97A.5  Administration.
  1.  Board of trustees.  A board of trustees of the Iowa department of public safety peace officers’ retirement, accident, and disability system is created. The general responsibility for the proper operation of the system is vested in the board of trustees. The board of trustees is constituted as follows:  The commissioner of public safety, who is chairperson of the board; the treasurer of state; an actively engaged member of the system, to be chosen by secret ballot by the actively engaged members of the system; a retired member of the system, to be chosen by secret ballot by the retired members of the system; and a person appointed by the governor. The person appointed by the governor shall be an executive of a domestic life insurance company, an executive of a state or national bank operating within the state of Iowa, or an executive in the financial services industry, and shall be subject to confirmation by the senate. The members of the system and the person appointed by the governor shall serve for a term of two years.
  2.  Voting.  Each trustee shall be entitled to one vote on said board and three concurring votes shall be necessary for a decision by the trustees on any question at any meeting of said board.
  3.  Compensation.  The trustees shall serve as such without compensation, but they shall be reimbursed from the retirement fund for all necessary expenses which they may incur through service on the board.
  4.  Rules.  The board of trustees shall, from time to time, establish such rules not inconsistent with this chapter, for the administration of the system and the retirement fund created by this chapter and as may be necessary or appropriate for the transaction of its business.
  5.  Staff.  The department of public safety shall provide administrative services to the board of trustees. Investments shall be administered through the office of the treasurer of state.
  6.  Data — records — reports.
  a.  The department of public safety shall keep in convenient form the data necessary for the actuarial valuation of the system and for checking the expense of the system. The commissioner of public safety shall keep a record of all the acts and proceedings of the board, which records shall be open to public inspection. The board of trustees shall biennially make a report to the general assembly showing the fiscal transactions of the system for the preceding biennium, the amount of the accumulated cash and securities of the system, and the last balance sheet showing the financial condition of the system by means of an actuarial valuation of the assets and liabilities of the system.
  b.  The commissioner of public safety shall maintain records, including but not limited to names, addresses, ages, and lengths of service, salaries and wages, contributions, designated beneficiaries, benefit amounts, if applicable, and other information pertaining to members as necessary in the administration of this chapter, as well as the names, addresses, and benefit amounts of beneficiaries. For the purpose of obtaining these facts, the commissioner of public safety shall have access to the records of the various departments of the state and the departments shall provide such information upon request. Member and beneficiary records containing personal information are not public records for the purposes of chapter 22. However, summary information concerning the demographics of the members and general statistical information concerning the system is subject to chapter 22, as well as aggregate information by category.
  7.  Legal advisor.  The attorney general of the state of Iowa shall be the legal advisor for the board of trustees.
  8.  Medical board.  The board of trustees shall designate a single medical provider network as the medical board for the system. The medical board shall arrange for and pass upon all medical examinations required under the provisions of this chapter and shall report in writing to the board of trustees, its conclusions and recommendations upon all matters duly referred to it. For examinations required because of disability, a physician from the medical board specializing in occupational medicine, and a second physician specializing in an appropriate field of medicine as determined by the occupational medicine physician, shall pass upon the medical examinations required for disability retirements and shall report to the system in writing their conclusions and recommendations upon all matters referred to the medical board. Each report of a medical examination under section 97A.6, subsections 3 and 5, shall include the medical board’s findings in accordance with section 97A.6 as to the extent of the member’s physical impairment.
  9.  Duties of actuary.  The actuary hired by the board of trustees shall be the technical advisor of the board of trustees on matters regarding the operation of the retirement fund created by this chapter and shall perform such other duties as are required in connection therewith.
  10.  Tables — rates.  The actuary hired by the board of trustees shall make such investigation of anticipated interest earnings and of the mortality, service, and compensation experience of the members of the system as the actuary recommends, and on the basis of the investigation, the board of trustees shall adopt the tables and the rates as are required in subsection 11 of this section. The board of trustees shall adopt the rate of interest and tables, and certify rates of contributions to be used by the system.
  11.  Actuarial investigation.  At least once in each two-year period, the actuary hired by the board of trustees shall make an actuarial investigation in the mortality, service, and compensation experience of the members and beneficiaries of the system, and the interest and other earnings on the moneys and other assets of the system, and shall make a valuation of the assets and liabilities of the retirement fund of the system, and taking into account the results of the investigation and valuation, the board of trustees shall adopt for the system, upon recommendation of the system’s actuary, such actuarial methods and assumptions, interest rate, and mortality and other tables as shall be deemed necessary to conduct the actuarial valuation of the system.
  12.  Annual actuarial valuation.
  a.  On the basis of the actuarial methods and assumptions, rate of interest, and tables adopted by the board of trustees, the actuary hired by the board of trustees shall make an annual actuarial valuation of the assets and liabilities of the retirement fund created by this chapter. As a result of the annual actuarial valuation, the board of trustees shall certify the rates of contribution payable by the state of Iowa in accordance with section 97A.8.
  b.  Effective with the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2008, the annual actuarial valuation required to be conducted shall include information as required by section 97D.5.
  13.  Requirements related to the Internal Revenue Code.
  a.  As used in this subsection, unless the context otherwise requires, “Internal Revenue Code” means the Internal Revenue Code as defined in section 422.3.
  b.  The retirement fund established in section 97A.8 shall be held in trust for the benefit of the members of the system and the members’ beneficiaries. No part of the corpus or income of the retirement fund shall be used for, or diverted to, purposes other than for the exclusive benefit of the members or the members’ beneficiaries or for expenses incurred in the operation of the retirement fund. A person shall not have any interest in, or right to, any part of the corpus or income of the retirement fund except as otherwise expressly provided.
  c.  Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, in the event of a complete discontinuance of contributions, for reasons other than achieving fully funded status upon an actuarially determined basis, or upon termination of the retirement fund established in section 97A.8, a member shall be vested, to the extent then funded, in the benefits which the member has accrued at the date of the discontinuance or termination.
  d.  Benefits payable from the retirement fund established in section 97A.8 to members and members’ beneficiaries shall not be increased due to forfeitures from other members. Forfeitures shall be used as soon as possible to reduce future contributions by the state to the retirement fund, except that the rate shall not be less than the minimum rate established in section 97A.8.
  e.  Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, a member’s service retirement allowance shall commence on or before the later of the following:
  (1)  April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the member attains the age of seventy and one-half years.
  (2)  April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the member retires.
  f.  The maximum annual benefit payable to a member by the system shall be subject to the limitations set forth in section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code, and any regulations promulgated pursuant to that section.
  g.  The annual compensation of a member taken in account for any purpose under this chapter shall not exceed the applicable amount set forth in section 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code, and any regulations promulgated pursuant to that section.
  14.  Investment contracts.  The board of trustees may execute contracts and agreements with investment advisors, consultants, and investment management and benefit consultant firms in the administration of the retirement fund established in section 97A.8.
  15.  Liability.  The department, the board of trustees, and the treasurer of state are not personally liable for claims based upon an act or omission of the person performed in the discharge of the person’s duties under this chapter, even if those actions or omissions violate the standards established in section 97A.7, except for acts or omissions which involve malicious or wanton misconduct.
[C50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §97A.5]
86 Acts, ch 1245, §245 – 247; 90 Acts, ch 1240, §2; 93 Acts, ch 44, §1; 94 Acts, ch 1183, §4, 5; 96 Acts, ch 1187, §80 – 82; 2000 Acts, ch 1077, §1, 2; 2003 Acts, ch 145, §168; 2008 Acts, ch 1171, §3 – 7
Referred to in 
Confirmation, see §2.32 
Employers contribution rate calculation study and report by October 15, 2015; 2010 Acts, ch 1167, §16
Comprehensive examination of retirement system; report by October 15, 2011; 2010 Acts, ch 1167, §18