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Title 27: Personnel
Part 210: PERS, Regulations for Retirement Plans Administered by the Board
of Trustees
Chapter 61: Compliance with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Requirements
100 Purpose
The purpose of this regulation is to confirm that the defined benefit plans
administered by the Board of Trustees of the Public Employees’ Retirement
System of Mississippi (PERS Board) shall be administered in accordance with
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requirements applicable to qualified governmental
retirement plans.
101 Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi
1. The PERS Board shall hold the assets of the Public Employees’ Retirement
System of Mississippi (PERS) in trust for the exclusive purpose of providing
benefits to participants and paying reasonable expenses of administration. The
assets shall be maintained as a separate fund, separate from all other funds
held by the PERS Board and shall be used only for the payment of benefits
provided by Miss. Code Ann. §25-11-1 et seq., (1972, as amended) or
amendments thereto.
2. It shall be impossible by operation of PERS, by termination, by power of
revocation or amendment, by the happening of any contingency, by collateral
arrangement or by other means, for any part of the corpus or income of the
trust, or any funds contributed thereto, to inure to the benefit of any employer
or otherwise be used for or diverted to purposes other than providing benefits
to participants and beneficiaries and defraying reasonable expenses of
administering the system.
3. Benefits are provided in accordance with §25-11-1 et seq. Forfeitures of
accrued benefits resulting from members electing to receive refunds of
employee contributions will not be applied to increase the benefits any
member would otherwise receive under these provisions.
4. Benefits payable pursuant to Title 25, Chapter 11 of the Mississippi Code
Annotated shall be made in compliance with the limitations set forth in
Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code and any regulations issued there
under as applicable to governmental plans. Further, distributions made from
PERS shall conform to a good faith interpretation of Section 401(a)(9) of the
Internal Revenue Code.
5. Any member of PERS who became a member before July 1, 2007, who is not
otherwise vested and who has at least four (4) years of membership service
credit will be fully vested in his or her accrued benefit on attaining age 60.
Any member of PERS who became a member on or after July 1, 2007, who is
not otherwise vested and who has at least eight (8) years of membership
service credit will be fully vested in his or her accrued benefit on attaining age
60.
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102 Supplemental Legislative Retirement Plan
1. The PERS Board shall hold the assets of the Supplemental Legislative
Retirement Plan (SLRP) in trust for the exclusive purpose of providing
benefits to participants and paying reasonable expenses of administration. The
assets shall be maintained as a separate fund, separate from all other funds
held by the PERS Board and shall be used only for the payment of benefits
provided by Miss. Code Ann. §25-11-301 et seq., (1972, as amended) or
amendments thereto.
2. SLRP provides benefits that supplement the benefits provided under PERS.
Accordingly, the provisions of Miss. Code Ann. §25-11-1, et seq. are
incorporated as part of SLRP to the extent they are not inconsistent with the
provisions of Miss. Code Ann. §25-11-301, et seq.
3. It shall be impossible by operation of SLRP, by termination, by power of
revocation or amendment, by the happening of any contingency, by collateral
arrangement or by other means, for any part of the corpus or income of the
trust, or any funds contributed thereto, to inure to the benefit of any employer
or otherwise be used for or diverted to purposes other than providing benefits
to participants and beneficiaries and defraying reasonable expenses of
administering the plan.
4. Benefits are provided in accordance with §25-11-301 et seq. Forfeitures of
accrued benefits resulting from members electing to receive refunds of
employee contributions will not be applied to increase the benefits any
member would otherwise receive under these provisions.
5. Benefits payable pursuant to §25-11-301 et seq. shall be made in compliance
with the limitations set forth in Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code and
any regulations issued there under as applicable to governmental plans.
Further, distributions made from SLRP shall conform to a good faith
interpretation of Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code.
6. Any member of SLRP who became a member of PERS before July 1, 2007,
who is not otherwise vested and who has at least four (4) years of membership
service credit in PERS will be fully vested in his or her accrued benefit on
attaining age 60. Any member of SLRP who became a member of PERS on or
after July 1, 2007, who is not otherwise vested and who has at least eight (8)
years of membership service credit in PERS will be fully vested in his or her
accrued benefit on attaining age 60.
103 Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System
1. The PERS Board shall hold the assets of the Mississippi Highway Safety
Patrol Retirement System (MHSPRS) in trust for the exclusive purpose of
providing benefits to participants and paying reasonable expenses of
administration. The assets shall be maintained as a separate fund, separate
from all other funds held by the PERS Board and shall be used only for the
payment of benefits provided by Miss. Code Ann. §25-13-1 et seq., (1972, as
amended) or amendments thereto.
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2. It shall be impossible by operation of MHSPRS, by termination, by power of
revocation or amendment, by the happening of any contingency, by collateral
arrangement or by other means, for any part of the corpus or income of the
trust, or any funds contributed thereto, to inure to the benefit of any employer
or otherwise be used for or diverted to purposes other than providing benefits
to participants and beneficiaries and defraying reasonable expenses of
administering the system.
3. Benefits are provided in accordance with §25-13-1 et seq. Forfeitures of
accrued benefits resulting from members electing to receive refunds of
employee contributions will not be applied to increase the benefits any
member would otherwise receive under these provisions.
4. Benefits payable pursuant to Title 25, Chapter 13 of the Mississippi Code
Annotated shall be made in compliance with the limitations set forth in
Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code and any regulations issued there
under as applicable to governmental plans. Further, distributions made from
MHSPRS shall conform to a good faith interpretation of Section 401(a)(9) of
the Internal Revenue Code.
5. All members of MHSPRS who are not otherwise vested will be fully vested in
their accrued benefit on attaining age 55 with at least five (5) years of
membership service credit.
104 Municipal Retirement Systems
1. The PERS Board shall hold the assets of the Municipal Retirement Systems in
trust for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to participants and paying
reasonable expenses of administration. The assets of each municipal
retirement system (including general municipal retirement funds as well as
disability and relief funds for firemen and policemen) shall be maintained as
separate funds, separate from all other funds held by the PERS Board and
shall be used only for the payment of benefits provided by Miss. Code Ann.
§§ 21-29-1 et seq., 21-29-101 et seq. and 21-29-201 et seq., (1972, as
amended) respectively.
2. It shall be impossible by operation of the Municipal Retirement Systems, by
termination, by power of revocation or amendment, by the happening of any
contingency, by collateral arrangement or by other means, for any part of the
corpus or income of the trust, or any funds contributed thereto, to inure to the
benefit of any employer or otherwise be used for or diverted to purposes other
than providing benefits to participants and beneficiaries and defraying
reasonable expenses of administering the systems.
3. Benefits are provided in accordance with §§ 21-29-1 et seq., 21-29-101 et seq.
and 21-29-201 et seq. respectively. Forfeitures of accrued benefits resulting
from members electing to receive refunds of employee contributions will not
be applied to increase the benefits any member would otherwise receive under
these provisions.
4. Benefits payable pursuant to §§ 21-29-1 et seq., 21-29-101 et seq. and 21-29-
201 et seq. respectively, shall be made in compliance with the limitations set
forth in Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code and any regulations issued
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there under as applicable to governmental plans. Further, distributions made
from these plans shall conform to a good faith interpretation of Section
401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code.
5. All members of the Municipal Retirement Systems who are not otherwise
vested will be fully vested in their accrued benefit on attaining twenty (20)
years of service with the municipality, the last ten (10) of which are
continuous in the city in which retirement application is made.
(History: Adopted effective January 19, 2009; amended effective April 1, 2012)