Title 24 — Retirement and Pensions

(a) (1) The term of office of each member-elected trustee shall be six (6) years.(2) (A) (i) An active member trustee shall be ineligible to serve after becoming inactive, retiring, or ceasing to be employed by an Arkansas Teacher Retirement System employer.(ii) A member trustee …

(a) The Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System shall select from its own number a chair and a vice chair. (b) (1) The trustees shall serve as trustees without compensation for their services as such, except that:(A) Each trustee may receive expense reimbursem…

(a) The Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System shall hold regular meetings at least quarterly. (b) Eight (8) trustees constitute a quorum at any meeting of the board. (c) Each trustee shall be entitled to one (1) vote on each question before the board, and at…

(a) (1) Both the contributory plan provided by this act and the noncontributory plan established by §§ 24-7-401 — 24-7-411 and 24-7-701, 24-7-702, 24-7-704 — 24-7-713, 24-7-715, and § 24-7-716 [repealed] shall be under the administration and control of the Board of Trustees of th…

(a) (1) The financial objective of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System is to establish and receive contributions that expressed as percentages of active member payroll will remain approximately level from generation to generation of Arkansas citizens.(2) Contributions received…

(a) All assets of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System shall constitute a single trust fund, and the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System shall be the trustees of the fund. (b) (1) The custodian of system assets shall be the Treasurer of State or other fi…

(a) All assets of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System shall be held for the sole purpose of paying benefits and making disbursements in accordance with the provisions of this act and shall be used for no other purpose whatsoever, unless the assets are used to purchase or const…

In the event of default in payment of the principal or interest of any investment obligation held by the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System where the issuer of the obligation receives moneys from the State of Arkansas, the default shall be certified by the Board of Trustees of th…

The assets of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System shall be recorded in accounts established by the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, as necessary, to manage the system's fund assets.

(a) (1) The members' deposit account is the account:(A) In which member contributions are accumulated;(B) From which member refunds of contributions are paid; and(C) From which transfers are made as provided in this act.(2) Employer contributions that are paid by an employee inst…

(a) The employer accumulation account is the account in which shall be accumulated the employer's contributions to the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, and from which shall be made transfers as provided in this act. (b) Upon the retirement of a member, the difference between h…

(a) The retirement reserve account shall be the account from which shall be paid all annuities and benefits in lieu of annuities payable as provided in this act to retirees who retired on account of superannuation or disability and to beneficiaries of such retirees. (b) If a disa…

The survivor benefit account shall be the account from which shall be paid survivor benefits payable as provided in this act.

(a) The income-expense account shall be the account to which shall be credited all investment income from invested assets of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System. It shall also be the account in which shall be accumulated the contributions made by employers for the administrati…

(a) (1) If an employer fails to remit moneys that are required by law or rule to the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System by the date and at the frequency established by the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, the system shall impose an interest penalty equ…

(a) The membership of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System shall include the following persons:(1) All teachers who last began service on or after July 1, 1971, and whose service is not covered by another retirement plan similar in purpose to the Arkansas Teacher Retirement Sys…

(a) (1) A member of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System shall terminate covered employment and remain terminated during the member's applicable termination separation period to become and remain eligible for retirement.(2) Effective July 1, 2023, a member shall not be terminat…

A.C.A. § 24-7-503Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

A.C.A. § 24-7-504Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

(a) As used in this section, “buyout plan” means a voluntary program established by the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System to make a one-time lump-sum payment to a member, surviving spouse, or alternate payee in exchange for a member's, surviving spouse's…

(a) As used in this section:(1) (A) “Covered employer” means any public school, public educational agency, or other eligible employer participating in the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System.(B) “Covered employer” does not include a:(i) Nonmandatory employer or a PSHE employer as …

(a) At the request of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, a covered employer shall provide the system with a memorandum of understanding, partnership agreement, or another similar document related to the covered employer's actions as a pass-through fiscal agent for participan…

(a) By rule, the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System shall fix and determine the number of years, and fraction thereof, of service to be credited each member for his or her employment as an employee. (b) (1) A member shall be employed by an employer covere…

(a) (1) If a member of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System enters the United States Armed Forces during a period that a federal military draft was in effect and obtains a refund of member contributions from the system, the compulsory military service required of the member may…

(a) As used in this section, “out-of-state service” means service rendered in any state except Arkansas in a position that would have been covered by the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System had the service been actual service covered by the system if rendered in the state. (b) Out…

(a) As used in this section, “overseas service” means service in an American-type overseas school sponsored and approved by either the United States Department of State or the United States Department of Defense, or service rendered in the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps VISTA, Volunte…

(a) (1) (A) (i) Any member of the Senate or House of Representatives of the General Assembly who is a member of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System shall be eligible, upon application, to receive credited service and salary in the system for his or her full contract salary in …

(a) (1) A public school teacher or administrator who is a member of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System and takes a leave of absence from a school in order to obtain an advanced degree at an institution of higher learning or to fulfill the requirements of a scholarship or gran…

(a) As used in this section, “private school service” means service rendered in a private school or agency that would have been covered by the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System if the service had been:(1) Rendered in a public school; and(2) The private school or agency:(A) Has p…

(a) A benefit enhancement provided for by this act shall not be implemented if it would cause the publicly supported retirement system's unfunded actuarial accrued liabilities to exceed an eighteen-year amortization. (b) A benefit enhancement provided for by this act shall not be…

A.C.A. § 24-7-609Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

(a) As used in this section, “armed forces reserve” means one (1) of the reserve components of the United States Army, United States Navy, United States Air Force, United States Marine Corps, United States Space Force, or United States Coast Guard. (b) (1) A member of the Arkansa…

(a) As used in this section, “domestic federal service” means service rendered as a teacher or administrator in any school or similar institution located on a military base or installation that is administered by the United States Department of Defense. (b) On and after January 1…

(a) A member who purchases service credit in the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System shall pay the actuarial equivalent of both the employee and employer contributions, as calculated by the system. (b) (1) If a member has an existing service purchase account with the system before…

(a) A member of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System may purchase permissive service credit for one (1) or more gap periods if the member:(1) Has five (5) years of actual service in the system;(2) Has left his or her position as a classroom teacher immediately before each nonco…

(a) (1) (A) Except as provided under subdivision (a)(2) of this section, an active member who either attains sixty (60) years of age and has five (5) or more years of actual and reciprocal service or who has twenty-eight (28) or more years of credited service regardless of age ma…

(a) (1) (A) Except as provided under subdivision (a)(2) of this section, an active or inactive member who has a combined total of twenty-five (25) or more years of actual and reciprocal service, including purchased or free credited service, but has not attained sixty (60) years o…

A.C.A. § 24-7-703Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

(a) (1) (A) An active member in employer service with five (5) or more years of actual and reciprocal service who becomes totally and permanently physically or mentally incapacitated for his or her job duties as a result of a personal injury or disease may be retired by the Board…

(a) (1) (A) (i) For a member who is retired or who is in the Teacher Deferred Retirement Option Plan as of June 30, 2013, the multipliers used at the time of retirement or entry into the Teacher Deferred Retirement Option Plan shall remain the multipliers used to calculate the me…

(a) (1) Before the date the first payment of his or her annuity becomes due, a member may elect to receive his or her annuity as a straight life annuity, or he or she may elect to receive the actuarial equivalent, at that time, of his or her straight life annuity in a reduced ann…

(a) (1) (A) If an active member becomes inactive before the member reaches sixty (60) years of age and completes five (5) years of actual and reciprocal service or if the member has not obtained a refund or participated in a buyout plan of the member's rights to benefits in the A…

(a) Effective July 1, 2009, after terminating employment under § 24-7-502 or reaching the normal retirement age, a retiree may:(1) Accept employment with an employer covered by the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System without a limitation of his or her retirement annuity; and(2) Co…

(a) (1) If a retiree and his or her option annuitants, if any, die before receiving annuity payments equal to the retiree's residue, then the residue shall be paid to one (1) or more beneficiaries nominated by the retiree in a written designation that is executed and filed with t…

(a) (1) If an active member with five (5) or more years of actual and reciprocal service, including credited service for the year immediately preceding his or her death, dies before the receipt of retirement benefits from the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, then the benefits …

(a) (1) If a member discontinues covered employment and does not plan to be rehired by a covered employer, the member may elect to be paid a refund of his or her contributions and regular interest credited to the member's deposit account within six (6) months following the date t…

Any member last terminating teacher service before July 1, 1973, shall receive, or shall have paid on his or her behalf, benefits in accordance with the benefit program in effect at the time of retirement.

(a) (1) July 1 of each year, retirees, survivors, participants in the Teacher Deferred Retirement Option Plan, and annuity beneficiaries who have been receiving monthly benefits for the previous twelve (12) months shall receive a simple cost of living adjustment.(2) The cost of l…

(a) The monthly retirement benefit payable to retirees and beneficiaries of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System who were retired on or before July 1, 1978, and who were receiving benefits on July 1, 1979, shall be increased as follows:(1) For all benefits to retirees and benef…

(a) As used in this section, “pension assignee” means an individual or entity that is not a designated beneficiary and:(1) Is assigned some or all of a benefit participant’s pension benefits by the benefit participant; or(2) Claims an interest in, or control over, a benefit parti…