Title XIII, Education

(1) Notwithstanding any provision of the Kentucky Revised Statutes to the contrary, a teacher who has been reprimanded or otherwise disciplined by the teacher's employer because the teacher engaged in misconduct involving the illegal use of controlled substances shall, as a condi…

(1) Each teacher and administrator in the public schools shall in accordance with the rules, regulations, and bylaws of the board of education made and adopted pursuant to KRS 160.290 for the conduct of pupils, hold pupils to a strict account for their conduct on school premises,…

sponsored or endorsed trips -- Exceptions. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), boards of education shall require a certified or classified staff member who is at least twenty-one (21) years of age to accompany students on all school-sponsored or school-endorsed trips. Local…

Whenever a teacher, classified employee, or school administrator is functioning in his capacity as an employee of a board of education of a public school system, it shall be unlawful for any person to direct speech or conduct toward the teacher, classified employee, or school adm…

carrying a concealed weapon. Before a student with a documented history of physical abuse of a school employee or of carrying a concealed weapon on school property or at a school function is assigned to work directly with or comes in contact with a teacher, that teacher shall be …

(1) Each teacher in the public schools shall keep an approved record which shall be left with the superintendent or as he directs at the close of the term. The record shall show the program of recitations, classification, attendance, and grading of all pupils who attended school …

(1) Each teacher or other person in the public schools shall make reports and inventories to the district superintendent at the time and in the manner prescribed by the district board of education and the Kentucky Board of Education. (2) No teacher shall willfully make a false mo…

(1) The Educators Employment Liability Insurance Program is hereby established in the Kentucky Department of Education for the purpose of providing educators employment liability insurance to protect all certified employees of Kentucky public schools from liability for judgments …

As used in KRS 161.220 to 161.716 and 161.990: (1) "Retirement system" means the arrangement provided for in KRS 161.220 to 161.716 and 161.990 for payment of allowances to members; (2) "Retirement allowance" means the amount annually payable during the course of his or her natur…

The Teachers' Retirement System is established as of July 1, 1940, for the purpose of providing retirement allowances for teachers, their beneficiaries, and survivors under the provisions of KRS 161.155 and 161.220 to 161.714. The Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Kentu…

Trustee education program -- Public disclosure of meeting notices and agendas and Annual Comprehensive Financial Report -- Administrative regulations for authorized benefit improvements. (1) (a) The general administration and management of the retirement system, and the responsib…

An election shall be held on or before June 1 of each year to elect trustees. The trustees to be elected each year shall depend upon the respective terms of the trustees elected under Acts 1938 (1st Ex. Sess.), Ch. 1, paragraph 7 and Acts 1940, Ch. 192, paragraph 7a, and KRS 161.…

Vacancies occurring during the terms of the elective members shall be filled by the remaining members of the board of trustees by election for the unexpired terms.

Each member of the board of trustees shall, within ten (10) days after his appointment or election, take an oath that he will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Kentucky, that he will diligently and honestly administer the affairs of the board, …

(1) The board of trustees shall meet on the third Monday during the months of March, June, September, and December of each year. Special meetings may be called by the chairperson upon giving adequate notice to each member of the board of trustees. The business to be transacted at…

Seven (7) members of the board of trustees shall constitute a quorum. Each trustee shall be entitled to one (1) vote. Four (4) votes or a majority of the trustees present whichever is the larger number shall be necessary for a decision by the trustees at any meeting of the board.…

participating employers to conform to chapter -- Retirement incentives. (1) The board of trustees shall from time to time promulgate administrative regulations for the administration of the funds of the retirement system and for the transaction of business. (2) All rules, regulat…

The board of trustees shall keep a record of all its proceedings which shall be open to public inspection. It shall publish on or before January 1 of each year a report giving an account of the operation of the system, showing the fiscal transactions of the system for the precedi…

The cost of administration of the retirement system shall be paid out of the expense fund established for that purpose by the board of trustees. The board of trustees shall be responsible for the approval and administration of the expense fund budget, subject to the limitations i…

commodities -- Liability insurance -- Leave balances. (1) (a) The board of trustees shall elect from its membership a chairperson and a vice chairperson on an annual basis as prescribed by the administrative regulations of the board of trustees. The chairperson shall not serve mo…

Retirement System. (1) The State Treasurer, the Auditor of Public Accounts, and the Attorney General shall be treasurer, auditor, and legal adviser, respectively, of the board of trustees, and shall be liable upon their official bonds for the faithful performance of such duties. …

(1) The State Treasurer is the custodian of all cash funds of the retirement system. He shall honor and pay all vouchers drawn on the retirement funds. The Treasurer shall honor and pay all vouchers drawn on the retirement funds for payment of securities purchased upon order of t…

The board of trustees shall keep in convenient form the data necessary for the actuarial valuation of the various funds of the retirement system and for determining the administrative costs of the system.

(1) (a) The board of trustees shall designate as actuary a competent person who shall be a fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries or a member of the American Academy of Actuaries. He or she shall be the technical adviser of the board on matters regarding the operation o…

All of the assets of the retirement system are for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to members and annuitants and defraying reasonable expenses of administering the system. The board of trustees shall be the trustee of all funds of the system and shall have full power …

policy -- Proxy voting guidelines. (1) (a) The board of trustees shall be the trustee of the funds of the retirement system and shall have full power and responsibility for the purchase, sale, exchange, transfer, or other disposition of the investments and moneys of the retiremen…

At the end of each fiscal year the board of trustees shall assign from the guarantee fund interest at the regular interest rate to the teachers' savings fund, the state accumulation fund, and the allowance reserve fund. The amounts so allowed shall be due and payable to the funds…

Assembly, public servants. (1) No trustee or employee of the board of trustees shall: (a) Have any interest, direct or indirect, in the gain or profits of any investment or any other legal, business, or financial transaction made by the board, except that any such trustee or empl…

- Forfeiture of benefits -- Reinstatement -- Payment of accumulated account balance. (1) The membership of the retirement system shall consist of all new members, all present teachers, and all persons participating under the retirement system as of June 30, 1986, except as provid…

(1) (a) Each person, upon becoming a member of the retirement system, shall file a detailed statement as required by the board of trustees and shall designate a primary beneficiary or two (2) or more cobeneficiaries to receive any benefits accruing from the death of the member. (…

To the extent to which it is used in determining the liability of any fund of the retirement system, the board of trustees shall ascertain the correctness of the statement filed under KRS 161.480 by the best evidence it is able to obtain. If official records are not available as …

(1) At the close of each fiscal year, the retirement system shall add service credit to the account of each member who made contributions to his or her account during the year. Nonuniversity members are entitled to a full year of service credit if they have no more than five (5) …

uniformed service by active contributing member. (1) An active contributing member of the Teachers' Retirement System may receive service credit for active service rendered in the uniformed services of the Armed Forces of the United States, including the commissioned corps of the…

federal Peace Corps service credit -- Retirement factor. (1) For the purposes of this section, "out-of-state service" shall mean service in any state in a comparable position on a full-time basis, which would be covered if in Kentucky. (2) (a) An active contributing member who ha…

Upon the death of an active contributing member or upon the death of a member retired for disability, except as provided in KRS 161.661(6), the survivors of the deceased member in the following named order, may elect to receive a survivor's benefit payable as follows: (1) Where t…

Upon the death of a member retired for disability who had a minimum of twenty-seven (27) years of service at the time of death, except as provided in KRS 161.661(6), the spouse, if named as the primary beneficiary of the member's account, shall be entitled to elect, in lieu of a …

minimum allowance to surviving spouse -- Payments to special needs trust. (1) Upon death of a member in active contributing status at the time of death, who was eligible to retire by reason of service, the spouse, if named as the primary beneficiary of the member's retirement acc…

Except as provided in KRS 6.696, if a member, whose account has been forfeited under previous provisions of this section, shall return to teaching in a covered position in Kentucky, and reinstates the lost service credit as provided in KRS 161.470(3), the funds transferred from t…

(1) (a) Each individual who becomes a contributing nonuniversity member prior to January 1, 2022, shall contribute to the retirement system twelve and eight hundred fifty-five thousandths percent (12.855%) of annual compensation, of which: 1. Nine and one hundred five thousandths…

or leave of absence -- Contributions not to be picked up -- Purchases of service credit for leaves of absence for health, child-rearing, and educational improvement reasons. (1) (a) Members may make contributions and receive service credit for substitute, part-time, or any servic…

funds. (1) Any active contributing member may purchase service credit as authorized under KRS Chapter 161 by rolling over funds from a previous plan to the extent that rollovers are permitted by the rules set forth in the Internal Revenue Code. The rollovers may be made directly …

service credit -- Exceptions. On or after August 1, 1998, a member of the Teachers' Retirement System in active contributing status who has a minimum of twenty (20) years of service credit may purchase up to a maximum of five (5) years of service credit that is not otherwise purc…

retirement system. A member of the retirement system having service as a Kentucky legislator which is not credited by any retirement system administered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky may present such service, not to exceed four (4) years, for credit in the retirement system by …

community program for mental health and individuals with an intellectual disability. A member of the Teachers' Retirement System who is in an active contributing status with the system, and who was formerly employed in a regional community service program for mental health and in…

Head Start agency. A member of the Teachers' Retirement System who is in an active contributing status with the system, and who was formerly employed by a Federal Head Start agency, operated under 42 U.S.C. secs. 9831 et seq., which does not participate in a state- administered r…

medical insurance, and life insurance funds. (1) Each employer, except as provided in KRS 161.552 and 161.555, shall contribute annually to the Teachers' Retirement System a permanent employer contribution rate on behalf of each employee it employs equal to: (a) Thirteen and one …

to be deposited into state accumulation fund when medical insurance fund reaches actuarial funding level of at least one hundred percent -- Restoration of funding. (1) As used in this section: (a) "Funding level" means the actuarial value of assets divided by the actuarially accr…

under federal educational acts. Each employer employing members of the Teachers' Retirement System in positions established under educational acts adopted by the federal Congress shall contribute to the Teachers' Retirement System an amount equal to that contributed by the member…

cooperatives. Each regional educational cooperative referred to in KRS 161.220(4)(e) employing members of the Teachers' Retirement System shall have the employer contributions provided in the same manner as for members employed by local boards of education.

requirements -- Picked-up employee contributions -- Correction of omitted member contributions. (1) (a) Each agency, school district, and institution employing members of the retirement system shall deduct from the compensation of each member for each payroll period subsequent to…