CHAPTER 810. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
GOVERNMENT CODE
TITLE 8. PUBLIC RETIREMENT SYSTEMS
SUBTITLE A. PROVISIONS GENERALLY APPLICABLE TO PUBLIC RETIREMENT
SYSTEMS
CHAPTER 810. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Sec. 810.001. ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC RETIREMENT SYSTEM. (a)
In this section:
(1) "Political entity" means a municipality or any agency
thereof, a junior college district, river authority, water
district, appraisal district, or other special purpose district
or authority that is created pursuant to state law and that is
not an agency of the state.
(2) "Public retirement system" means a continuing, organized
program or plan (including a plan qualified under Section 401(a)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) of service retirement,
disability retirement, or death benefits for officers or
employees of a political entity, other than:
(A) a program providing only workers' compensation benefits;
(B) a program administered by the federal government;
(C) an individual retirement account or individual retirement
annuity within the meaning of Section 408 or a retirement bond
within the meaning of Section 409 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 (26 U.S.C. Sections 408, 409);
(D) an individual account plan consisting of an annuity contract
described by Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
(26 U.S.C. Section 403); or
(E) an eligible state deferred compensation plan described by
Section 457(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C.
Section 457).
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the governing body of
a political entity may establish and maintain a public retirement
system for its appointive officers and employees and determine
the benefits, funding source and amount, and administration of
the system. Each active member of a public retirement system
established under the authority provided by this section shall
contribute to the system an amount, if any, determined by the
political entity. The political entity shall contribute for each
active member in a defined contribution plan or a defined benefit
plan an amount determined by the political entity to be required
to meet the system's benefit plan.
(c) The governing body of the political entity may arrange for
administration of the system by a private provider of public
retirement benefits, whether or not the provider is also a source
of benefits provided for under the system.
(d) The authority granted by Subsections (b) and (c) does not
apply to a political entity to the extent that the entity, by
specific statute, is:
(1) required to establish or participate exclusively in a
particular public retirement system; or
(2) prohibited from establishing or participating in any public
retirement system or in a particular retirement system.
(e) The authority granted by Subsections (b) and (c) is in
addition to any other statutory authority to provide a public
retirement system or programs specifically excluded from the
definition of a public retirement system.
(f) Every political entity which establishes or maintains a
public retirement system covered under this Act shall file all
reports with the State Pension Review Board required by Chapter
802. If a political subdivision establishes a retirement program
that would be a "public retirement system" within the meaning
ascribed to that term by Section 801.001, but for the fact that
the program is administered by a life insurance company, the
subdivision shall notify the State Pension Review Board of the
establishment of the program and the name of the administering
company.
(g) "Civil union" means any relationship status that grants to
the parties of the relationship the same legal protections,
benefits, and responsibilities as are granted to the spouses of a
marriage.
(h) For purposes of this title, the state may not give effect to
a:
(1) public act, record, or judicial proceeding that recognizes
or validates a marriage or civil union between persons of the
same sex; or
(2) right or claim asserted as a result of the purported
marriage or civil union.
(i) Subsection (h) does not preclude the enforcement in this
state of an order issued in another state relating to child
custody, child support, or property division, including a
qualified domestic relations order.
(j) A single governmental employer is not considered to be
permitting a person who is a public employee, officer, or retiree
of that employer to be receiving benefits from more than one
system or program of retirement for the same service if:
(1) the employer participates in the Texas Municipal Retirement
System or the Texas County and District Retirement System and
also sponsors one or more supplemental plans:
(A) funded by the employer, the employee, or a combination of
the employer and the employee; and
(B) established before January 1, 2005; and
(2) the amount of the combined benefits paid to the person by
the Texas Municipal Retirement System or the Texas County and
District Retirement System and all of the supplemental plans
described by Subdivision (1) is in compliance with Section 415,
Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 589, Sec. 1, eff. June 16,
1991. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1231, Sec. 46, eff.
Sept. 1, 2001.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
1157, Sec. 1, eff. June 18, 2005.