9-3-415(g) through (j).

9-3-415(g) through (j).

9-3-617. Refund of contributions upon termination of employment; redeposit of withdrawn contributions; purchase of service credits.

(a) Except as provided in this subsection and subsection (c) of this section, any employee covered by this article who terminates his employment and elects not to continue to be covered by the retirement program is entitled to a refund of his member account together with the regular rate of interest specified by the retirement board. Commencing July 1, 2019 for an employee who has fewer than six (6) years of service, no interest shall accrue to the member account during any period in which the employee is not employed by a participating employer. Refunds may be made only upon written request to the board. Any employee who withdraws from the retirement program under this subsection shall forfeit all rights to further benefits, employer contributions and service credit under this article.

(b) Any employee who later returns to service covered under this article may redeposit the amount of the contributions withdrawn, in lump sum, together with interest, and upon earning not less than two (2) years service credit, may reestablish his service credits as of the time of withdrawal of his contributions. Any redeposit payment pursuant to this subsection shall be made not later than ten (10) years following the date of reemployment or prior to retirement, whichever first occurs.

(c) No employee is entitled to a refund of any contributions if he is employed for a salary by an employer subject to this article.

(d) Any employee may elect to purchase up to five (5) years of service credit for full-time employment in law enforcement which is performed for another state or political subdivision of another state, the federal government or for any public law enforcement agency in Wyoming as authorized and limited by section 415(c) and 415(n) of the Internal Revenue Code and if the employee does not vest in any retirement plan of the agency for which the prior service being purchased was earned. Any employee electing to purchase service credit shall pay into the account a single lump-sum amount equal to the actuarial equivalent of the benefits to be derived from the service credit computed on the basis of actuarial assumptions approved by the board and the individual's attained age and average salary for the highest three (3) continuous years of covered service. The lump sum may be paid with personal funds or, subject to rules and regulations established by the board, through rollover contributions. Unless received by the retirement program in the form of a direct rollover, the rollover contribution shall be paid to the program on or before sixty (60) days after the date it was received by the member. Service credit purchased under this subsection shall not be used to determine vested eligibility to receive benefits under this article.

9-3-618. Disposition of funds; designated custodian of monies.

Funds accruing to the retirement program under this article shall be commingled with all money on deposit with the state treasurer in the Wyoming retirement account. The board may designate the state treasurer or a custodial bank approved by the state treasurer as the custodian of the monies and shall administer them in accordance with W.S. 9-3-424.

9-3-619. Payment of employers' contribution from highway fund, game and fish fund and attorney general budget.

Provision for the payment of the employers' contribution under this article shall be made in the budget of the Wyoming highway patrol division as approved by the department of transportation out of the state highway fund, in the budget of the Wyoming game and fish commission out of the game and fish fund and in the budget of the attorney general for the division of criminal investigation and for capitol police.

9-3-620. Exemption of benefits from state and local taxes, execution and attachment; benefits paid under qualified domestic relations order.

(a) Benefits and allowances set forth under this article are exempt from any state, county or municipal tax and are not subject to execution or attachment by trustee process or otherwise, in law or equity, or under any other process, and are not assignable except as specially provided in this article.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, benefits and allowances under this article may be paid in accordance with qualified domestic relations orders pursuant to W.S. 9-3-426.

ARTICLE 7 - JUDICIAL RETIREMENT

9-3-701. Short title.

This act is known and may be cited as "The Wyoming Judicial Retirement Act".

9-3-702. Definitions.

(a) As used in this act:

(i) "Account" means an account established for the purpose of accounting for funds used to provide benefits to employees covered under this act;

(ii) "Board" or "retirement board" means the retirement board of the Wyoming retirement system established by the Wyoming Retirement Act, article 4 of this chapter 3;

(iii) "Credited service" means service as a justice of the supreme court, as a district judge or a circuit court judge for which contributions were made and not refunded under this act;

(iv) "Disability" means a determination by the supreme court or a special supreme court of mandatory retirement of the employee for a disability as provided in Wyoming Constitution, Article 5, Section 6(g);

(v) "Employee" means any justice of the supreme court, district judge, chancery court judge or circuit court judge appointed to any of those offices on or after July 1, 1998, and with no prior service as a justice of the supreme court or district judge at the time of the appointment. "Employee" also includes any justice or judge who elects to participate in the judicial retirement program under this act in accordance with W.S. 9-3-713;  (vi) "Employer" means the Wyoming supreme court, for justices, chancery court judges and circuit court judges, or a district court;

(vii) "Highest average salary" means the average annual salary of a member for the highest paid three (3) years of continuous service;

(viii) "Interest" means interest compounded annually at such rate or rates as shall be determined by the board, not exceeding the average amount of interest actually earned per annum by the account;

(ix) "Retirement program" means the Wyoming judicial retirement program created by this act;

(x) "Salary" means the cash remuneration paid, including contributions required by W.S. 9-3-704, to an employee for his services;

(xi) "Member account" means:

(A) For an employee who has a minimum of four (4) years of service or an employee initially employed before July 1, 2018, the employee's contributions paid from any source;

(B) For an employee who has fewer than four (4) years of service and who is initially employed on or after July 1, 2018, only the employee's contributions paid by a reduction in cash salary of the employee.

(xii) "This act" means W.S. 9-3-701 through 9-3-713.

9-3-703. Administration.

(a) There is created the retirement program which is for the benefit of the employees defined in W.S. 9-3-702(a)(v).

(b) The administration and responsibility for the operation of the retirement program is under the direction and control of the board. All matters pertaining to the board are applicable to the retirement program created by this act. For the purposes of administration of this act, the Wyoming Retirement Act applies to this act to the extent not inconsistent with this act, or where by the terms of the Wyoming Retirement Act, its provisions can have no application. Specifically, with respect to this act, W.S. 9-3-408 applies with respect to investment of funds and service as custodian of funds in the account and the board has rulemaking authority in accordance with W.S. 9-3-409.

9-3-704. Employee contributions.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, every employee covered by this article shall pay into the account nine and twenty-two one-hundredths percent (9.22%) of his salary through June 30, 2024 and thereafter shall pay into the account eleven and forty-seven one-hundredths percent (11.47%) of his salary. To the extent this contribution is not paid by the employer as authorized in this section, this payment shall be deducted each pay period from employees' salaries by the respective fiscal officers of the employers.

(b) The entire contribution required by subsection (a) of this section shall be paid by the employer for employees covered under this article in order to be treated as employer contributions for the sole purpose of determining tax treatment under the United States Internal Revenue Code.

(c) The contributions under subsection (b) of this section shall be paid from the source of funds which is used in paying salary to the employee. The employer may pay these contributions without offset of the employee's salary in the same salary percentage as provided by state employers under W.S. 9-3- 413.1(b)(iii) through June 30, 2024. Thereafter the employer may pay these contributions without offset of the employee's salary in a salary percentage not to exceed seven and forty-seven hundredths percent (7.47%). The employer shall also reduce the cash salary of the employee by three and sixty-five hundredths percent (3.65%) through June 30, 2024. Thereafter the employer shall reduce the cash salary of the employee by four percent (4.00%).

9-3-705. Employer contributions.

Each employer subject to this act shall pay into the account a contribution equal to fourteen and five-tenths percent (14.5%) of the salary paid to each employee covered by this act. These contributions, together with the employees' contributions shall be transferred and credited to the retirement program in a manner the board directs.

9-3-706. Age of retirement.  (a) An employee is eligible for retirement under this act when he has served as a judge of the supreme court, a district court, a chancery court judge, a circuit court or service in any combination of those positions after July 1, 1998, if:

(i) He is at least sixty (60) years of age and has at least twenty (20) years of credited service;

(ii) He is at least sixty-five (65) years of age and has at least four (4) years of credited service;

(iii) He has less than four (4) years of credited service but has served continuously from the date of appointment to the age of seventy (70) years;

(iv) He has not less than ten (10) years and is retired for disability;

(v) He has not less than four (4) years of service to his credit and is at least fifty-five (55) years of age, but any benefit received by an employee under this paragraph shall be reduced by five percent (5%) for each year of retirement prior to age sixty-five (65).

9-3-707. Amount of benefit; adjustments.

(a) Any employee who has left service covered under this act, and who has not withdrawn his accumulated contributions, is eligible to receive a retirement allowance computed according to the terms of this act at the age specified in W.S. 9-3-706. The service retirement allowance payable to an employee under this act is subject to the following:

(i) The amount shall be equal to the percentage computed under paragraph (ii) of this subsection times the employee's highest average salary as defined in W.S.