(1) (a) For members who began participating in the Judicial Retirement Plan prior to January 1, 2014: If any member of the plan ceases, other than by death or by disability retirement under KRS § 21.410, to hold an office qualifying him or her for membership in the plan established by KRS
21.350 to 21.480, without having met the requirements for vesting, he or she shall be refunded on demand the amount of his or her accumulated contributions and any service credit he or she had in the plan shall be nullified.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 21.460


(b) A member who begins participating in the Judicial Retirement Plan on or after January 1, 2014, may, if the member ceases to hold an office qualifying him or her for membership in the plan established by KRS
21.345 to 21.580, elect to take a refund of his or her accumulated account balance subject to the limitations provided by KRS § 21.402.
(2) The member may elect to leave his or her contributions in the plan, in which event the service credit he or she had in the plan shall be considered to be service credit for vesting purposes as provided in KRS § 21.375 and for service retirement eligibility as provided in KRS § 61.680(7), and, in the event he or she again becomes a member of the Judicial Retirement Plan, shall be counted toward his or her total service credit in that plan.
(3) If a person who has been refunded his or her accumulated contributions or accumulated account balance in accordance with subsection (1) of this section subsequently becomes a member of the Legislators’ Retirement Plan, the Kentucky Employees Retirement System, County Employees Retirement System, State Police Retirement System, or Teachers’ Retirement System, he or she may while holding such membership repurchase the service credit he or she previously had in the Judicial Retirement Plan by repaying to that plan the amount that was refunded to him or her with interest at six percent (6) per annum, in which event such service credit shall have operative effect to the same limited extent as provided in subsection (2) of this section. Service purchased under this subsection on or after January 1, 2014, shall not be used to determine the member’s participation date in the Judicial Retirement Plan.
(4) If a person who has been refunded his or her accumulated contribution or accumulated account balance in accordance with subsection (1) of this section thereafter becomes again the holder of an office qualifying him or her for membership in the Judicial Retirement Plan, he or she shall not be entitled to credit for his or her prior period of service unless he or she has previously repaid his or her refunded contributions in accordance with subsection (3) of this section or unless within thirty (30) days after again assuming office he or she repays to the plan the amount that was refunded to him or her with interest at six percent (6) per annum. Service purchased under this subsection on or after January 1, 2014, shall not be used to determine the member’s participation date in the Judicial Retirement Plan.
(5) If the taking of a refund of contributions by a member of the Kentucky Judicial
Retirement Plan, when first entitled thereto, would subject the member to a
federal excise tax, by reason of the refund’s being made before the member has reached an age designated by the federal taxing act, and the member has elected, pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, to defer taking a refund, so much of the contributions as would have been subject to the excise tax shall accrue interest at the rate of six percent (6) per annum, from the date the member first could have taken a refund until the date the refund is taken or the date as of which the federal excise tax no longer would apply to a refund, whichever is sooner, the interest to be paid by the plan at the time of the refund. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to members who begin participating in the Judicial Retirement Plan on or after January 1, 2014.
Effective:April 1, 2021
History: Amended 2021 Ky. Acts ch. 102, sec. 43, effective April 1, 2021. — Amended 2018 Ky. Acts ch. 107, sec. 10, effective July 14, 2018. — Amended
2013 Ky. Acts ch. 120, sec. 30, effective July 1, 2013. — Amended 1988 Ky. Acts ch. 299, sec. 2, effective July 15, 1988. — Amended 1984 Ky. Acts ch. 111, sec. 28, effective July 13, 1984. — Amended 1982 Ky. Acts ch. 458, sec. 2, effective April 15, 1982. — Amended 1968 Ky. Acts ch. 152, sec. 6. — Amended
1962 Ky. Acts ch. 9, sec. 8. — Created 1960 Ky. Acts ch. 84, Art. III, sec. 12.
Legislative Research Commission Note (12/13/2018). On December 13, 2018, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the passage of 2018 SB 151 (2018 Ky. Acts ch. 107), did not comply with the three-readings rule of Kentucky Constitution Section 46 and that the legislation is, therefore, constitutionally invalid and declared void. That ruling applies to changes made to this statute in that Act.