PART II.  RETIREMENT FOR PUBLIC OFFICERS

AND EMPLOYEES

 

A.  Definitions; Board of Trustees

 

§88-21 Definitions.  The following words and phrases as used in this part, unlessa different meaning is plainly required by the context, shall have thefollowing meanings:

"Accidentaldeath":  death that is the natural and proximate result of an accidentoccurring at some definite time and place while the member was in the actualperformance of duty, or due to the result of some occupational hazard, and notcaused by wilful negligence on the part of the member.

"Accumulatedcontributions":  the sum of all the amounts paid by, or deducted from thecompensation of, a member and credited to the member's individual account inthe annuity savings fund together with regular interest thereon.

"Activemember":  a member who is an employee.

"Actuarialequivalent":  a benefit of equal value to the accumulated contributions,annuity, pension or retirement allowance, when computed upon the basis of theactuarial tables and other assumptions approved by the board of trustees fromtime to time and specified in writing.

"Annuity": benefit payments for life derived from the accumulated contributions of amember.

"Average finalcompensation":  the average annual compensation as described in section88-81, which becomes part of the formula for the computation of a retirementallowance.

"Beneficiary": the recipient of any benefit from the system or, as the context may indicate,the person or persons designated by a member, former member, or retirant, or asprovided by law to receive the benefits payable in the event of the member's,former member's, or retirant's death.

"Board": the board of trustees of the employees' retirement system established pursuantto sections 88-23 and 88-24.

"Child orchildren":

(1)  A natural child of amember;

(2)  A legally adoptedchild of a member; or

(3)  A stepchild of amember:

(A)  Who lives witha member in a regular parent-child relationship; and

(B)  For whom themember has become the child's legal guardian or has been awarded legal andphysical custody of the child pursuant to a valid court order.

"Correctionsofficers":  all regularly employed personnel who are designated as adultcorrections officers pursuant to the classification of positions under chapter76.

"County": the counties of Hawaii, Honolulu, Kauai and Maui, including their respectiveboards of water supply and other quasi-independent boards, commissions andagencies.

"Creditedservice":  prior service plus membership service.

"Electiveofficer" or "elective official":  any person elected to a publicoffice or appointed to fill a vacancy of an elective office, except as adelegate to a constitutional convention or member of the board of education, inaccordance with an election duly held in the State or counties under chapter11; provided that the person receives compensation, pay, or salary for suchoffice.

"Emergencymedical technician" means a person regularly employed by the city andcounty of Honolulu's emergency services department whose principal duty is toprovide emergency medical services and who is licensed to provide emergencymedical services.

"Employee": any employee or officer of the State or any county, including inspectors,principals, teachers and special teachers, regularly employed in the publicschools, cafeteria managers and cafeteria workers, apprentices and on-the-jobtrainees whether or not supported in whole or in part by any federal grants,members of the legislature and other elective officers, including the trusteesof the office of Hawaiian affairs, year-round legislative employees who areemployed on a full-time basis, probationary and provisional employees, anyemployee of the educational nonprofit public corporation as provided in section88-49.7, per diem employees and others who are made eligible by reason of theiremployment to membership in the system by or pursuant to any other provision oflaw, but excluding:

(1)  Per diem employees whoelect to withdraw or not to become members as provided in section 88-42;

(2)  Elective officers whodo not elect to be members as provided in section 88-42.6;

(3)  Session employees ofthe legislature employed after October 31, 2006, in accordance with section88-54.2; and

(4)  Persons excluded byrules of the board pursuant to section 88-43.

An individual is anemployee during the period of a leave of absence if the individual is inservice, as defined in this part, during the period of the leave of absence andthe board shall determine who are employees within the meaning of this part.

"Firefighters": all regularly employed members of the State, including employees of thedepartment of transportation who were assigned firefighting duties at stateairports prior to June 3, 1978, or of the fire departments of the counties,whose principal duties are to prevent and fight fires.

"Judge": a justice of the supreme court, a judge of the intermediate appellate court, ajudge of the circuit court, a judge of the district court, or a district familycourt judge of this State.

"Legislativeofficer" means a chief clerk, an assistant chief clerk, a sergeant atarms, or an assistant sergeant at arms of either house of the legislature.

"Medicalboard":  the board of physicians provided for in section 88-31.

"Member": any person included in the membership of the system.

"Membershipservice":  all service rendered by a member for which the member had madethe required contributions to the system.

"Narcoticsenforcement investigators":  those officers or employees with policepowers as defined by chapter 329 who actively enforce narcotics or relatedstatutory provisions on a full-time basis.

"Ordinarydeath":  death that is not accidental and that occurs while in service oron authorized leave without pay.

"Pensions": benefit payment for life derived from money provided by the State or county, asthe case may be.

"Per diemworker":  a person employed and compensated on an hourly or daily basis.

"Policeofficers":  all duly commissioned members of the police department of theseveral counties whose principal duties are law enforcement and who are paid ona monthly salary basis, including without limiting the generality of theforegoing, all police matrons and guards who work under the jurisdiction ofsuch departments.

"Priorservice":  service rendered by a member to the State, territory or countyor predecessor government prior to the establishment of the system or, asspecifically provided in this part, prior to the admission of certain groups orclasses of employees into the system membership.

"Public safetyinvestigations staff investigators":  those employees in theinvestigations staff office of the department of public safety who have beenconferred police powers by the director of public safety in accordance withsection 353C-4 and are in the positions of investigator I to VII.

"Regularinterest":  interest at four and one-half per cent a year, compoundedannually.

"Retirant": a member who has retired and becomes a beneficiary of the system.

"Retirementallowance":  the benefit payable for life as originally computed and paida member at the point of the member's retirement in accordance with theretirement allowance option selected by the member, exclusive of any bonus orbonuses.

"Service": service as an employee paid by the State or county, and also:  service duringthe period of a leave of absence or exchange if the individual is paid by theState or county during the period of the leave of absence or exchange; andservice during the period of an unpaid leave of absence or exchange if theindividual is engaged in the performance of a governmental function or if theunpaid leave of absence is an approved leave of absence for professionalimprovement; provided that, for the period of the leave of absence or exchangewithout pay, the individual makes the same contribution to the system as theindividual would have made if the individual had not been on the leave ofabsence.  Cafeteria managers and cafeteria workers shall be considered as paidby the State, regardless of the source of funds from which they are paid.

"Serviceretirement":  retirement of a member for age or length of service.

"Sewerworker":  an employee of any county who is employed in any of thefollowing classifications:  (1) sewer maintenance helper or wastewatercollection system helper, (2) sewer maintenance repairer or wastewatercollection system repairer, (3) sewer maintenance supervisor I and II orwastewater collection system supervisor I and II, (4) gas detector, (5) gas detectorhelper, (6) gas detection supervisor, (7) cesspool worker, (8) cesspool pumpingequipment operator I, (9) cesspool pumping equipment operator II, (10) cesspoolpumping supervisor, or in any combination of these classifications.

"System": the employees' retirement system of the State of Hawaii.

"Water safetyofficer":  any regularly employed member of any county of the State whoseprincipal duty is to stand guard over the beaches of the State and counties toensure the safety of individuals thereon.

"Year round school employee":  any teacher,school administrator, school health aide, educational assistant, schoolsecurity attendant, or other salaried ten-month department of educationemployee working in a public school operating under a single-track restructuredinstructional schedule. [L 1925, c 55, §1; am imp L 1927, c 251, especially§§1, 2, 5; am L 1929, c 96, §19; RL 1935, §7920; am imp L 1937, c 235; RL 1945,§701; am L 1945, c 73, §1(a); am L 1947, c 85, §1(a); am L 1951, c 110, §1(a);am L 1953, c 37, §1(a), (b); am L 1955, c 141, §1(a), (b); RL 1955, §6-20; am L1957, c 43, §1, c 143, §1, and c 231, §1(a); am L 1959, c 60, §1; am L 1961, c181, §1; am imp L 1963, c 127, §20; am L 1965, c 222, §§1, 2; am L 1967, c 98,§2, c 130, §1, and c 176, §1; HRS §88-21; am L 1969, c 110, pt of §1; am L1972, c 36, §1; am L 1973, c 179, §26; am L 1975, c 82, §19(a); am L 1977, c191, §2; am L 1978, c 193, §1; am L 1979, c 111, §8; am L 1982, c 165, §1; gench 1985; am L 1987, c 299, §1; am L 1988, c 242, §2; am L 1989, c 339, §1 and c343, §1; am L 1993, c 357, §1(1); am L 1994, c 108, §2 and c 196, §2; am L1997, c 374, §1; am L 2002, c 183, §5; am L 2003, c 199, §2; am L 2004, c 182,§3; am L 2005, c 58, §2; am L 2006, c 169, §§1, 4; am L 2007, c 2, §2 and c215, §2; am L 2008, c 41, §3 and c 47, §3]

 

Attorney General Opinions

 

  Constitutional under Article XVI, section 2 and Article I,section 5 of the State Constitution.  Att. Gen. Op. 87-4.

 

Case Notes

 

  Mentioned:  74 H. 181, 840 P.2d 367.