43:6A-14. Membership in other retirement system under state law

a. Any judge who is required to be a member of the retirement system established by this act and who holds membership in a retirement system established pursuant to any other law of this State shall cease to be a member of such other retirement system as of the effective date of this act. Any person becoming a judge of the several courts after the effective date of this act, who holds membership in a retirement system established pursuant to any other law of this State shall cease to be a member of such other retirement system on the date he becomes such judge.

b. Any such judge shall, upon his request, receive a refund of his contributions to such retirement system, without interest, less any unpaid balance of an outstanding loan, as of the effective date of this act or the date on which he becomes such judge, whichever is later. If any such judge shall be eligible for benefits under any such retirement system as of the effective date of this act, or if later, as of the date he becomes such judge, he may elect to receive an annuity based on his own contributions while continuing to serve as such judge; provided, however, that if any such judge shall subsequently elect to receive benefits under the provisions of this act, all rights to retirement and death benefits under any other law of this State shall thereby be terminated except as hereinafter provided in subsection c.

c. If any such judge elects to receive benefits pursuant to the provisions of this act after having received benefits from a retirement system established pursuant to another law of this State, such judge shall be entitled to receive the value of his contributions, without interest, to such other retirement system reduced by the value of any benefits received from such retirement system.

If any such judge dies in service before he could elect to receive the benefits pursuant to the provisions of this act, after having received benefits from a retirement system established pursuant to another law of this State, his eligible beneficiary shall be entitled to receive the value of the member's contributions, without interest, to such other retirement system reduced by the value of any benefits received by the judge from such retirement system.

d. After the effective date of this amendatory and supplementary act, any person appointed to be a judge to sit on any of the several courts who holds membership in a State-administered retirement system may elect to transfer the service for which he has been credited in that system to the Judicial Retirement System of New Jersey. The transfer shall be accomplished by filing forms satisfactory to the New Jersey Division of Pensions, which is responsible for the administration of the Judicial Retirement System, within 90 days following the effective date of this amendatory and supplementary act or his appointment to one of the several courts, whichever is later.

e. Within 120 days following the filing of forms provided in subsection d. of this section, the former retirement system of the judge shall remit to the Judicial Retirement System of New Jersey all accumulated deductions standing to his credit and within 180 days following the filing of the forms the retirement system shall remit the pro rata part of the reserve fund constituting the employer's obligations under the former system applicable to the employee's account, and the Judicial Retirement System of New Jersey shall then enter the respective sums so remitted to it to the credit of the judge in the annuity savings fund and to the credit of the employer in the contingency reserve fund of the Judicial Retirement System of New Jersey. All outstanding obligations such as loans, purchasers, and other arrearages shall be met by the judge as previously scheduled for payment to his former retirement system.

f. In the event that the value of the money so remitted to the Judicial Retirement System is less than the total which is required by the retirement system to provide the transferred member with credit for his public service, the liability of the State shall include an amount equal to the difference between these two values.

L.1973, c. 140, s. 14, eff. May 22, 1973. Amended by L.1981, c. 470, s. 8, eff. Jan. 19, 1982.