Code Section Group

ARTICLE 7.5. Retirement of Safety Members for Service [31662 - 31664.65]

31662.

This article shall apply in a county subject to the provisions of Sections 31676.1 and 31695.1.

(Amended by Stats. 1957, Ch. 568.)

31662.2.

(a) Retirement of a safety member in a county subject to the provisions of Section 31676.1, or of Section 31695.1, if applicable, who has met the requirements for age and service shall be made by the board pursuant to this article or pursuant to the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013, whichever is applicable.

(b) The board may authorize the system administrator or other personnel to exercise the board’s power and perform its duty to retire members under this section. The system administrator or other personnel shall report service retirements to the board at the next public meeting of the board after the retirement.

(Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 275, Sec. 42. (AB 2101) Effective January 1, 2021.)

31662.4.

At the expiration of two years after a retirement system pursuant to this chapter becomes operative, or on January 1, 1954, whichever is later, every safety member except an elective officer, the sheriff and undersheriff, who has attained age 60 shall be retired forthwith. On the said date a sheriff who is a safety member, is not an elective officer, and who has attained age 70 and an undersheriff who is a safety member and who has attained age 70 shall be retired forthwith.

This section shall not be operative in any county until such time as the board of supervisors shall, by resolution adopted by a majority vote, make this section applicable in the county.

(Amended by Stats. 1986, Ch. 840, Sec. 6.)

31662.6.

Two years after a retirement system established by this chapter becomes operative, a safety member except an elective officer, the sheriff and undersheriff, and the marshal appointed to serve the superior court within the county, shall be retired as of the first day of the calendar month next succeeding that in which he or she attains age 60.

This section shall not be operative in any county until such time as the board of supervisors shall, by resolution adopted by a majority vote, make this section applicable in the county.

(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 784, Sec. 190. Effective January 1, 2003.)

31662.8.

Every safety member holding an elective office shall be retired at the end of the first term to which he or she is elected which expires on the date following his or her seventieth birthday, except that if the term expires within two years after the date on which a retirement system becomes operative or prior to January 1, 1954, whichever is later, he or she shall be retired at the end of the next term to which he or she is elected.

This section shall not be operative in any county until such time as the board of supervisors shall, by resolution adopted by a majority vote, make this section applicable in the county.

(Amended by Stats. 1986, Ch. 840, Sec. 8.)

31663.

After January 1, 1954, or two years after a retirement system established by this chapter becomes operative, whichever is later, a sheriff who is a safety member and not elective, and an undersheriff, who is a safety member shall be retired as of the first day of the calendar month next succeeding that in which he or she attains age 70.

The marshal appointed to serve the superior court within the county who is a safety member shall be retired as of the first day of the calendar month next succeeding that in which he or she attains age 65.

In San Bernardino County, a sheriff’s inspector, a chief inspector in a sheriff’s office, or a chief deputy in a sheriff’s office, who is a safety member and whose primary duties are administrative, shall be retired as of the first day of the calendar month next succeeding that in which the person attains age 70.

This section shall not be operative in any county until such time as the board of supervisors shall, by resolution adopted by a majority vote, make this section applicable in the county.

(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 784, Sec. 191. Effective January 1, 2003.)

31663.1.

(a) Sections 31662.6 and 31663 shall not apply to an assistant sheriff or a chief in a sheriff’s office who is a safety member and whose primary duties are administrative.

(b) This section applies only to a county of the first class, as defined by Section 28020, as amended by Chapter 1204 of the Statutes of 1971, and Section 28022, as amended by Chapter 43 of the Statutes of 1961.

(c) This section shall not be operative in any county until the board of supervisors shall, by resolution adopted by a majority vote, make this section applicable in the county.

(Added by Stats. 2001, Ch. 33, Sec. 1. Effective July 3, 2001.)

31663.15.

(a) Sections 31662.4, 31662.6, 31662.8, and 31663 shall not apply to a person who is an active safety member described in Section 31469.3 or 31470.4 if a physician employed or approved by the county certifies that the safety member is capable of performing his or her assigned duties pursuant to standards set forth by the member’s employer.

(b) This section shall also apply to a member who reinstates from retirement pursuant to Section 31680.8.

(c) A county that adopts this section shall provide a safety member who is on a disability leave of absence the opportunity to receive the physician certification described in subdivision (a) upon return from his or her leave, and that member shall not be subject to mandatory retirement pursuant to Section 31662.4, 31662.6, or 31662.8 prior to receiving that opportunity.

(d) This section applies only to a county of the first class, as defined by Section 28020, as amended by Chapter 1204 of the Statutes of 1971, and Section 28022, as amended by Chapter 43 of the Statutes of 1961.

(e) This section shall not be operative in any county until the board of supervisors shall, by resolution adopted by a majority vote, make this section and Section 31680.8 applicable in the county. The resolution of the board of supervisors may designate a date, which may be prior to the date of the resolution or the effective date of this section, upon which the resolution and this section shall be operative in the county, and may further provide that a member, described in Section 31470.4, who retired pursuant to Section 31662.4 or 31662.6, prior to April 1, 2007, is not eligible to reinstate from retirement pursuant to Section 31680.8.

(Amended by Stats. 2009, Ch. 191, Sec. 1. (SB 538) Effective January 1, 2010.)

31663.25.

(a) Except as provided in Section 31663.26, a safety member who has reached the applicable compulsory age of retirement, if any, or a safety member who has completed 10 years of continuous service and who has reached the age of 50, or a safety member who has completed 20 years of service regardless of age, may be retired upon filing with the board a written application setting forth the date upon which the member desires the member’s retirement to become effective. The effective retirement date shall not be either of the following:

(1) Earlier than the date the application is filed with the board.

(2) More than 60 days after the date of filing the application or more than a number of days that has been approved by the board.

(b) This section shall not apply to a member who is subject to the provisions of the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (Article 4 (commencing with Section 7522) of Chapter 21 of Division 7 of Title 1) for all or any portion of that member’s membership in the county retirement system.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 231, Sec. 10. (AB 1824) Effective January 1, 2023.)

31663.26.

(a) Notwithstanding Section 31663.25, a safety member who has reached the applicable compulsory age of retirement, if any, or a safety member who is a full-time employee, has completed 10 years of service, has reached the age of 50, and has no service break which exceeds 12 months, or a safety member who has completed 20 years of service regardless of age, may be retired upon filing with the board a written application setting forth the date upon which the member desires the member’s retirement to become effective. The effective retirement date shall not be either of the following:

(1) Earlier than the date the application is filed with the board.

(2) More than 60 days after the date of filing the application or more than a number of days that has been approved by the board.

(b) This section shall not be operative in any county until such time as the board of supervisors shall, by ordinance, make this section applicable in the county.

(c) This section shall not apply to a member who is subject to the provisions of the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 for all or any portion of their membership in the county retirement system.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 231, Sec. 11. (AB 1824) Effective January 1, 2023.)

31663.3.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any county having a population in excess of 199,000 but less than 200,000 as determined by Section 28020 as amended in 1961, an undersheriff upon attaining the age of 70 shall thereafter be employed from year to year at the discretion of the county.

(Added by Stats. 1971, Ch. 437.)

31664.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the current service pension or the current service pension combined with the prior service pension is an additional pension for safety members purchased by the contributions of the county or district sufficient when added to the service retirement annuity to equal the fraction of one-fiftieth of the member’s final compensation set forth opposite his or her age at retirement taken to the preceding completed quarter year in the following table, multiplied by the number of years of current service or years of current and prior service with which the member is entitled to be credited at retirement, but in no event shall the total retirement allowance exceed the limitation of the safety member’s final compensation as set forth in Section 31676.1 as it now reads or may hereafter be amended to read:

The fraction herein set forth shall be used until adjusted by each board for its retirement system in accordance with the interest and mortality tables adopted by that board.

Contributions shall not be made by safety members having credit for 30 years of continuous service.

(Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 32, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2002.)

31664.1.

(a) This section may be made applicable in any county on the first day of the month after the board of supervisors of the county adopts, by majority vote, a resolution providing that this section shall become applicable in the county.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the current service pension or the current service pension combined with the prior service pension is an additional pension for safety members purchased by the contributions of the county or district sufficient when added to the service retirement annuity to equal 3 percent of the member’s final compensation set forth opposite his or her age at retirement, taken to the preceding completed quarter year, in the following table, multiplied by the number of years of current service or years of current and prior service with which the member is entitled to be credited at retirement. In no event shall the total retirement allowance exceed the limitation of the safety member’s final compensation as set forth in Section 31676.1, as it now reads or may hereafter be amended to read.

(c) Contributions shall not be made by safety members having credit for 30 years of continuous service.

(Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 237, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2001.)

31664.15.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, a safety member who enters the system with credit for prior service and retires upon completion of 20 years of continuous service and a total of 25 years of service after attaining age 50 whose retirement allowance is less than one-half of his or her final compensation, his or her prior service pension shall be increased so as to cause his or her total retirement allowance to amount to one-half of that final compensation.

(Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 164, Sec. 9. Effective January 1, 2009.)

31664.2.

(a) This section may be made applicable in any county on the first day of the month after the board of supervisors of the county adopts, by majority vote, a resolution providing that this section shall become applicable in the county.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the current service pension or the current service pension combined with the prior service pension is an additional pension for safety members purchased by the contributions of the county or district sufficient when added to the service retirement annuity to equal 3 percent of the member’s final compensation set forth opposite his or her age at retirement, taken to the preceding completed quarter year, in the following table, multiplied by the number of years of current service or years of current and prior service with which the member is entitled to be credited at retirement. In no event shall the total retirement allowance exceed the limitation of the safety member’s final compensation as set forth in Section 31676.1, as it now reads or may hereafter be amended to read.

(c)  Contributions shall not be made by safety members having credit for 30 years of continuous service.

(Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 237, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2001.)

31664.3.

This section shall apply in any county having a population in excess of 2,000,000. A safety member shall receive no credit for prior service subsequent to June 30, 1921, and prior to January 1, 1938, in calculating a retirement allowance pursuant to this article unless prior to January 1, 1952, he files with the board his written election to pay into the retirement fund six dollars ($6) for each month of prior service for which he claims credit. If a safety member files an election pursuant to this section and has accumulated contributions to his credit as of December 31, 1937, which with interest to December 31, 1951, are less than payments due for prior service credit subsequent to June 30, 1921, the amount due or balance thereof shall be paid by additional salary deductions in the amounts specified by the member but in no case less than six dollars ($6) per month. The total amount due shall be paid prior to the effective date of his retirement. If the accumulated contributions with interest exceed the amount due for prior service credit the balance shall be refunded.

(Amended by Stats. 1953, Ch. 955.)

31664.4.

Any person who elects to become a safety member who was a former member of a retirement system established pursuant to Chapter 3 or Chapter 5 shall have his contributions to the retirement association for membership service prior to January 1, 1952, calculated by the same rates and under the same conditions as those applicable to a member of the retirement system established pursuant to Chapter 4.

(Amended by Stats. 1955, Ch. 370.)

31664.5.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, a safety member may exercise the option of retiring upon completion of 25 years of service, and if such option is exercised, the safety member shall receive a retirement allowance equal to no less than 30 percent of his or her final compensation.

(b) This section shall not apply to a member who is subject to the provisions of the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 for all or any portion of his or her membership in the county retirement system.

(Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 247, Sec. 27. (AB 1380) Effective January 1, 2014.)

31664.65.

If a member retires with credit for time during which he or she was not a safety member or a member of a system established pursuant to either Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 31900) or Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 32200), he or she shall receive for that time:

(a) A retirement allowance calculated pursuant to Section 31664 for time during which he or she was employed principally in active law enforcement or active fire suppression as described in Section 31470.2 or Section 31470.4 by a county, or by a district or court organized or existing within such county, or was a member of a system established pursuant to either Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 31900) or Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 32200), plus a retirement allowance calculated under either subdivision (b) or (c), whichever is applicable.

(b) A retirement allowance calculated pursuant to Section 31664 for all prior county service with such county, and for any public service credit for which the member has elected to receive pursuant to Section 31641.1 or 31641.5.

This subdivision shall apply only to a member who, when the board of supervisors pursuant to Section 31695.1 provides that provisions of this chapter relating to safety members shall apply to all employees of the county whose principal duties consist of active law enforcement or active fire suppression as defined in Section 31470.2 or 31470.4, was employed by the county principally in active law enforcement or active fire suppression as defined by such sections and who elected to be included within such safety member provisions at the time and in the manner prescribed by Section 31695.2.

(c) A retirement allowance calculated pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 31670) for time during which he or she was not engaged principally in active law enforcement or active fire suppression as described in Section 31470.2 or 31470.4, nor a member of a system established pursuant to either Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 31900) or Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 32200).

This subdivision shall apply to any member to whom subdivision (b) is not applicable.

The provisions of this section shall be applicable irrespective of whether a member is, at the time of retirement, a safety member or a general member.

(Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 164, Sec. 10. Effective January 1, 2009.)