CONCERNING ADMINISTRATION OF THE ARKANSAS TEACHER RETIREMENT SYSTEM; AND TO CORRECT THE NAME OF THE ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AND THE ARKANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF UNDER TITLE 24 OF THE ARKANSAS CODE.

Retirement credit for Arkansas school employees

The law updates retirement rules to recognize the Arkansas School for the Deaf and Blind and its two former schools. Before July 1, 1991, a credited month requires at least 10 workdays. A credited year generally requires 11 months, but nine months qualifies for employees of the former schools, state colleges and universities, or public schools. For that period, fewer than nine months cannot count as a full year, and credit cannot exceed one year per fiscal year. Beginning July 1, 1991, the 11-month rule has a nine-month exception for those employers and the combined school. Beginning July 1, 1992, monthly credit depends on work hours: 80 or more earns one month; 60–79 earns three-quarters; 40–59 earns one-half; 20–39 earns one-quarter; fewer than 20 earns none. Members retiring on or after July 1, 1999, receive six months of credit per full semester at those qualifying schools. Beginning July 1, 1993, the teacher retirement system’s school-employment definition includes the former schools and combined school. It also includes the Arkansas Activities Association, State Board of Education, Regional Education Service Cooperatives, and Arkansas Teacher Retirement System. These changes take effect only if HB1810 of the Ninety-Fifth General Assembly became law. The emergency clause ties effectiveness to the Governor’s approval, expiration of the veto period without approval or veto, or the final chamber’s veto override. It supports consistent merger rules before fiscal year 2026.