Sections
Part 1 General Provisions 49-16-101 – 49-16-104
Part 2 Membership Eligibility 49-16-201 – 49-16-203
Part 3 Contributions 49-16-301
Part 4 Defined Benefit 49-16-401 – 49-16-403
Part 5 Death Benefit 49-16-501 – 49-16-508
Part 6 Disability Benefit 49-16-601 – 49-16-603
Part 7 Volunteer Firefighters 49-16-701

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Terms Used In Utah Code > Title 49 > Chapter 16 - Firefighters' Retirement Act

  • Active member: means a member who:
              (1)(a)(i) is employed by a participating employer and accruing service credit; or
              (1)(a)(ii) within the previous 120 days:
                   (1)(a)(ii)(A) has been employed by a participating employer; and
                   (1)(a)(ii)(B) accrued service credit. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Agency: means :
              (4)(a)(i) a department, division, agency, office, authority, commission, board, institution, or hospital of the state;
              (4)(a)(ii) a county, municipality, school district, special district, or special service district;
              (4)(a)(iii) a state college or university; or
              (4)(a)(iv) any other participating employer. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Alternate payee: means a member's former spouse or family member eligible to receive payments under a Domestic Relations Order in compliance with Section 49-11-612. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Beneficiary: means any person entitled to receive a payment under this title through a relationship with or designated by a member, participant, covered individual, or alternate payee of a defined contribution plan. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Board: means the Utah State Retirement Board established under Section 49-11-202. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Board member: means a person serving on the Utah State Retirement Board as established under Section 49-11-202. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • City: includes , depending on population, a metro township as defined in Section 10-3c-102. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Compensation: includes performance-based bonuses and cost-of-living adjustments. See Utah Code 49-16-102
  • Contributions: means the total amount paid by the participating employer and the member into a system or to the Utah Governors' and Legislators' Retirement Plan under Chapter 19, Utah Governors' and Legislators' Retirement Act. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • defined contribution plan: means any defined contribution plan or deferred compensation plan authorized under the Internal Revenue Code and administered by the board. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Department: means the Department of Environmental Quality. See Utah Code 19-1-103
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Disability: means the complete inability, due to objective medical impairment, whether physical or mental, to perform firefighter service. See Utah Code 49-16-102
  • Emergency medical service personnel: means an individual who:
         (3)(a) is:
              (3)(a)(i) a paramedic;
              (3)(a)(ii) an advanced emergency medical services technician; or
              (3)(a)(iii) an emergency medical services technician;
         (3)(b) is required to be licensed or certified under Section 53-2d-402; and
         (3)(c) has a primary job duty to provide emergency medical services as a first responder. See Utah Code 49-16-102
  • Employer: means any department, educational institution, or political subdivision of the state eligible to participate in a government-sponsored retirement system under federal law. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Equal: means , with respect to biological sex, of the same value. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Executive director: means the executive director of the department appointed pursuant to Section 19-1-104. See Utah Code 19-1-103
  • Final average monthly salary: means the amount computed by dividing the compensation received during the final average salary period under each system by the number of months in the final average salary period. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Final average salary: means the amount calculated by averaging the highest three years of annual compensation preceding retirement subject to Subsections (4)(b), (c), and (d). See Utah Code 49-16-102
  • Firefighter service: means employment normally requiring an average of 2,080 hours of regularly scheduled employment per year rendered by a member who is:
              (5)(a)(i) a firefighter service employee trained in firefighter techniques and assigned to a position of hazardous duty with a regularly constituted fire department;
              (5)(a)(ii) the state fire marshal appointed under Section 53-7-103 or a deputy state fire marshal; or
              (5)(a)(iii) an emergency medical service personnel. See Utah Code 49-16-102
  • Firefighter service employee: means an employee of a participating employer who provides firefighter service under this chapter. See Utah Code 49-16-102
  • Fund: means any fund created under this title for the purpose of paying benefits or costs of administering a system, plan, or program. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Inactive member: means a member who has not been employed by a participating employer for a period of at least 120 days. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Initially entering: includes an employee of a participating employer, except for an employee that is not eligible under a system or plan under this title, who:
              (29)(c)(i) does not have any prior service credit on file with the office;
              (29)(c)(ii) is covered by a retirement plan other than a retirement plan created under this title; and
              (29)(c)(iii) moves to a position with a participating employer that is covered by this title. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Land: includes :
         (18)(a) land;
         (18)(b) a tenement;
         (18)(c) a hereditament;
         (18)(d) a water right;
         (18)(e) a possessory right; and
         (18)(f) a claim. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Line-of-duty death or disability: includes the death or disability of a paid firefighter resulting from heart disease, lung disease, or a respiratory tract condition if the paid firefighter has five years of firefighter service credit. See Utah Code 49-16-102
  • Member: means a person, except a retiree, with contributions on deposit with a system, the Utah Governors' and Legislators' Retirement Plan under Chapter 19, Utah Governors' and Legislators' Retirement Act, or with a terminated system. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Member contributions: means the sum of the contributions paid to a system or the Utah Governors' and Legislators' Retirement Plan, including refund interest if allowed by a system, and which are made by:
         (32)(a) the member; and
         (32)(b) the participating employer on the member's behalf under Section 414(h) of the Internal Revenue Code. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Month: means a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Objective medical impairment: means an impairment resulting from an injury or illness that is diagnosed by a physician or physician assistant and that is based on accepted objective medical tests or findings rather than subjective complaints. See Utah Code 49-16-102
  • Office: means the Utah State Retirement Office. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Participant: means an individual with voluntary deferrals or nonelective contributions on deposit with the defined contribution plans administered under this title. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Participating employer: means an employer that meets the participation requirements of Section 49-16-201. See Utah Code 49-16-102
  • Person: means :
         (24)(a) an individual;
         (24)(b) an association;
         (24)(c) an institution;
         (24)(d) a corporation;
         (24)(e) a company;
         (24)(f) a trust;
         (24)(g) a limited liability company;
         (24)(h) a partnership;
         (24)(i) a political subdivision;
         (24)(j) a government office, department, division, bureau, or other body of government; and
         (24)(k) any other organization or entity. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Person: means an individual, trust, firm, estate, company, corporation, partnership, association, state, state or federal agency or entity, municipality, commission, or political subdivision of a state. See Utah Code 19-1-103
  • Plan: means the Utah Governors' and Legislators' Retirement Plan created by Chapter 19, Utah Governors' and Legislators' Retirement Act, the New Public Employees' Tier II Defined Contribution Plan created by Chapter 22, Part 4, Tier II Defined Contribution Plan, the New Public Safety and Firefighter Tier II Defined Contribution Plan created by Chapter 23, Part 4, Tier II Defined Contribution Plan, or the defined contribution plans created under Section 49-11-801. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of a judicial proceeding. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Regularly constituted fire department: means a fire department that employs a fire chief who performs firefighter service for at least 2,080 hours of regularly scheduled paid employment per year. See Utah Code 49-16-102
  • Retiree: means an individual who has qualified for an allowance under this title. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Retirement: means the status of an individual who has become eligible, applies for, and is entitled to receive an allowance under this title. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Retirement date: means the date selected by the member on which the member's retirement becomes effective with the office. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Road: includes :
         (33)(a) a public bridge;
         (33)(b) a county way;
         (33)(c) a county road;
         (33)(d) a common road; and
         (33)(e) a state road. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Service credit: means :
         (50)(a) the period during which an employee is employed and compensated by a participating employer and meets the eligibility requirements for membership in a system or the Utah Governors' and Legislators' Retirement Plan, provided that any required contributions are paid to the office; and
         (50)(b) periods of time otherwise purchasable under this title. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Strenuous activity: includes participating in a participating employer sanctioned and funded training exercise that involves difficult, stressful, or vigorous physical activity. See Utah Code 49-16-102
  • Surviving spouse: means :
         (51)(a) the lawful spouse who has been married to a member for at least six months immediately before the death date of the member; or
         (51)(b) a former lawful spouse of a member with a valid domestic relations order benefits on file with the office before the member's death date in accordance with Section 49-11-612. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • System: means the Firefighters' Retirement System created under this chapter. See Utah Code 49-16-102
  • Tier I: means a system or plan under this title for which:
         (54)(a) an employee is eligible to participate if the employee initially enters regular full-time employment before July 1, 2011; or
         (54)(b) a governor or legislator who initially enters office before July 1, 2011. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • Tier II: includes :
              (55)(b)(i) the Tier II hybrid system established under:
                   (55)(b)(i)(A) Chapter 22, Part 3, Tier II Hybrid Retirement System; or
                   (55)(b)(i)(B) Chapter 23, Part 3, Tier II Hybrid Retirement System; and
              (55)(b)(ii) the Tier II Defined Contribution Plan (Tier II DC Plan) established under:
                   (55)(b)(ii)(A) Chapter 22, Part 4, Tier II Defined Contribution Plan; or
                   (55)(b)(ii)(B) Chapter 23, Part 4, Tier II Defined Contribution Plan. See Utah Code 49-11-102
  • United States: includes each state, district, and territory of the United States of America. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Volunteer firefighter: means any individual who is not regularly employed as a firefighter service employee, but who:
              (13)(a)(i) has been trained in firefighter techniques and skills;
              (13)(a)(ii) continues to receive regular firefighter training; and
              (13)(a)(iii) is on the rolls of a legally organized volunteer fire department that provides ongoing training and serves a political subdivision of the state. See Utah Code 49-16-102
  • Writing: includes :
         (48)(a) printing;
         (48)(b) handwriting; and
         (48)(c) information stored in an electronic or other medium if the information is retrievable in a perceivable format. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Years of service credit: means the number of periods, each to consist of 12 full months as determined by the board, whether consecutive or not, during which a firefighter service employee was employed by a participating employer or received full-time pay while on sick leave, including any time the firefighter service employee was absent in the service of the United States on military duty. See Utah Code 49-16-102