(a) A county that contracts with the Board of Administration of the Public Employees’ Retirement System as of the implementation date of this chapter and the trial court located within that county shall establish a joint contract with the county under Section 20460.1 and subdivision (b) of Section 20469.1 in accordance with the pertinent provisions of the Public Employees’ Retirement Law (Part 3 (commencing with Section 20000) of Division 5 of Title 2) and any other applicable rules of the retirement system unless the county and trial court located within that county jointly and voluntarily elect to establish separate contracts under Section 20471.2. Eligibility to participate in the Public Employees’ Retirement System shall be determined in accordance with the pertinent provisions of the Public Employees’ Retirement Law and any other applicable rules of the retirement system. For all other counties and their corresponding county defined-benefit retirement system, a trial court employee shall be eligible to participate as a member in the existing county defined-benefit retirement system in the county in which the court is located.

(b) If a trial court employee participates as a member in a county defined-benefit retirement system, their participation shall be subject to the applicable statutes, rules, regulations, policies, and plan and contract terms of the retirement system as is any other member of the system. In accordance with these provisions, the trial court employee who is a member of a county defined-benefit retirement system shall have the right to receive the same defined-benefit retirement plan benefits as county employees without the opportunity to meet and confer with the county as to those benefits. For all county defined-benefit systems other than the Public Employees’ Retirement System, the trial court shall pay to the county retirement system at the same rate of contribution for trial court employees as is required of the county for county employees under the county retirement system for the same benefit level. Provided that a county and a trial court are parties to a joint contract with CalPERS for the provision of retirement benefits under Sections 20460.1 and 20469.1, the county defined-benefit retirement system contribution rates for the trial court shall be the same as the contribution rates for the county for the same benefit levels.

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(c) Unless otherwise required by law, as provided in Section 71612, the implementation of this chapter shall not be a cause for the modification of the trial court employee’s contractual coverage under, or exclusion from, social security.

(d) To facilitate trial court employee participation in county defined-benefit retirement plans, the trial court and county may mutually agree that the county shall administer the payroll for trial court employees.

(e) This section does not preclude a trial court from offering a different defined-benefit retirement plan for trial court employees that is separate from the county defined-benefit retirement plan, subject to the terms of a memorandum of understanding or agreement for represented employees, or the terms of trial court policies, procedures, or plans, for unrepresented employees. The mechanism for implementation of these plans shall be created by statute.

(f) For purposes of this section, “county defined-benefit retirement system” means a defined-benefit retirement system administered by the county or applicable governing body, including systems established pursuant to the Public Employees’ Retirement Law (Part 3 (commencing with Section 20000) of Division 5 of Title 2), the County Employees’ Retirement Law of 1937 (Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 31450) of Part 3 of Division 3 of Title 3), or an independent retirement system or plan.

(g) On the date this chapter is implemented, a trial court employee who is a member of any county defined-benefit retirement system shall continue to be eligible to receive the same level of benefits that the member was eligible to receive prior to implementation of this chapter.

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 307, Sec. 5. (SB 548) Effective January 1, 2024.)