Title 9, Retirement Systems

The contributions of the State to the System shall be determined by the Board each year on the basis of annual actuarial valuations of the System. Each year the Board shall certify to the State the amount of its contribution due the System. The State's contributions shall be appr…

There is hereby created an office to be known as Director of the Retirement System for members of the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina. The Director of the South Carolina Retirement System shall serve as Director of this System.

(1) All of the assets of the System shall be credited, according to the purpose for which they are held, to one of two accounts; namely, the members' account and the accumulation account. (2) The members' account shall be the account in which shall be held the contributions made …

(A) Interest must be credited to the account of each member once each year as of June thirtieth, on the basis of the balance in the account of each member as of the previous June thirtieth. Upon the death, retirement, or termination of a member, interest must be figured to the en…

Except as provided in Section 9-18-10, and related sections, Article 11, Chapter 17, Title 63 and Section 8-1-115 and subject to the doctrine of constructive trust ex maleficio, and subject to income tax levies imposed pursuant to state or federal law and distributions made pursu…

All agreements or contracts with the members of the System pursuant to any of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed solely obligations of the System and the full faith and credit of the State and of its departments, institutions and political subdivisions is not, and sha…

A retirement system is hereby created and placed under the administration of the Board to provide retirement allowances and other benefits for members of the General Assembly. The System shall begin operation as of January 1, 1966. It shall have the power and privileges of a corp…

All property owned or acquired by the System for the purposes of this chapter shall be exempt from all taxes imposed by the State or any political subdivision thereof.

Any person who shall knowingly make any false statement, or shall falsify or permit to be falsified any record of the System in any attempt to defraud the System, as a result of such act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine not exceed…

Payments made to beneficiaries pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may include payments to a person or persons, trustees, and estates.

Effective as of January 1, 1996, the annual compensation of a member taken into account for determining all benefits provided under this retirement system is subject to the limitations set forth in Section 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and any regulations promul…

Effective December 12, 1994, and notwithstanding any provision in this chapter to the contrary, contributions, benefits, and service credit with respect to qualified military service will be provided in accordance with Section 414(u) of the Internal Revenue Code.

(A) This section applies to distributions made on or after January 1, 1993. Notwithstanding any contrary provision or retirement law that would otherwise limit a distributee's election under this chapter, a distributee may elect, at the time and in the manner prescribed by the bo…

(A) Effective as of January 1, 1989, the system shall pay all benefits in accordance with the requirements of Section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code, including the incidental death benefit requirement in Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a)(9)(G), and the applicable Treas…

(A) Effective as of July 1, 1989, member contributions paid to, and retirement benefits paid from, the system may not exceed the annual limits on contributions and benefits, respectively, allowed by Internal Revenue Code Section 415. For purposes of applying these limits, the def…

(1) The general administration and responsibility for the proper operation of the system and for making effective the provisions hereof are hereby vested in the board. (2) The Board shall engage such actuarial and other services as shall be required to transact the business of th…

All records of all active, retired, and inactive members maintained by the Retirement System for Members of the General Assembly are classified as confidential records. These records are exempt from the disclosure requirements of Chapter 4 of Title 30, and shall not be disclosed …

(1) All persons who are members of the General Assembly on the date of establishment of the System shall become members of the System as of such date, except that, within six months from such date, any such person may irrevocably elect not to be a member of the System. All other …

(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Retirement System for Members of the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina (GARS) established pursuant to this chapter is closed to nonmembers and persons who otherwise would have been required or eligible to become me…

(1) The credited service of a member shall include all service as a member of the General Assembly since he last became a member of the System and in respect of which he makes contributions to the System. It shall also include, in the case of a member of the System who (a) became…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any member of the General Assembly who was elected in a special election and served in the General Assembly any portion of a year may establish credit for the entire year provided payment is made to the system on the same basis as membe…

(1) A member of the system may retire upon written application to the board setting forth at what time, not more than ninety days before nor more than six months after the execution and filing of the application, the member desires to be retired, if at the time specified for reti…

(1) Upon the application of a member in service or of the State, any member in service on or after July 1, 1977, who has five or more years of credited service or any contributing member who is disabled as a result of an injury arising out of and in the course of the performance …

Once each year during the first five years following the retirement of a member on a disability retirement allowance and once in every three-year period thereafter the board may, and upon his application shall, require any disability beneficiary who has not yet attained the age o…

Should the system report and certify to the board that such disability beneficiary is engaged in or is able to engage in a gainful occupation paying more than the difference between his retirement allowance and his earnable compensation and should the board concur in such report,…

The South Carolina Retirement System may contract with the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation to evaluate the medical evidence submitted with the disability application relative to the job being performed and make recommendations to the system. The system may approve a disab…

(A) Until the first payment on account of a retirement allowance becomes normally due, any member or beneficiary may elect, by filing with the system, to convert the retirement allowance otherwise payable on his account after retirement into a retirement allowance of equivalent a…

All retirement allowances are payable in monthly installments. Upon the death of a retired member, the retirement allowance for the month the retired member died, if not previously paid, must be paid to the member's designated beneficiary, if the beneficiary is living at the time…

Should a member cease to be a member of the System, for reasons other than death, he shall be paid as promptly as feasible after his request, but in no event later than six months after such cessation, the sum of his contributions and the accumulated regular interest thereon. Sho…