Title 9, Title 9 — Administration Of The Government

Agreements with federal security administrator to extend benefits to employees; provisions. (a) The state treasurer with the approval of the governor may enter on behalf of the state into an agreement with the federal security administrator or his successor, consistent with the t…

Governmental employee's contributions; amount; collection by payroll deduction; adjustments; payments from political subdivisions. (a) Every employee of the state and political subdivision thereof, whose services are covered by an agreement entered into under W.S. 9-3-303, shall …

Account; establishment; contents; account to be held separate; withdrawals; treasurer and custodian of account; appropriations to account. (a) A separate account is established which shall consist of and there shall be deposited in the account: (i) All contributions, interest and…

Duties of state treasurer; promulgation of rules and regulations. The state treasurer shall promulgate rules and regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of this act as necessary or appropriate to the efficient administration of the functions with which he is charged unde…

Short title. This article is known and may be cited as "The Wyoming Retirement Act".

Definitions. (a) As used in this article: (i) "Account" or "member account" means: (A) For a member who has a minimum of four (4) years of service or a member initially employed before July 1, 2018, the member's contributions, the member's contributions paid by an employer under …

Wyoming retirement system; establishment; purpose; powers as body corporate. The Wyoming retirement system is established to provide retirement and other benefits to eligible employees of participating employers. It shall be a body corporate, may sue and be sued and shall have al…

Wyoming retirement board; responsibility for administration of system; composition; appointment; term; vacancies; meetings; election of chairman. (a) The responsibility for the administration and operation of the retirement system is vested solely and exclusively in the Wyoming r…

Retirement board duties and powers. (a) In addition to any other duties prescribed by law, the board shall: (i) File with the legislative service office: (A) All system actuarial reports; (B) An annual audit report by an independent audit firm showing the financial status of the …

Retirement board; employment and compensation of director, consulting actuary and assistants; director designated secretary; compensation of members; quorum; seal. (a) The board shall employ a director and a consulting actuary and other professional and clerical assistants necess…

Retirement board; control and management of account containing assets of retirement system; payments from account. (a) The retirement account is established. (b) The board has the control and management of the retirement account which shall contain all the assets of the retiremen…

Designated custodian of retirement account; disbursements; investment of account monies. (a) The board may designate the state treasurer or a master custodial bank approved by the state treasurer as the custodian of the retirement account. Disbursements from the retirement accoun…

Retirement board; rules and regulations; powers and privileges required to perform functions; requiring employers to furnish information and keep records. (a) The retirement board shall adopt rules and regulations for the administration of the retirement system and the control an…

Retirement board; actuarial investigation and valuation of system; annual valuation of assets and liabilities to be prepared and published; public record of proceedings. (a) The retirement board shall keep in convenient form data necessary for actuarial valuations and investigati…

Retirement board; right to hearing before board; judicial review. Any person aggrieved by any ruling of the board is entitled to a hearing before the board after giving reasonable notice. The decision of the board upon hearing is a final administrative decision and is subject to …

Members' contributions; payroll deductions; employer authorized to pay employee's share. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section and W.S. 9-3-431 and 9-3-432, every member covered under this article shall pay into the account nine and one-quarter percent (9.25%) of his s…

Employer's contributions; payable monthly; transfer to account; interest imposed upon delinquent contributions; recovery. Except as provided by W.S. 9-2-3207(a)(xi)(F)(III) or (IV), 9-3- 431 and 9-3-432, each employer, excluding employers of firefighter members, shall, on a month…

Members' and employers' contributions based on actuarially determined contribution rates; calculation of rates; reports. (a) Beginning with the 2027-2028 fiscal biennium, the retirement system shall calculate the percentage of salary for members' contributions required under W.S.…

When retirement permitted; service credit. (a) Except as provided under W.S. 9-3-431 and 9-3-432, normal retirement benefits under the system are payable to a member who: (i) Has at least four (4) years of service credit and is at least sixty (60) years of age and is not subject …

Members leaving service without withdrawing accumulated contributions eligible for retirement. Except for law enforcement officers, any member who has left service without withdrawing his accumulated contributions and who has a minimum of four (4) years of service is eligible to …

Determination of eligibility for retirement; board to determine equivalent of years of service; credit for military service. (a) The board shall determine the total years of service creditable to each member for the purpose of determining eligibility for retirement under this art…

Amount of service retirement benefit; firefighter members excluded. (a) The normal retirement benefit for a member who first becomes covered under this article after June 30, 1981 and before September 1, 2012 is equal to two and one-eighth percent (2 1/8%) of the highest average …

Retirement benefit adjustments. (a) The retirement benefit specified under W.S. 9-3-418(b)(ii) is subject to the following cumulative increases: (i) The benefit for covered service prior to July 1, 1975 is increased by twenty-five percent (25%) with a maximum increase of twenty-f…

Option as to form of benefit; beneficiary designations. (a) Subject to uniform rules and regulations the board prescribes, a member may instead of the service retirement benefits provided in this article, elect one (1) of the following forms of retirement benefits which shall be …

Death benefits; monthly benefit option; refund of excess employee contributions plus interest; medical insurance premiums. (a) If a member dies before retirement under the system, except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, the member's account plus an additional amount…

Disability retirement; board determination; reports and examinations; amount; options as to form of benefit. (a) Except as specified for law enforcement officers under W.S. 9-3-432, any member in service who has ten (10) or more years of service credit during which contributions …

(g) The firefighter member retirement benefit program established under this section shall be discontinued by the board, and retirement benefits prescribed under this section shall be discontinued, if at any time contributions for all firefighter members required under subsection…

Refund of contributions upon termination of employment; procedure; redeposit; limitation on refund. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, any member covered by this article, including an at-will contract employee under W.S. 9-2-3207(a)(xi)(F)(III) or (IV), who…

Right of members retired under terminated systems to retirement benefits from account; no prohibition to increase provided in W.S. 9-3-419. Any member retired under one (1) of the terminated systems or continued in retirement under the system is entitled to receive service or dis…

Benefits, allowances and contents of account exempt from taxation and not subject to execution or attachment; assignment limited; qualified domestic relations order; system assets. (a) The benefits and allowances and the cash and securities in the account created by this article:…

Other retirement plans prohibited. The establishment of any annuity plan, limited service plan, pension or retirement system other than that provided by this article by any department, board, bureau or agency of the state or by any political subdivision of the state is prohibited…

Construction of article; limitation of liability of state; termination of system. (a) Nothing in this article shall be construed to: (i) Acknowledge any past, present or future liability of or obligate the state of Wyoming for contribution except the employer's contributions prov…

False statements and records prohibited; right to modify article. (a) Any person who knowingly makes a false statement or falsifies or permits to be falsified any record used in the administration of this article, in an attempt to defraud the board, is guilty of a misdemeanor. (b…

Application for benefits; benefit payment effective dates; minimum distribution rules. (a) A member shall submit a written application for benefits to the system before benefits shall begin. The written application for benefits shall be on forms adopted by the board. (b) Benefits…

Firefighter members; contributions; benefit eligibility; service and disability retirement benefits; termination of benefits upon failure to make timely contribution payments. (a) In addition to contributions paid under W.S. 9-3-412 and 9-3-413, each firefighter member shall pay …

Law enforcement officers; contributions; benefit eligibility; service and disability benefits; death benefits; benefit options. (a) Each law enforcement officer shall pay into the account eight and six-tenths percent (8.6%) of his salary through June 30, 2024, nine and one-half p…

Short title. This act may be cited as the Uniform Management of Public Employee Retirement Systems (MPERS) Act.

Definitions. (a) As used in this act: (i) "Administrator" means the director of the Wyoming retirement system; (ii) "Agent group of programs" means a group of retirement programs which shares administrative and investment functions but maintains a separate account for each retire…

Scope. (a) This act applies to all retirement programs and retirement systems, except: (i) A retirement program that is unfunded and is maintained by a public employer solely for the purpose of providing deferred compensation for a select group of management employees or employee…

Establishment of trust. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, all assets of a retirement system are held in trust for the exclusive benefit of the members, retirees and beneficiaries of the system, including reasonable administrative expenses. The tr…

Powers of trustee. (a) In addition to other powers conferred by the governing law, a trustee has exclusive authority, consistent with the trustee's duties under this act, to: (i) Establish an administrative budget sufficient, subject to legislative approval, to perform the truste…

Delegation of functions. (a) A trustee or administrator may delegate functions that a prudent trustee or administrator acting in a like capacity and familiar with those matters could properly delegate under the circumstances. (b) The trustee or administrator shall exercise reason…

General duties of trustee and fiduciary. (a) A trustee or other fiduciary shall discharge duties with respect to a retirement system: (i) Solely in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries; (ii) For the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to participants and benefic…

Duties of trustee in investing and managing assets of retirement system. (a) In investing and managing assets of a retirement system pursuant to W.S. 9-3-439 and subject to W.S. 9-4-722, a trustee with authority to invest and manage assets: (i) Shall consider among other circumst…

Special application of duties. (a) A trustee may return a contribution to a public employer or employee, or make alternative arrangements for reimbursement, if the trustee determines the contribution was made because of a mistake of fact or law. (b) Upon termination of a retireme…

Reviewing compliance. (a) Compliance by a trustee or other fiduciary with W.S. 9-3-438 through 9-3-440 shall be determined in light of the facts and circumstances existing at the time of the trustee or fiduciary's decision or action and not by hindsight. (b) A trustee's investmen…