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7/31/2019 Texas Judicial Retirement System
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Retirement Benefits for Judicial Officers
JRS Plan II
as administered by
September 2011
7/31/2019 Texas Judicial Retirement System
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This booklet provides information regarding Judicial Retirement System Plan II
Retirement Benefitsfor Judicial Officers
in JRS-II
www.ers.state.tx.us
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Retirement benefits for members of JRS-II
If you became a judge, justice,
or commissioner of the Supreme
Court, Court of Criminal Appeals,
District Court or specified
commissions to a court after
August 31, 1985, you are required to
hold membership in JRS-II.
If you became a judge, justice, orcommissioner of the SupremeCourt, Court of Criminal Appeals,
Court of Appeals, District Court or
August 31, 1985, you are required to
be a member of and contribute to the
upon your death, retirement, or with-
drawal of your contributions.
If you have ever been a memberof the Judicial Retirement SystemPlan I (JRS-I), you may not join JRS-II.You must resume membership in thesystem you were in during previousservice.
If for any reason you cease to be a
contributions from JRS-II. This willcancel your service credit in JRS-II.If you have not withdrawn funds, youmay resume contributions when youresume state elected or appointed
judicial service.
Each month, 6% of your gross salarywill be deducted as your contributionto JRS-II and credited to your individu-al retirement account. In addition, theState contributes an amount neces-
A member of JRS-II who accrues20 years of service credit in the retire-ment system may elect to continuecontributions. A member who hasserved at least 12 years on an appel-late court and who meets the Ruleof 70 may also elect to continuecontributions.
Resumption of service
If you retire and then resume stateelected or appointed judicial service,you may not rejoin and again contrib-ute to JRS-II. Your annuity paymentswill be suspended until you leave
resumption. It is your responsibility tonotify ERS of your return to judicialservice. Suspension of the annuitypayment, which begins on the day
reduce the number of months annu-ity payments are scheduled under an
have chosen. The suspension of yourannuity does not apply if you takeassignments as a visiting judge afterretirement.
Retirement eligibility
You become eligible to receive a ser-vice retirement annuity in three ways:
service and currently holding a judi-
service, whether or not you hold a
whether or not you hold a judicial
served at least 12 years on an
appellate court and the sum of your
age and amount of service credit
in the retirement system equals or
exceeds the number 70, whether or
You may choose to receive a perma-
age 60 with 10 years of service,
age 60 with 12 years of service,
whether or not you hold a judicial
There are three types of retirement-
-ber who is impeached or removed
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Example:An active judge with seven yearsand six months credit dies. His ac-count balance was $39,355.
Refund Account Balance =
$39,355.00
($39,355 x 35%) = $13,774.25
Service retirement
Your base Service Retirement Annuity(SRA) will be 50% of the state salarybeing paid for a judge of a court of the
which you were elected or appointed.This is increased by 10% if you have
one year at retirement or if you haveaccepted an assignment as a visiting
judge within a year of your effectivedate of retirement. Monthly retirementannuities are adjusted through legisla-tion. The SRA of a member who electsto make contributions after 20 yearsof service or after reaching the Rule of70 with 12 years on an appellate courtwould be based on 50% of the statesalary plus 2.3% for each subsequentyear not to exceed 90%.
Disability retirement
Regardless of your age, you are
eligible to retire and receive a dis-
ability retirement annuity if you have
seven years of service credit in JRS-II.
mentally or physically incapacitating
by the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court and the ERS medical board. It
may be denied for a condition caused
by the excessive use of alcohol ornarcotic drugs. When applying for a
disability retirement, you must submit
two opinions by licensed physicians
supporting your claims to ERS and the
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Your application will be referred to
the ERS medical board for its recom-
mendations, and it may require that
you submit additional information.
The Chief Justice may also appoint a
licensed physician or direct the ERS
medical board to ask for more informa-
tion from you in order to make recom-
mendations.
A disability annuity cannot be reduced
because of age, and you will receive
it for the duration of your disability. If
you have chosen one of the optional
the plan chosen should you die while
If you are an active contributing
member to JRS-II with at least 10
years service credit, you may select
one or more persons to receive a
payable beginning on the day afteryour death, in the event you die before
retirement. You have two choices of
reduced annuities:
is paid in the same amount through--sen by you before your retirement(Retirement Option 1), or
-ments will be paid to one or more-tirement Option 4).
-ments are determined by the optionselected, your age, and the age of the
the time of your death.
If you die before making the selection,
your spouse, if surviving, or the
personal representative of your estate
may make the selections with the
same options that were available to
you.
take effect at your death unless you
amend the plan, select a retirement
annuity at your retirement, or become
ineligible to select a plan.
If you are not eligible to select a death
your retirement, all of your accumu-
lated contributions to the retirement
system are payable as a lump sum
-
ciary or to your estate.
Also available for those contributing
members not eligible to select a death
computed by multiplying your full
years of service credit at the time
of your death by 5% of your total
contributions.
If you are retired at the time of your
amount of $5,000 will be paid to your
Retirement eligibility and benefits
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Health and other insurance benefits for employees and retirees are
subject to change based on available State funding. The Texas Legislature
determines the level of funding for such benefits and has no continuing
obligation to provide those benefits beyond each fiscal year.
This payment is in addition to any
under the Proportionate RetirementProgram with less than the total yearsof service credit required for a serviceretirement from JRS-II, the payment isreduced accordingly.
A lump sum payment will be paid to a
situations where the full amount of theretirees contributions have not been
death. This law affects those retireeswho have chosen the standard an-nuity, but does not apply to Options 3
and 4.
Retiree insurance coverage
When you retire, you and your spouse
are eligible to enroll in the Texas
(GBP), including available healthmaintenance organizations (HMOs).You also qualify for dental coveragewith either of the States two dentalplans. Your children under age 26 and/or handicapped children of any agemay be eligible for health insurancecoverage. Unmarried children underage 26 can be enrolled in dental
insurance.
Retired and active judges are coveredby the same health plans and receivethe same state contributions towardpremium costs (100% for retiree andpart of the premium for dependentcoverage). Active judges who godirectly to retirement status may keepa portion of their optional term lifeinsurance and, if they have dependentterm life in force at that time, maykeep a portion of that coverage. Re-tiree health premiums include $2,500
of basic term life for the retiree only.Optional term life and dependent termlife insurance are the only optionallife insurance coverage available toretirees.
When a retiree with 10 or more yearsof service credit dies, the retireesspouse, eligible children under age26, and any currently covered eligiblehandicapped children of any age mayenroll in GBP health coverage anddental coverage (unmarried chil-dren only) as a survivor provided therequired premiums are paid and anydependency requirements continueto be met. Eligible survivors have 30days to enroll, and children may enrollregardless of whether the spousecontinues coverage. The State makesno contribution toward the cost of
surviving dependent coverage. Thispremium is the total responsibility ofthe covered dependent.
Exemption from forced paymentof debts
All retirement annuity payments,
contributions, and money in the vari-ous retirement funds are exempt fromgarnishment, assignment, attachment,or any other legal process except
child support payments as requiredby a court order or, in certain limitedcircumstances, a federal tax levy.
Federal income tax on annuitypayments
When you retire, ERS will provide fulland current information on the taxstatus of your monthly annuity. Federalincome tax laws are subject to change
a summary of current tax provisions
relating to annuity payments:
The retirees nontaxable contribu-
tions to JRS-II are recovered tax
free on a prorated basis and not
in full at the beginning. Therefore,
a portion of your annuity payment
will be taxable immediately and a
portion will be excluded from tax. Ingeneral, the non-taxable part is the
prorated return of your contributions
At the time the tax-free portion of
your annuity payments equals the
total of your contributions, your en-
tire annuity payment will be taxable.
Federal law requires ERS to deduct
federal income tax on the taxable
portion of annuity payments unless
the member elects not to have tax
deducted.
Social Security
receive from Social Security do not
receive from JRS-II. For informationregarding your Social Security ben-
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Earning service credit
You may purchase military,
previously withdrawn
judicial service, calendar
year service, or
Additional Service Credit.
Establishing additional servicecredit
You may receive additional servicecredit by purchasing past activemilitary service, through buyingpreviously withdrawn judicial service(if you retire under JRS-II, you must
purchase JRS-II withdrawn service),or Additional Service Credit.
Additional Service Credit
Members of JRS-II are eligible topurchase Additional Service Credit(ASC) for additional retirement credit.
ASC can only be bought to meetretirement eligibility of 20 years atany age.
This credit purchase option allows
be purchased by paying to the Systemthe actuarial present value of the
to the
additional service credit. You must be
a member and have at least 15 years
of JRS-II membership service (not
counting military service) to be eligible
for this option. The service must be
purchased in increments of at least
one year, except JRS-II members at
retirement may purchase the neces-
sary months of time to enable them toretire. Additional conditions and
restrictions may be applicable.
You may purchase ASC by lump sum
or by using funds in your Texa$aver
401(k) or 457 Plan. Monthly payroll
deductions are not permitted.
Military service credit
You may buy up to 48 months (fouryears) of prior active military serviceif you have at least eight years ofservice credit in JRS-II and are noteligible to receive federal retirementpayments for 20 or more years of
active military service. You may buyservice credit in JRS-II by contribut-ing 6% of your current monthly statesalary for each month of active militaryservice claimed. If you do not establish-gibility, 10% interest will be applied for
eligibility to the date of deposit.
Calendar year service
A contributing member who has not
retired may establish service credit inthe retirement system for any calendar
year during which the member:
membership of the retirement
was eligible to take the oath for an
the retirement system.
You may establish service credit under
this section by depositing with theretirement system a contribution
computed for each month of credit
claimed at the rate of 6% of your
current monthly salary, plus, if you do
-
ity, interest computed on the basis of
of 10%
to the date of deposit.
You may purchase service credit inthree ways:
1. A one-time lump sum paymentfor the total period purchased.
2. A lump sum payment of the totalamount due for increments (inmonths) of credit available to you.
3. Rollover (transfer) of money fromone retirement account to another,e.g., using money from your 401(k)
to pay for service credit.Purchase through eligiblerollover distribution (ERD)
You may use all or part of an eligiblerollover distribution (ERD) from a qual-
service credit. ERS must pre-approveyour use of an ERD. An ERD is thetaxable portion of a distribution from a
distribution is an ERD. Strict condi-tions apply to your eligibility to roll overa distribution to purchase service. Youshould consult a tax advisor or the IRSabout the tax consequences ofan ERD.
Contact ERS to request servicepurchase cost information. ERS willsend you a cost estimate detailingeach purchase plan available to you.
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Earning service credit
Other retirement systems
Years of service credit in any one ofthe other 10 retirement systems inTexas cannot be transferred into JRS-II. However, the systems administerthe Proportionate Retirement Program
have service credit in more than onesystem. Besides JRS-II, other partici-pating systems are:
Central Texas Community Health
by City of Austin Retirement System
City of Austin Police RetirementSystem
City of Austin Retirement System
El Paso City Employees PensionFund
El Paso Firemen & PolicemensPension Fund
Employees Retirement Systemof Texas
Judicial Retirement Systemof Texas Plan I
Teacher Retirement Systemof Texas
Texas County and DistrictRetirement System
Texas Municipal RetirementSystem
If you have money in an account inmore than one system, you may be eli-gible for a service retirement annuity,if the combined total of all your years
length-of-service requirement for thesystems from which you are retiring.You are not required to retire simulta-neously from all systems for which youare eligible.
Under the Proportionate RetirementProgram, military service credit estab-lished in more than one system for thesame period of active military duty willbe credited in only one system. If youqualify for proportionate retirement,you will receive a monthly annuity fromeach system based on service estab-lished in that system.
To protect your rights under this pro-gram, if you have service credit estab-lished in more than one system, eachone should receive written notice fromyou listing all the systems in which youhave an account.
The Proportionate
Retirement Program is designed
to provide benefits to members
with service credit in
more than one system.
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At retirement, you will select asurvivor options that may provide a
Thedecision you make in choosingan option is an important one andcannot be changed after retirement.Spousal consent will be required if youselect the standard annuity or Option3 or 4.
Other features
A lump sum payment will be paid
certain situations where the fullamount of the retirees contributions
law affects only those retirees who
have chosen the standard annuity.
If you select Option 1, 2, or 5 and your
then your monthly annuity check re-turns to the standard annuity amount.
If you select Option 1, 2, or 5, youcannot
the effective date of retirement. You
under these options, and the reductionfrom the standard annuity amount is
calculated on the basis of the age dif-ference in years of your age at retire-
at that time.
If you select Option 3 or 4, you can-ment. The reduction from your stan-dard annuity amount for these optionsis calculated on actuarial reductionfactors, regardless of your age atretirement.
Your annuity options
Survivor option reduction fac-
tor tables are used when retiring
employees choose a survivor
option to continue payments to a
of these factors are based on the
employees age at retirement and
-
formation on the reduction factors
that would apply to you and your
Service at (512) 867-7711 in Austin
or (877) 275-4377 toll-free.
You can choose
a standard annuity
or one of five
survivor annuity options.
Monthly Payment Options
Option Retiree Payment Survivor Payment
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Sample annuity calculations
Example I (40%)An individual serves on the districtbench from age 35 through age 47. Atthe end of the third term, the individualdecides to enter private law practice-gible at age 60. The calculation wouldbe as follows:
Service if an individual has beenoff the bench more than one year, aminimum of 12 or more years isnecessary for retirement. (Militarycredit is applicable once a mem-ber has at least eight years on thebench.)
Age a member may retire as early
Sample Calculation Percentage applicable at age 60 =
40%
MonthlySalary
x Percentage = StandardAnnuity
$10,416.67 x 40% = $4,166.67
Example II (50%)An individual serves on the districtbench from age 50 until age 60 andimmediately retires. The calculationwould be as follows:
Service 10 years and currently
credit is applicable once a mem-ber has at least eight years on thebench.)
Age a member may retire as early
Sample Calculation Percentage applicable at age 60 = 40%
plusBonus* for retiring immediately uponleaving the bench + 10% = 50%
MonthlySalary
x Percentage = StandardAnnuity
$10,416.67 x 50% = $5,208.34
Example III (60%)An individual serves on the districtbench from age 55 until age 65. Hethen retires immediately. The calcula-tion would be as follows:
Service 10 years and currently
is applicable once a member has atleast eight years on the bench.)
Age a member may retire with full
Sample Calculation Percentage applicable at age 65 = 50%
plusBonus* for retiring immediately uponbecoming eligible + 10% = 60%
MonthlySalary
x Percentage = StandardAnnuity
$10,416.67 x 60% = $6,250.00
Example IV (90%)An individual who elects to make con-tributions after obtaining 20 years ofservice credit would be based on 50%of the state salary plus 2.3% for eachsubsequent year not to exceed 90%.The calculation would be as follows:
Service 20 years and currently
is applicable once a member has atleast eight years on the bench.)
Age a member may retire with
Sample Calculation
Percentage applicable at any age = 50%plus
Bonus* for retiring immediately uponbecoming eligible + 10% = 60%
plusAn additional 2.3% for each subsequentyear after obtaining 20 years servicecredit. For the purpose of this calculationlets assume member works an additiona13 years x 2.3% = 30%
MonthlySalary
x Percentage = StandardAnnuity
$10,416.67 x 90% = $9,375.00
Age at Retirement Percentage of
State Salary
At least 60 but less than 61 40.0%
At least 61 but less than 62 41.7%
At least 62 but less than 63 43.6%
At least 63 but less than 64 45.6%
At least 64 but less than 65 47.7%
retirement
*The retirement system shall
increase by 10% of the amount of
the applicable state salary under
the annuity of a member who on
the effective day of retirement:
anniversary of the last day of that
service has not occurred.
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How to apply for retirement
You must notify ERS not morethan 90 days before the date youwant to retire. Your request must bereceived before the last day of themonth in which you plan to retire.Retirement may commence on anyday of the month. ERS will need thefollowing from you to complete theretirement process:
your name and Social Security
a telephone number where youmay be contacted between 8 a.m.
and
Option 1, 2 or 5.
Applying for your contributionrefunds
required to withdraw their retirementcontributions. If you have 12 or moreyears of service credit, you are entitledto receive a monthly annuity uponreaching retirement age.
Current law provides you this vested
not withdraw your contributions, eventhough you leave the bench and ceasecontributing. You do not have to be
retirement.
Account withdrawal
If you leave judicial service, you maywithdraw all of the money in your JRS-II account, but by doing this you can-cel your service credit in the system,which, in turn, terminates your rights
from your JRS-II account, contact ERSCustomer Service.
ERS is here for you
ERS will send you a Statement of
following your birthday, around thesame time you receive your summary
Social Security Administration. You
can use the two statements togetherto get a complete picture of your
important retirement planning informa-
vesting information.
For more information
You may write, call, or visit ERS formore detailed information on retire-ment and on the JRS Plan II Program.To assist ERS in responding to yourrequests, please provide your name
as it appears on your court payrollrecords and your Social Security num-ber. If you wish to visit ERS in person,please call in advance to schedule anappointment. Your call will permit the
waiting time during your visit. ERS isopen from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., Mondaythrough Friday, except on holidays.
Retirement records of members and
not release certain information aboutyour account without your writtenauthorization.
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Requesting more
information
To visit in person:
To call:
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