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GENERAL PROVISIONS

Miscellaneous

Compulsory Retirement Prohibited – (See R. S. 11:133)

No employee may be separated from public service by his appointing authority solely because the employee has attained any particular age. (See R. S. 11:133(B) for exceptions related to certain public safety employees)

Correction of Errors Due to Overpayment of Benefits – (See R. S. 11:192)

If the system makes a payment to any retiree, beneficiary, or survivor in any amount that is not actually due, the error will be corrected and future payments will be adjusted to the correct amount.  The system may recover an overpayment by reducing the corrected benefit so that the overpayment will be recovered within a reasonable time.  The system will notify the person who received the overpayment of the amount of overpayment and the amount of the adjustment in the future payments thirty days prior to reducing the corrected benefit.

Community Property Interests – (See R. S. 11:291)

Payment of a benefit (including payment of a DROP benefit) or return of accumulated employee contributions is subject to a temporary restraining order or injunction issued by a court in connection with an action which would result in a termination of a community property regime or partition of community assets and liabilities after such termination if the order or injunction involves a member or retiree of the system and his/her spouse or former spouse and provides that community assets not be disbursed, disposed of, alienated, or otherwise encumbered, but only after a certified copy of the order or judgment is received by the retirement system.

Payment of a benefit or return of employee contributions is subject to a court order issued by a court upon or after termination of a community property regime if the order recognizes the community interest of a spouse or former spouse of a member or retiree of the retirement system and provides that a benefit or return of employee contributions be divided by the retirement system between the spouse or former spouse and the member or retiree, but only after a certified copy of such order has been received by the system and has been determined by the retirement system to be in compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations.

In those instances in which no certified copy of an injunction, temporary restraining order, or court order for division of a benefit or a return of employee contributions has been received and/or approved by the system, the system shall pay the entire amount of any benefit or return of employee contributions to the member, retiree, designated beneficiary, survivor benefit recipient, or the estate of a deceased member and payment so made shall constitute a release of all accrued rights of every kind and nature against the retirement system, including, but not limited to, community property rights of a spouse or former spouse and any rights of an heir or legatee of such spouse or former spouse.

In those instances in which the spouse or former spouse with whom the retirement system is to divide a benefit or a return of employee contributions dies, the retirement system shall pay the entire amount of the benefit or return of employee contributions to the member, retiree, designated beneficiary, survivor benefit recipient, or the estate of a deceased member and payment so made shall constitute a release of all accrued rights of every kind and nature against the retirement system including, but not limited to, any rights of an heir or legatee of the spouse or former spouse.

The system may not pay any funds to any person until the payment normally becomes otherwise legally payable to the member.

Community Property; Allocation and Assignment of Ownership – (See R. S. 9:2801.1)

When federal law or the provisions of a statutory pension or retirement plan, state or federal, preempt or preclude community classification of property that would have been classified as community property under the principles of the Civil Code, the spouse of the person entitled to such property shall be allocated or assigned the ownership of community property equal in value to such property prior to the division of the rest of the community property. Nevertheless, if such property consists of a spouse's right to receive social security benefits or the benefits themselves, then the court in its discretion may allocate or assign other community property equal in value to the other spouse.

Membership Information; Public Access – (See R. S. 11:175)

In addition to the public records that are made accessible pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 44:16, any person of the age of majority is eligible to inspect, copy or reproduce, or obtain a reproduction of the following information from the records of any public retirement system, plan, or fund regarding any active member of the system, plan, or fund:

(1)   The name of the employing agency or agencies and the dates of any employment of the member in which the member has been eligible for membership in the system, plan, or fund.

(2)   The salary reported by the member's employer or employers for the purpose of determining contributions paid or payable to the system and the number of years of service credited to the member's account.

(3)   The amount of benefits paid or payable to the member's Deferred Retirement Option Plan account, if any.

Any information requested under this Section must be provided by the system in accordance with the laws relative to public records, R.S. 44:1 et seq.

Membership Information; Public Access and Exemptions – (See R. S. 44:15 - R. S. 44:16 and R. S. 44:31 - R. S. 44:33)

Any person of the age of majority may inspect, copy or reproduce, or obtain a reproduction of information deemed public records under the law.  Such available information includes the following data regarding any active member of the system:

(1)     The names of members of the system

(2)     The name of the employing municipality or agency

(3)     The dates of any employment of the member in which the member has been eligible for membership in the system

(4)     The salary reported by the member’s employer for the purpose of determining contributions paid or payable to the system

Retirement system records concerning the system's retirees and those persons who are participating in or who have participated in the Deferred Retirement Option Plan are exempt from the state's public records laws with a few specific exceptions. Available information for such members includes:

(1)     The member’s retirement allowance

(2)     The member’s final average compensation

(3)     The member’s years of creditable service

(4)     The names of the agencies with which the member was employed

(5)     The dates of the member’s employment

The exemption mentioned above does not apply to requests for records by any member of the Louisiana Legislature, by any state agency or employer reporting information to the plan/fund, by any municipality that participates in the system, or any association of individuals who receive a retirement benefit from the system.

All medical records, application forms, doctor’s reports and evaluations, agency certifications, and other health records of persons applying for disability retirement in the custody of the system are exempt from the public records law.

For more details see the appropriate sections of the statutes.