in accordance with
regulations established for the payment of group insurance premiums
and other premiums provided for under Section 1157, as well as shares
or obligations of any regularly chartered credit union.

75610. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all expenses of
administration of this article shall be paid by appropriation from
the Judges' Retirement System II Fund.

75611. If the board determines that there has been an overpayment
of contributions or that any amount not required to be paid under
this chapter has been paid by a judge, the board shall refund the
amount of the overpayment or excess payment to the judge. So much
money as may be necessary is hereby appropriated from the Judges'
Retirement System II Fund to the board for the purpose of making
refunds pursuant to this section.

75611.5. (a) When there has been a payment of death benefits, a
return of accumulated contributions, a contribution adjustment, or a
deposit of contributions, this system may refrain from collecting an
underpayment of accumulated contributions if the amount to be
collected is two hundred fifty dollars ($250) or less.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 75611, when there has been a payment
of death benefits, a return of accumulated contributions, a
contribution adjustment, or a deposit of contributions, and there is
a balance of fifty dollars ($50) or less remaining posted to a member'
s individual account, or an overpayment of fifty dollars ($50) or
less was received, this system may dispense with a return of
accumulated contributions.
(c) When there is a positive or negative balance of two hundred
fifty dollars ($250) or less remaining posted to a member's
individual account, or the balance exceeds two hundred fifty dollars
($250) but the difference to the monthly allowance unmodified by any
optional settlement is less than five dollars ($5), this system may
dispense with any recalculation of, or other adjustment to, benefit
payments.
(d) The dollar amounts specified in subdivisions (a) and (c) shall
be adjusted in accordance with any changes in the dollar amounts
specified in Section 13943.2.

75612. (a) The board may assess a county a reasonable amount to
cover costs incurred because of the county's failure to submit
reports within 30 days of the date the reports are due. The payments
of the assessments shall be credited to the Judges' Retirement System
II Fund.
(b) The board may charge interest on the amount of any payment due
and unpaid by a county until payment is received. Interest shall be
charged at a rate approximating the average rate received on moneys
then being invested. The interest charged shall be deemed interest
earnings in the year in which received.

75613. (a) Whenever a person entitled to payment of a member's
contributions or any other benefit fails to claim the payment or
cannot be located or a warrant in payment is canceled pursuant to
Section 17070, the amount owed from the Judges' Retirement System II
Fund shall be administered pursuant to subdivision (c).
(b) Whenever the amount of a benefit payable by this program
cannot be determined because the recipient cannot be identified or
information necessary to determination of the benefit to be paid
cannot be ascertained, the contributions of the member on whose
account the benefit is payable shall be administered pursuant to
subdivision (c).
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the
amounts described in subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be held, or if a
warrant has been drawn the warrant shall be redeposited in the fund
and held for the claimant without accumulation of interest, and the
redeposit shall not operate to reinstate the membership of the person
with respect to whose membership the refund or benefit was payable
in this system. If the proceeds, whether heretofore or hereafter
redeposited, are not claimed within four years after the date of the
redeposit, they shall revert to and become a part of the fund.
Transfer to the fund shall be made as of the June 30 next following
the expiration of the four-year period.
(d) The board may at any time after transfer of proceeds to the
fund upon receipt of proper information satisfactory to it, return
the proceeds to the credit of the claimant, to be administered in the
manner provided under this system.