AN ACT Relating to volunteer law enforcement officers' relief and pensions; and adding a new chapter to Title 41 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. As used in this chapter:

(1) "Appropriate legislation" means any appropriate method of taking official action or adopting a legislative decision by any municipality, whether known as a resolution, ordinance, or otherwise.

(2) "Fund" means the volunteer law enforcement officers' pension fund created under section 3 of this act.

(3) "Law enforcement department" means any regularly organized police department of a municipality in this state.

(4) "Member" means a volunteer law enforcement officer qualified to participate in the fund.

(5) "Municipal corporation" or "municipality" means any city, town, or county.

(6) "Secretary" means the secretary of the state board as provided in section 19 of this act.

(7) "State board" means the state board for volunteer law enforcement officers created in section 15 of this act.

(8) "Volunteer law enforcement officer" means a volunteer law enforcement officer as defined in RCW 51.12.140(1)(c).

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) A municipal corporation maintaining a law enforcement department may make provisions whereby any volunteer law enforcement officer may enroll under the pension provisions of this chapter, in order to allow a volunteer law enforcement officer to avail himself or herself of the retirement provisions of this chapter.

(2) Every municipal corporation electing to participate in the fund shall make provisions for the collection and payment of the fund as herein provided, and shall continue to make provisions for all volunteer law enforcement officers who come under this chapter as long as they continue to be members of its law enforcement department.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) There is created in the state treasury a trust fund for the benefit of the volunteer law enforcement officers of the state covered by this chapter, which shall be designated the volunteer law enforcement officers' pension fund and shall consist of:

(a) All bequests, fees, gifts, emoluments, or donations given or paid to the fund;

(b) The proceeds from an annual fee of forty dollars submitted by the municipal corporation for each of its volunteer law enforcement officers electing to enroll in the fund, twenty dollars of which shall be paid by the municipality and twenty dollars of which shall be paid by the volunteer law enforcement officer; and

(2) The state investment board, upon request of the state treasurer shall have full power to invest or reinvest such portion of the amounts credited to the fund as is not, in the judgment of the treasurer, required to meet current withdrawals. Such investments shall be made in the manner prescribed by RCW 43.84.150 and not otherwise.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) On or before the first day of March of each year, every municipal corporation shall pay the amount due from it to the fund, together with any amounts collected from the volunteer law enforcement officers of its law enforcement department.

(2) No volunteer law enforcement officer shall forfeit his or her right to participate in the retirement provisions of this chapter until after March 1st of the year in which he or she fails to pay the appropriate fee.

(3) Where a municipality has failed to pay or remit the annual fees required within the time provided, such delinquent payment shall bear interest at the rate of one percent per month from March 1st until paid.

(4) Where a volunteer law enforcement officer has forfeited his or her right to participate in the retirement provisions of this chapter he or she may be reinstated so as to participate to the same extent as if all fees had been paid by the payment of all back fees with interest at the rate of one percent per month provided he or she has at all times been otherwise eligible.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) Each municipal corporation participating in the fund shall:

(a) Receive all applications for the enrollment under the retirement provisions of this chapter;

(b) Determine the eligibility of volunteer law enforcement officers for pensions; and

(2) After the applicant's eligibility for pension is verified, the state board shall authorize payment through the regular issuance of monthly warrants without further action of the municipality.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) Whenever a volunteer law enforcement officer has been a member and served honorably as a volunteer law enforcement officer, for a period of ten years or more, with any law enforcement department and the municipality and volunteer law enforcement officer are enrolled under the retirement provisions of this chapter, and the volunteer law enforcement officer has reached the age of sixty-five years, the state board, upon approval of the municipality's request, shall order that he or she be retired and be paid a monthly pension as provided in this section: PROVIDED, That the volunteer law enforcement officer may continue to act in an active status at the discretion of the department of his or her municipality.

(2) Whenever a volunteer law enforcement officer has served honorably as a volunteer law enforcement officer for a period of twenty years or more in any law enforcement department, and he or she has reached the age of fifty-five years, and the annual retirement fee has been paid for a period of at least twenty years, the state board, upon approval of the municipality's request, shall order at the member's request that he or she be retired and that the member be paid a monthly pension of two hundred dollars from the fund for the balance of his or her life.

(3) Whenever any volunteer law enforcement officer has served honorably as a volunteer law enforcement officer for a period of twenty-five years or more in any law enforcement department, and the volunteer law enforcement officer has reached the age of sixty-five years, and the annual retirement fee has been paid for a period of less than twenty years, the state board upon approval of the municipality's request shall order that the member be retired and receive a minimum monthly pension of twenty-five dollars plus seven dollars each month for each year the annual fee has been paid, but not to exceed the maximum monthly pension herein provided, for the balance of his or her life.

(4) No pension under this section may become payable before the fifty-fifth birthday of the volunteer law enforcement officer, nor for any service less than ten years, unless:

(a) A volunteer law enforcement officer, upon completion of ten, but less than fifteen years of service irrevocably elects to receive for the balance of his or her life a monthly pension equal to forty percent of the pension he or she would have been entitled to receive under subsection (2) of this section; or

(b) A volunteer law enforcement officer, upon completion of fifteen, but less than twenty years' service irrevocably elects to receive for the balance of his or her life a monthly pension equal to sixty percent of such pension he or she would have been entitled to receive under subsection (2) of this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Payments under the provisions of this chapter shall be computed in accordance with the latest relevant act enacted by the legislature, except that nothing in this chapter shall be construed as reducing the amount of any pension to which a volunteer law enforcement officer shall have been eligible to receive under section 6 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The state board shall direct payment in lump sums from the fund in the following cases:

(1) Upon the request of a volunteer law enforcement officer who, upon attaining the age of sixty-five years, is not qualified to receive the monthly retirement pension and who was enrolled in the fund and on whose behalf annual fees for retirement pension were paid, an amount equal to the amount paid by himself or herself;

(2) If any volunteer law enforcement officer dies before attaining the age at which a pension shall be payable to him or her under the provisions of this chapter, there shall be paid to the surviving spouse, or if there is no surviving spouse, to his or her child or children, or if there is no child or children then to his or her heirs at law as may be determined by the state board, or to his or her estate if it be administered and there be no heirs as above determined, an amount equal to the amount paid into said fund by himself or herself.

(3) If any volunteer law enforcement officer dies after beginning to receive the pension provided for in this chapter, and before receiving an amount equal to the amount paid by himself or herself and the municipality or municipalities in whose department he or she served, there shall be paid to the surviving spouse, or if there is no surviving spouse then to his or her child or children, or if there is no child or children then to his or her heirs at law as may be determined by the state board, or to his or her estate if it be administered and there be no heirs as above determined, an amount equal to the difference between the amount paid into the fund by himself or herself and the municipality or municipalities on the member's account and the amount received by him or her as a pensioner.

(4) If any volunteer law enforcement officer retires from a law enforcement department before attaining the age of fifty-five years, he or she may make application for the return of the amount paid into the fund by himself or herself.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The filing of reports of enrollment shall be prima facie evidence of the service of the volunteer law enforcement officer listed for the year of the report as to service rendered subsequent to January 1, 1991. Proof of service of volunteer law enforcement officers prior to that date shall be by documentary evidence, or such other evidence reduced to writing and sworn to under oath, as shall be submitted to the state board and certified by it as sufficient.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. The aggregate term of service of any volunteer law enforcement officer need not be continuous nor need it be confined to a single law enforcement department nor a single municipality in this state to entitle the volunteer law enforcement officer to a pension. He or she must be duly enrolled in a law enforcement department of a municipality at the time he or she becomes eligible for a pension, and have paid all fees prescribed. To be eligible for the full pension a volunteer law enforcement officer must have an aggregate of twenty years service, have made twenty annual payments into the fund, and be fifty-five years of age at the time he or she commences drawing the pension provided for by this chapter.

Nothing in this section requires any volunteer law enforcement officer who has completed twenty years active service to continue as a volunteer law enforcement officer. No volunteer law enforcement officer who has completed twenty years of active service for which annual pension fees have been paid and who continues as a volunteer law enforcement officer shall be required to pay any additional annual pension fees.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. The right of any person to any future payment under the provisions of this chapter shall not be transferable or assignable at law or in equity. None of the moneys paid or payable or the rights existing under this chapter shall be subject to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other legal process, or to the operation of any bankruptcy or insolvency law. Nothing in this section shall prevent benefits under this chapter from being made payable to a spouse or ex-spouse to the extent expressly provided for in any court decree of dissolution or legal separation, or in any court order or court-approved property settlement agreement incident to any court decree of dissolution or legal separation.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to deprive any volunteer law enforcement officer, eligible to receive a pension under this chapter, from receiving a pension under any other act to which he or she may become eligible by reason of services other than or in addition to services rendered as a volunteer law enforcement officer.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. (1) If the state board or the secretary makes payments to a spouse or ex-spouse to the extent expressly provided for in any court decree of dissolution or legal separation or in any court order or court-approved property settlement agreement incident to a court decree of dissolution or legal separation, it shall be a sufficient answer to any claim of a beneficiary against the state board, the secretary, or the fund for the state board or secretary to show that the payments were made under a court decree.

(2) All payments made to a nonmember spouse or ex-spouse under this section shall cease upon the death of the nonmember spouse or ex-spouse. The state board and the secretary shall then pay to the member his or her full monthly entitlement of benefits.

(3) The provisions of this section shall apply to all court decrees of dissolution or legal separation and court-approved property settlement agreements, regardless of when entered, but shall apply only to those persons who have actually retired or who have requested withdrawal of any or all of their contributions to the fund: PROVIDED, That the state board or secretary shall not be responsible for making court-ordered divisions of withdrawals unless the order is filed with the state board at least thirty days before the withdrawal payment date.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. (1) Volunteer law enforcement officers who are members of a law enforcement department ninety days prior to the effective date of this act will be eligible for pension benefits under this chapter based upon time already served as a volunteer law enforcement officer in Washington state. Credit for prior service under this section is limited to ten years.

(2) Eligibility for credit for prior service must be proved to the satisfaction of the state board. The board will make the final decision on the years of prior service to be credited to a volunteer law enforcement officer, up to the ten-year maximum.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. No pension payments will be made from the fund until two years after the effective date of this act. No person may receive benefits from the fund unless all moneys due from the member and from the municipal agency under section 3 of this act have been paid, and the member continues to be employed as a volunteer law enforcement officer in this state for two years after the effective date of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. There is established a state board for volunteer law enforcement officers to consist of three members of a law enforcement department covered by this chapter, no two of whom shall be from the same congressional district, to be appointed by the governor to serve overlapping terms of six years. Of members first appointed, one shall be appointed for a term of six years, one for four years, and one for two years. Upon the expiration of a term, a successor shall be appointed by the governor for a term of six years. Any vacancy shall be filled by the governor for the unexpired term. Each member of the state board, before entering on the performance of his or her duties, shall take an oath that he or she will not knowingly violate or willingly permit the violation of any provision of law applicable to this chapter. The oath shall be filed with the secretary of state.

The board shall not be deemed to be unlawfully constituted and a member of the board shall not be deemed ineligible to serve the remainder of the member's unexpired term on the board solely by reason of the establishment of new or revised boundaries for congressional districts.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 16. The state board shall hold regular semiannual meetings in March and September of each year, and special meetings not more than once monthly at such times and places as may be called by the chair or by two of its members. No action shall be taken by the state board without the approval of two members.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 17. Each member of the state board shall be compensated in accordance with RCW 43.03.240. Each member shall also receive travel expenses, including going to and from meetings of the state board or other authorized business of the state board, in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 18. The attorney general shall be the legal advisor for the state board.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 19. The state board shall:

(1) Generally supervise and control the administration of this chapter;

(2) Adopt rules:

(a) Effecting a uniform and efficient manner of carrying out the provisions and purposes of this chapter; and

(b) Governing the municipalities in the discharge of their functions under this chapter;

(3) Review actions, and hear and determine appeals which may be taken from the decision of the municipalities made under this chapter;

(4) Take such action as may be necessary to secure compliance of the municipalities governed by this chapter and to provide for the collection of all fees and penalties which are, or may be, due and delinquent from any such municipality;

(5) Review the action of a municipality requesting any pension as provided by this chapter; and authorize the regular issuance of monthly warrants in payment thereof without further action of the municipality;

(6) Require periodic reports from the recipient of any benefits under this chapter for the purpose of determining his or her continued eligibility;

(7) Maintain such records as may be necessary and proper for the proper maintenance and operation of the fund and provide all necessary forms to enable municipalities effectively to carry out their duties under this chapter;

(8) Compel the taking of testimony from witnesses under oath before any or all members or the secretary of the state board, for the purpose of obtaining evidence, at any time, regarding any claim or pension pending or authorized for payment. For such purpose the state board has the same power of subpoena as prescribed in RCW 51.52.100. Failure of any claimant to appear and give any testimony as herein provided shall suspend any rights or eligibility to receive payments for the period of his or her failure to appear and testify;

(9) Appoint a secretary to hold office at the pleasure of the state board, fix his or her compensation, and prescribe his or her duties not otherwise provided by this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 20. All expenses incurred by the state board shall be accomplished by vouchers signed by the secretary and one member of the state board, issued to the persons entitled, and sent to the proper state agency. The proper state agency shall issue a warrant on the fund for the amount specified.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 21. The secretary shall maintain an office at Olympia at a place to be provided, wherein he or she shall:

(1) Keep a record of all proceedings of the state board, which shall be public;

(2) Maintain a record of all members, including information relative thereto required by law or regulation of the state board;

(3) Receive and promptly remit to the state treasurer all moneys received for the fund;

(4) Periodically transmit all claims payable from the fund to the proper state agency for payment, stating the amount and purpose of such payment;

(5) Certify monthly for payment a list of all persons approved for pensions and the amount to which each is entitled;

(6) Perform any other duties prescribed by the state board.

The secretary shall receive compensation as fixed by the state board, together with travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 22. Sections 1 through 21 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 41 RCW.