43:6A-11.1 Certain members of Judicial Retirement System; deferment.

1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any law or regulation to the contrary, a member of the Judicial Retirement System who has been appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to the position of county prosecutor in accordance with N.J.S.2A:158-1 may file, prior to commencing service as the county prosecutor, a written and duly executed application for retirement for any reason other than disability if the member has attained the age of 65 years and has served at least 25 consecutive years as a judge of the several courts. The approval process shall be expedited. If the application is approved, the effective date of retirement for that member shall be deferred to the first day of the month following the termination of the member's service in the position of county prosecutor. The application for retirement shall be accompanied by a copy of the member's written resignation from the judicial office effective as of the date of the approval of the retirement application.

If such a person attains the age of 70 years while serving as a county prosecutor, the person shall be deemed to be retired for the purposes of section 7 of P.L.1973, c.140 (C.43:6A-7) and paragraph 3 of Section VI of Article VI of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey based on the approved application for the member's retirement the effective date of which has been deferred.

If such a person dies while in service as a county prosecutor, the death shall not be considered a death in active service. The beneficiary shall be eligible for a pension or survivor's benefit, and for any death benefits, based on the approved retirement application and the retirement shall be effective as of the date of death. The election by the member of an option in accordance with section 1 of P.L.2002, c.54 (C.43:6A-16.1) shall become effective and payable.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a person who files an application for retirement pursuant to this section and serves in the position of county prosecutor shall not be eligible to participate in the Defined Contribution Retirement System, enroll in any other State-administered retirement system, or receive any other payments from the county or State deemed to be payments for retirement accounts, funds, pensions, or annuities. The person and the person's dependents shall be eligible for health care benefits coverage provided for the position of county prosecutor during service in that position.

This section shall be effective if the qualified status of the retirement system under federal law can be maintained upon its application, and such modifications to the system as may be available shall be made to allow for its application.

L.2019, c.287, s.1.