Chapter 8, Chapter 8

The board of park and recreation commissioners provided for by charter provision, or created by ordinance, pursuant to the authority of this article, shall be a public corporate body, with perpetual existence and a common seal. It shall be known as the board of park and recreatio…

The board shall consist of not less than three nor more than seven members as may be provided by charter provision or ordinance, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, except as hereinafter in this article provided. Each member of the board …

When a vacancy occurs on said board by reason of death, resignation, change of residence from the city, failure to remain a freeholder of the city, or due to any other cause, the remaining member or members of said board shall appoint a successor or successors, or if there should…

After appointment or election, the members of the board shall qualify by taking and filing with the recorder of the city the oath prescribed by law for public officials, and they shall not be permitted to serve upon said board until they have so qualified. If any member of said b…

The members of said board shall receive no compensation for their services but they shall be entitled to reimbursement for all reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred in the performance of their duties as members of said board. They shall not be personally interested,…

The governing body shall furnish said board an office in the city building where it may hold its meetings and keep its records. Any board operating under the provisions of this article shall have complete and exclusive control and management of all of the properties which shall b…

The board is hereby granted the power and authority to acquire in its name or in the name of the city by purchase, lease, or by exercise of the power of eminent domain, or otherwise, such land or lands as it shall determine to be necessary, appropriate, convenient or incidental t…

The board is hereby empowered and authorized to take title in its name or in the name of the city to all real and personal property acquired by it for the use of the public or useful to the public in the establishment, construction, improvement, extension, development, maintenanc…

Any municipality may elect to become a participating public employer under the West Virginia Public Employees Retirement System created and established by, and administered pursuant to, the provisions of article ten, chapter five of this code, for the coverage of all employees el…

This article is known and may be cited as the "West Virginia Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System Act."

Notwithstanding any other provision of this article or state law, the board shall administer the retirement system in compliance with the limitations of Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code and regulations under that section to the extent applicable to governmental plans (her…

Effective January 1, 1987, the financial objective of each municipality shall not be less than to contribute to the fund annually an amount which, together with the contributions from the members, will be sufficient to meet the normal cost of the fund including the cost of admini…

The requirements of this section apply to any distribution of a member’s or beneficiary’s interest and take precedence over any inconsistent provisions of this plan. This section applies to plan years beginning after December 31, 1986. Notwithstanding anything in the plan to the …

The board shall keep as an available sum for the purpose of making retirement, disability and death payments and administration expense an amount estimated to meet such payments for a period not to exceed ninety days. The board in acquiring, investing, reinvesting, exchanging, re…

Moneys invested as permitted by §8-22-11 of this code are subject to the restrictions and conditions contained in this section: (1) At no time may more than 75 percent of the portfolio of either fund be invested in securities described in §8-22-11(7) of this code; (2) At no time …

The board of trustees shall maintain an individual account with each member, showing the amount of the member's contributions and the interest accumulations thereon. It shall collect and keep in convenient form such data as may be necessary for the preparation of the required mor…

Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary that would otherwise limit a distributee's election under this plan, a distributee may elect, at the time and in the manner prescribed by the board, to have any portion of an eligible rollover distribution paid directl…

(a) Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary that would otherwise prohibit or limit rollovers and plan transfers to this system, the plan shall accept the following rollovers and plan transfers on behalf of a member solely for the purpose of the repayment of …

The board of trustees for each retirement fund shall have regularly scheduled actuarial valuation reports prepared by a qualified actuary. An actuarial valuation report shall be prepared at least once every five years commencing with the later of (1) July 1, 1987, or (2) five yea…

The treasurer of the city shall be the custodian of all of the assets of the fund, and shall deposit and pay out the moneys of the fund upon, and in accordance with, any proper order of the board of trustees. Such treasurer shall be liable upon his official bond as treasurer for …

This section describes when adjustment of a member’s accrued benefit to reflect the difference in age, in years and months, between the member’s annuity starting date and the date the member attains normal retirement age shall be made. This age adjustment, when required, shall be…

Notwithstanding any provisions in sections two through fourteen of this article to the contrary, the provisions of said sections two through fourteen shall not be applicable to any fund established by any city prior to the effective date of this section, unless and until such cit…

Prior to the effective date of retirement, but not after that date, a member may elect to receive retirement income payments in the normal form, or the actuarial equivalent of the normal form from the following options: (a) Option A -- Contingent joint and survivor annuity. -- A …

(a) Any member who terminates covered employment and is not eligible to receive disability benefits or retirement income payments under this article is, by written request filed with the board, entitled to receive from the fund the member’s accumulated contributions. Except as pr…

(a) Except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, passed into law during the fourth extraordinary session of the Legislature in 2009, in every Class I and Class II city having, or which may hereafter have, a paid police department and a paid fire department, or either of …

The Legislature finds that prudence often dictates a review of well meaning actions previously taken. The Legislature further finds that implementation of the cost of living benefit enacted during the one thousand nine hundred ninety regular legislative session would be disadvant…

(a) Any member who after the effective date of this article and during covered employment: (1) Has been or becomes totally or partially disabled by injury, illness or disease; and (2) the disability is a result of an occupational risk or hazard inherent in or peculiar to the serv…

(a) Boards of trustees shall be public corporations by the name and style of "The Board of Trustees of the Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund of (name of municipality)", or "The Board of Trustees of the Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund of (name of municipality)", as the case ma…

(a) The Board of Trustees of the Policemen’s Pension and Relief Fund shall consist of the mayor of the municipality and four members of the paid police department, to be chosen as hereinafter in this section specified. The mayor of such municipality shall give notice of an electi…

(a) Except as provided in §8-22A-9(a) of this code, any municipal police officer or municipal firefighter with 10 or more years of contributory service who, after the effective date of this article and during covered employment: (1) Has been or becomes totally disabled from any c…

(a)(1) The West Virginia Municipal Pensions Oversight Board, established in 2009, is hereby continued as a public body corporate for the purpose of monitoring and improving the performance of municipal policemen's and firemen's pension and relief funds to assure prudent administr…

(a) The Legislature finds that an important part of oversight of municipal policemen's and firemen's pension and relief funds is monitoring the performance required of the various funds to qualify to receive distribution of insurance premium tax revenues provided by section fourt…

In any legal action in which a municipal policemen's or firemen's pension and relief fund, or the fund's board of trustees, employee or administrator, is named as a party, the plaintiff or petitioner shall serve a copy of the complaint or petition upon the oversight board by cert…

(a)(1) In order for a municipal policemen’s or firemen’s pension and relief fund or the trustee of an issue of pension funding revenue bonds issued by the building commission of a municipality, as the case may be, to receive the allocable portion of moneys from the Municipal Pens…

The board may require any member who has applied for or is receiving disability benefits under this article to submit to a physical examination, mental examination or both, by a physician or physicians selected or approved by the board and may cause all costs incident to the exam…

After January 1, 2010, any member of a paid police department or fire department who is removed or discharged or who before retirement on any retirement pension or disability pension severs his or her connection with said department, whether or not consecutive, shall, upon reques…

Every Class I, II and III city which is not a participating public employer in the said West Virginia Public Employees Retirement System is hereby empowered and authorized to and may establish and maintain an "employees retirement and benefit fund" in accordance with the provisio…

As used in this article, unless a federal law or regulation or the context clearly requires a different meaning: (a) "Accrued benefit" means on behalf of any member 2.75 percent per year of the member’s final average salary for the first 20 years of credited service. Additionally…

(a) The surviving spouse of any member who dies by reason of injury, illness, or disease resulting from an occupational risk or hazard inherent in or peculiar to the service required of members, while the member was or is engaged in the performance of his or her duties as a polic…

(a) The West Virginia Municipal Pensions Oversight Board shall contract with or employ a qualified actuary to annually prepare an actuarial valuation report on each pension and relief fund. The selection of contract vendors to provide actuarial services, including the reviewing a…

(a)(1) The Legislature finds that it is in the best interests of the state and its municipalities to have accurate data regarding the various municipal police and firemen's pension and relief funds. (2) The Legislature finds that the State Treasurer should contract with an actuar…

The treasurer of the municipality shall be the custodian of all of the assets of the policemen's pension and relief fund and firemen's pension and relief fund, and shall deposit and pay out the moneys thereof upon, and in accordance with, any proper order of the board of trustees…

(a) If a member who has been a contributing member for at least 10 years dies prior to retirement from any cause other than those specified in §8-22A-20 of this code, and not due to vicious habits, intemperance, or willful misconduct on his or her part, the fund shall pay annuall…

(a) Except as provided in §8-22A-9(a) of this code, in addition to the spouse death benefits in this article, the surviving spouse is entitled to receive and there shall be paid to the spouse $100 monthly for each dependent child. (b) If the surviving spouse dies while receiving …

(a) The board of trustees may invest a portion or all of the fund assets in any of the pools, funds and securities managed by the West Virginia Investment Management Board or West Virginia Board of Treasury Investments or as otherwise provided in this section. The board of truste…

(a) Moneys invested as permitted by section twenty-two of this article and not invested with the West Virginia Investment Management Board or the Board of Treasury Investments are subject to the following restrictions and conditions contained in this section: (1) The board of tru…

Except as provided in subsection (a), section nine of this article, any member who dies as a result of any service-related illness or injury after the effective date is entitled to a lump sum burial benefit of $5,000. If the member is married, the burial benefit shall be paid to …

The board of trustees of the policemen's pension and relief fund and the board of trustees of the firemen's pension and relief fund shall make rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the provisions of sections sixteen through twenty-eight of this article, for the distributio…

(a) All members applying for total and temporary or total and permanent disability benefits after June 30, 1981, shall be examined by at least two physicians under the direction of the staff at Marshall University, West Virginia University, Morgantown, or West Virginia University…

(a) The monthly sum to be paid to each member eligible for disability received as a proximate result of service rendered in the performance of his or her duties under the provisions of §8-22-23(a) of this code is equal to 60 percent of the monthly salary being received by the mem…