§3647. Retirement of members having twenty years or more of service

A. If any officer, member or employee of the police department, employed on or before December 31, 1967, has twenty years of active service in the department and retires from the department, he shall receive fifty percent of his or her average compensation during the highest year of service preceding the date of retirement, as an annuity from the fund. For each year of service in addition to twenty years, the member shall be entitled to a service benefit to be increased by an additional one percent of his average compensation for each year of service before January 1, 1968 and two and one-half percent of average compensation for the best year of service, not to include overtime pay, holiday pay or court time pay for each year of service after June 30, 1967; and in addition, if the member has attained age fifty, his service benefit shall be increased one-half of one percent for each year of service over twenty-five, provided that no service benefit shall exceed eighty percent of the average compensation earned during the best year of service preceding retirement; provided, however, that any officer, member, or employee of the police department who was employed on or before July 1, 1967 who had twenty years or more of active service on said date and who is on active service on July 29, 1970 and who continues in active service beyond twenty-five years shall receive a retirement allowance of three percent for all years over twenty, with a maximum benefit of eighty percent.

B. All employees of the police department who enter the service of the city after December 31, 1967 and who become contributing members of this system, shall receive a retirement allowance equal to two and one-half percent of their average compensation based on the highest four consecutive years multiplied by the number of years of their creditable service, not to exceed eighty percent and further provided that in the case of those employees who enter the service after December 31, 1967, and who remain in service beyond twenty years and have attained age fifty-five the retirement allowance shall be three percent for all years over twenty, with a maximum benefit of eighty percent.

C. Any member who entered service after December 31, 1967, whose withdrawal from service occurs prior to the attainment of the age of fifty years, who shall at such time have completed at least twenty years of creditable service, shall remain a member of the retirement system and in such case said member shall receive a service retirement beginning when he attains the age of fifty years.

D. Any employee of the police department who was employed on or before December 31, 1967, and who is a contributing member of this system, may elect to come under the provisions of this act which applies to members of the police department employed after December 31, 1967, provided that such election shall be submitted in writing to the board of trustees, and, provided, further that such member be not eligible for any benefits under this new system for at least four years after June 26, 1967 unless he will have attained the age of fifty years.

E. If any member of the police department shall acquire a permanent physical or mental disability and become incapacitated to perform his duties and such disability is not the direct result of a service incurred injury or illness, then, in that event, the board of trustees, by a majority vote of its members, shall determine whether or not the member shall be retired for disability. Provided, that the procedure to establish the disability and to determine the continuance thereof shall be the same as that prescribed in Subsection F of this Section. The amount of the pension to be received by any member retired in accordance with the provisions of this Section shall be based on the following schedule:

(1) If the member with a disability has performed faithful service in the police department for a period of ten years or less, he shall receive a pension in the amount of thirty percent of his average salary during the last year of service immediately preceding the date of establishing his disability in accordance with the provisions of this Section.

(2) If the member with a disability has performed faithful service in the police department for a period of more than ten years, but not more than fifteen years, he shall receive a pension in the amount of forty percent of his average salary during the last year of service immediately preceding the date of establishing his disability in accordance with the provisions of this Section.

(3) If the member with a disability has performed faithful service in the police department for a period of more than fifteen years, he shall receive a pension in the amount of fifty percent of his average salary during the last year of service immediately preceding the date of establishing his disability in accordance with the provisions of this Section.

F.(1) Should any member acquire a disability from injury incurred in the scope of employment and while in service he shall be paid a disability benefit to be determined by the board based on the extent of his disability but not to exceed fifty percent of his salary at the time he acquires the disability. Should the member acquire a disability from any cause, whether service connected or not, after ten years of creditable service he shall be entitled to a disability benefit to be determined by the board, based on the extent of his disability, but not to exceed fifty percent of his average annual salary for his highest five consecutive years, provided that monies received as overtime pay, whether voluntary or involuntary, court time pay, and holiday pay shall not be considered as salary for the purposes of this Act.

(2) The board shall require annual medical examination of members with disabilities and if the board determines that any member has recovered from his disability he shall be required to return to active duty and his disability payments shall cease.

G. On account of each member who comes under the provisions of this Section applying to persons employed after December 31, 1967, either because of date of employment or due to election as provided herein, there shall be paid annually by the city and credited to the pension accumulation account a certain percentage of the earnable compensation of each member, to be known as the "normal contribution" and an additional percentage of this earnable compensation to be known as the "accrued liability contribution". The rates percentum of such contribution shall be fixed on the basis of the liabilities of the retirement system as shown by actuarial valuation. The board of trustees shall administer the funds paid into this system and will invest these in accordance with the state laws now governing the investments of life insurance companies.

Amended by Acts 1952, No. 395, §1; Acts 1954, No. 213, §1; Acts 1967, No. 69, §3; Acts 1970, No. 193, §1; Redesignated from R.S. 33:2294 by Acts 1991, No. 74, §3, eff. June 25, 1991; Acts 2014, No. 811, §4, eff. June 23, 2014.

NOTE: Acts 2014, No. 811 changed terminology referring to persons with disabilities throughout the La. Revised Statutes and codes of law, and included a listing of terms that were deleted and their respective successor terms (See Acts 2014, No. 811, §36). The Act provides that it is not the intent of the legislature that changes in terminology effected therein alter or affect in any way the substance, interpretation, or application of any law or administrative rule; further provides that nothing in the Act shall be construed to expand or diminish any right of or benefit for any person provided by any law or administrative rule (See Acts 2014, No. 811, §35(C) and (D)).