Last Updated: May 2007
The following rules apply to governor-appointed officials who choose to be covered by the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) Plan 2 or Plan 3 while in office. You are eligible to participate in PERS Plan 2 or Plan 3 while in office if:
You are not required to join PERS membership while serving in your elected position. However, if you would like to become a member while in office, you must apply to the Department of Retirement Systems (DRS).
You may apply for membership at any time while you are serving in your appointed position. If you enter membership after your appointment has begun, membership will be retroactive to the first day of your appointment to office. You will be required to pay employee contributions plus interest back to the first day of your appointment.
As a governor-appointed official, you are not eligible to purchase service credit for previous terms of governor-appointed service. However, you are entitled to establish membership and service credit for service in previously held elected positions.
If you have been appointed by the governor to a position that does not have a set term of office, your “current term of office” includes all uninterrupted service beginning with the first day of your current appointment.
Your membership decision is final: Once you have established retirement system membership, you must remain a member until you separate from all eligible public employment. If you serve an additional term of office with the same employer without a break in service, you will remain a retirement system member.
As a governor-appointed official, you are not eligible to purchase service credit for previous terms of governor-appointed service. However, you are entitled to establish membership and service credit for service in previously held elected positions retroactive to the first day of any previous PERS elected term or terms of office.
To receive service credit you must pay the required employee and employer contributions and interest for your previous term or terms of elected service as determined by DRS. Your employer may elect to pay the required employer contributions and interest for you.
The amount of service credit you earn helps to determine the size of your retirement benefit. As a governor-appointed official, you will earn service credit as follows:
The amount you will receive for a service retirement benefit is based on the formula:
Plan 2
2 percent x service credit years x
Average Final Compensation (AFC) =
Monthly benefit
Plan 3
1 percent x service credit years x AFC =
Monthly benefit
Average Final Compensation is the monthly average of your 60 consecutive highest-paid service credit months. Not included are payments for any type of severance pay such as lump-sum payments for deferred sick leave or annual leave.
Plan 2 contribution rates are variable and may be changed as necessary to reflect the cost of the plan.
In Plan 3, the amount you contribute depends on the contribution rate option you choose. Plan 3 features six contribution rate options that, once selected, may only be changed if you change employers.
The Plan 3 contribution rate options are:
If you are a retired PERS Plan 2 or Plan 3 member who is appointed to office by the governor, you have the option of remaining retired and continuing to receive your retirement benefit while serving in office, or returning to active member status while serving in office. If you choose to continue receiving your retirement benefit, you will be subject to retiree return to work rules for your system and plan. For more information, see the PERS Plan 2 and 3 Thinking about working after retirement? brochure.
If you return to active member status, you will stop receiving a monthly retirement benefit, and you will resume making contributions to your retirement system and accumulating service credit prospectively from the first day of the month following the date the department accepts your application for membership.
To begin, continue or reestablish PERS Plan 2 or Plan 3 membership, contact DRS and provide the following information:
DRS will send you a letter and application once your provide us with all of these items.
More information about elected or governor-appointed officials is available by contacting DRS. Additional rules governing all PERS Plan 2 or Plan 3 members are summarized in the PERS Plan 2 or PERS Plan 3 Member Handbook. To obtain a copy of a member handbook, or for more information about governor-appointed service, contact DRS.
This brochure does not contain a complete description of the law. If there are conflicts between the information contained in this brochure and retirement law, the applicable law will govern.
This publication is available in alternate formats.
