104.372. General assembly members and elective state officers, survivor's income payments, when, amount--death before retirement survivor's benefit--creditable prior service for certain teache

General assembly members and elective state officers, survivor'sincome payments, when, amount--death before retirement survivor'sbenefit--creditable prior service for certain teachers employedby state--surviving spouse, special consultant--payments in lieu ofother provisions, when.

104.372. 1. (1) In the event a person who served as a member of thegeneral assembly or in an elective state office on or after September 1,1976, and who retired after September 1, 1976, dies, a survivor's income inan amount equal to fifty percent of the monthly annuity the retired memberwas receiving at the time of the member's death shall be paid in monthlyinstallments to such deceased retired member's surviving spouse; providedsuch surviving spouse was married to the deceased retired member of thegeneral assembly or elected official on the date of the member's death; orif there is no surviving spouse eligible to receive such survivor's income,then such survivor's income shall be payable to any children under the ageof twenty-one of the deceased member of the general assembly or electiveofficial in equal shares in a total amount equal to such survivor's incomethat would otherwise have been paid to the surviving spouse until thechildren reach twenty-one years of age. The benefits shall be funded asprovided in section 104.436; or

(2) Upon the death of a person who served as a member of the generalassembly or in an elective state office on or after September 1, 1976, andwho retired pursuant to the provisions of this chapter on or afterSeptember 1, 1976, and who terminated employment before August 28, 1988,such deceased retired member's surviving spouse, who was married to thedeceased retired member on the date of the member's death, may apply to theboard of trustees and shall be made, constituted, appointed and employed bythe board as a special consultant on the problems of retirement, aging andother state matters for the remainder of the surviving spouse's life, andupon request of the board shall give opinions, and be available to giveopinions in writing, or orally, in response to such requests. Ascompensation for such services, beginning the first of the month followingapplication, such surviving spouse shall receive monthly an amount equal tofifty percent of the monthly annuity the retired member was receiving atthe time of the member's death.

2. If a member of the general assembly who has served in at leastthree full biennial assemblies dies before retirement, pursuant to theprovisions of sections 104.312 to 104.801, a survivor's benefit shall bepaid in an amount equal to fifty percent of the member's accrued annuitycalculated as if the member were of normal retirement age as of themember's death. The survivor's benefit shall be paid in monthlyinstallments to such deceased member's surviving spouse; provided suchsurviving spouse was married to the deceased member of the general assemblyon the date of the member's death; or if there is no surviving spouseeligible to receive such survivor's benefit, such survivor's benefit shallbe payable to any children under the age of twenty-one of the deceasedmember of the general assembly in equal shares in a total amount equal tosuch survivor's benefit that would otherwise have been paid to thesurviving spouse until the children reach twenty-one years of age.

3. In the event a person who has held one or more statewide stateelective offices for a total of at least twelve years, and whose retirementbenefits have been calculated and are being paid pursuant to the provisionsof section 104.371, dies, a survivor's benefit in an amount equal to fiftypercent of the benefits being paid the member pursuant to section 104.371shall be paid to the member's surviving spouse. The survivor's benefitsshall be paid in the manner provided in section 104.371.

4. Every member of the state employees' retirement system who hadprevious state employment by a state agency by virtue of which the personwas a member of the public school retirement system of Missouri and haspreviously withdrawn the person's employee contribution to the publicschool retirement system shall upon request if qualified pursuant to theprovisions of this subsection receive creditable prior service in the stateemployees' retirement system for such service notwithstanding any otherprovisions of law. The public school retirement system shall pay to thestate employees' retirement system an amount equal to the contribution paidto the public school retirement system on behalf of the employee by theemployee's employer, and the commissioner of administration shall pay anequal amount to the state employees' retirement system from fundsappropriated from the general revenue fund for such purpose. In no eventshall any person receive credit for the same period of service under morethan one retirement system.

5. Upon the death of a person who served as a member of the generalassembly or in an elective state office before September 1, 1976, and whoretired and chose a normal annuity pursuant to the provisions of thischapter, such deceased retired member's surviving spouse, who was marriedto the member on the date of the member's death, may apply to the board oftrustees and shall be made, constituted, appointed and employed by theboard as a special consultant on the problems of retirement, aging, andother state matters for the remainder of the surviving spouse's life, andupon request of the board shall give opinions, and be available to giveopinions in writing, or orally, in response to such requests. Ascompensation for such services, beginning the first of the month followingapplication, such surviving spouse shall receive monthly an amount equal tofifty percent of the monthly annuity the retired member was receiving atthe time of the member's death.

6. Survivor benefits shall be paid pursuant to section 104.420 inlieu of any other provisions of this section to the contrary if the memberof the general assembly or statewide elected official:

(1) Dies on or after August 28, 2001;

(2) Had a vested right to an annuity; and

(3) Was not receiving an annuity.

7. Survivor benefits shall be paid pursuant to section 104.395 inlieu of any other provisions of this section to the contrary if the memberof the general assembly or statewide elected official elects a survivorbenefit option pursuant to section 104.395, and dies on or after August 28,2001.

(L. 1984 H.B. 1370, A.L. 1986 H.B. 1496, A.L. 1987 H.B. 713, A.L. 1988 H.B. 1643 & 1399, A.L. 1994 H.B. 1149, A.L. 1997 H.B. 356, A.L. 2000 H.B. 1808, A.L. 2001 S.B. 371)