Section 5505.17 | Pension and benefits upon retirement.

• Effective: May 11, 2018
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 362, House Bill 49 - 132nd General Assembly

(A)(1) Upon retirement as provided in section 5505.16 of the Revised Code, a state highway patrol retirement system retirant shall receive a life pension, without guaranty or refund, equal to the greater of one thousand fifty dollars or the sum of two and one-half per cent of the retirant's final average salary multiplied by the first twenty years of total service credit, plus two and one-quarter per cent of the retirant's final average salary multiplied by the number of years, and fraction of a year, of total service credit in excess of twenty years but not in excess of twenty-five years, plus two per cent of the retirant's final average salary multiplied by the number of years, and fraction of a year, in excess of twenty-five years; provided that in no case shall the pension exceed the lesser of seventy-nine and one-quarter per cent of the retirant's final average salary or the limit established by section 415 of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986," 100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C.A. 415, as amended.

(2) A member with fifteen or more years of total service credit, who voluntarily resigns or who is discharged from the state highway patrol for any reason except retirement under this chapter, death, dishonesty, cowardice, intemperate habits, or conviction of a felony, shall receive a pension equal to one and one-half per cent of the member's final average salary multiplied by the number of years, and fraction of a year, of total service credit, except that the pension shall not exceed the limit established by section 415 of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986," 100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C.A. 415, as amended. The pension shall commence at the end of the calendar month in which the application is filed with the retirement board on or after the attainment of age fifty-five years by the applicant. A member or former member who withdraws any part or all of the accumulated contributions from the employees' savings fund shall thereupon forfeit all rights to a pension provided for in this division.

(3)(a) A surviving spouse of a deceased member who died before the effective date of this amendment shall receive a monthly pension, determined as follows, during the spouse's life:

(i) If at the time of death the member was not eligible to be granted a pension payable under division (A)(1) of this section or to elect to receive a reduced pension payable under section 5505.16 of the Revised Code, nine hundred dollars;

(ii) If at the time of death the member was eligible to be granted a pension payable under division (A)(1) of this section or to elect to receive a reduced pension payable under section 5505.16 of the Revised Code, the greater of nine hundred dollars or fifty per cent of the computed monthly pension the member would have received had the member been granted a pension under division (A)(1) of this section or elected to receive a reduced pension under section 5505.16 of the Revised Code.

(b) The surviving spouse of a retirant who retired before the effective date of this amendment shall receive a monthly pension, determined as follows, during the spouse's life:

(i) If the retirant had been granted retirement under section 5505.16 of the Revised Code, but at the time of death had not attained the age of eligibility for a pension, nine hundred dollars;

(ii) If the retirant had been granted retirement under section 5505.16 of the Revised Code and had attained the age of eligibility for a pension, but at the time of death had not elected to begin receiving the pension, the greater of nine hundred dollars or fifty per cent of the computed monthly pension the retirant was eligible to receive under section 5505.16 of the Revised Code;

(iii) If the retirant had been granted retirement and was receiving a pension under division (A)(1) of this section or section 5505.16 or 5505.18 of the Revised Code, or, regardless of whether or not the retirant had actually received any payment, was eligible to receive a pension under division (A)(1) of this section or section 5505.16 or 5505.18 of the Revised Code and had elected to begin receiving it, the greater of nine hundred dollars or fifty per cent of the computed monthly pension awarded the retirant.

(c) The surviving spouse of a deceased member who dies on or after the effective date of this amendment or a retirant who retires on or after the effective date of this amendment shall receive a monthly pension during the spouse's life if the spouse was married to the member or retirant while the member or retirant was in the active service of the state highway patrol. The pension shall be determined as follows:

(i) During the period beginning on the effective date of this amendment and ending December 31, 2018, nine hundred dollars;

(ii) During the period beginning January 1, 2019, and continuing the following twelve months, and the period beginning the first day of January of each year thereafter and continuing the following twelve months, an amount equal to the monthly amount payable during the prior twelve-month period plus an amount determined by multiplying nine hundred dollars by the amount the board determines annually under division (B)(1)(b) of section 5505.174 of the Revised Code.

(d) In addition to the pension determined under division (A)(3)(c) of this section, the surviving spouse of a deceased member who dies on or after the effective date of this amendment shall receive a monthly pension during the spouse's life if the spouse was married to the member while the member was in the active service of the state highway patrol and, at the time of death, the member was eligible to be granted a pension payable under division (A)(1) of this section or to elect to receive a reduced pension payable under section 5505.16 of the Revised Code. The pension shall be an amount equal to the amount the surviving spouse would have been entitled to receive had the member retired effective the day following the date of death having selected an option 2 plan under division (A)(2)(b) of section 5505.162 of the Revised Code providing for one-half of the member's lesser pension to be paid to the surviving spouse.

(e) If a monthly pension to a surviving spouse was terminated due to a remarriage, the surviving spouse is eligible to receive a monthly pension under division (A)(3) of this section effective the first day of the first month following June 5, 1996. The pension shall be computed under division (A)(3) of this section as of June 5, 1996. The pension payable to a person who is the surviving spouse of more than one state highway patrol retirement system member or retirant shall be computed on the basis of the service of the member or retirant to whom the surviving spouse was most recently married.

(4) A pension of one hundred fifty dollars per month shall be paid by the system to or for the benefit of each child of a deceased member or retirant until the child attains the age of eighteen years or marries, whichever event occurs first, or until the child attains twenty-three years of age if the child is a student in and attending an institution of learning or training pursuant to a program designed to complete in each school year the equivalent of at least two-thirds of the full-time curriculum requirements of the institution, as determined by the retirement board. If any surviving child, regardless of age at the time of the member's or retirant's death, because of physical or mental disability, was totally dependent upon the deceased member or retirant for support at the time of death, a pension of one hundred fifty dollars per month shall be paid by the system to or for the benefit of the child during the child's natural life or until the child recovers from the disability.

(5)(a) If a retirant died prior to June 6, 1988, and the surviving spouse was not married to the retirant while the retirant was in the active service of the patrol, the surviving spouse shall receive a pension of the greater of four hundred twenty-five dollars per month or fifty per cent of the computed monthly pension the retirant was receiving.

(b) If the pension payable to a person receiving a pension under division (A)(5)(a) of this section on June 30, 2000, is less than nine hundred dollars per month, the pension shall be increased to nine hundred dollars per month.

(6) If a deceased member or retirant leaves no spouse or surviving children, but leaves two parents depending solely upon the deceased member or retirant for support, each parent shall be paid a monthly pension of one hundred fifty-four dollars. If in such case there is only one parent dependent solely upon the deceased member or retirant for support, such parent shall be paid a monthly pension of one hundred fifty-four dollars. Such pension shall be paid during the life of the surviving parents, or until dependency ceases, or until remarriage, whichever event occurs first.

(7) Any amount remaining as accumulated contributions at the time of death of a retirant who leaves no surviving spouse or dependent children or parents shall be paid to the beneficiary or beneficiaries the retirant has nominated by written designation duly executed and filed with the board. A retirant may designate an individual or a trust as a beneficiary. If there is no designated beneficiary surviving the retirant, the retirant's accumulated contributions shall be paid according to the state law of descent and distribution; provided that, if the retirant's accumulated contributions are not claimed by an eligible person or by the estate of the retirant within seven years, they shall be transferred to the income fund of the system and after that shall be paid from that fund to such person or estate upon application to the board.

(8) The increase provided for by division (A)(5) of this section shall be included in the calculation of the additional benefit paid under section 5505.174 of the Revised Code.

(B) The board shall adopt, and may amend or rescind, the necessary rules for the administration of this section and all decisions of the board shall be final. Any payment of a pension or benefit under this section is subject to the provisions of section 5505.26 of the Revised Code.

(C) A member's total service credit may include periods during which the member's employment with the state highway patrol is interrupted by a leave of absence, when requested by the governor, to accept employment with another agency of the state, provided that:

(1) The member is reemployed by the state highway patrol within thirty days following termination of such other employment;

(2) The member pays into the retirement system, to the credit of the employees' savings fund, an amount equal to the total contributions the member would have paid had the state highway patrol employment not been so interrupted. Such repayment shall begin within ninety days after the member's return to duty with the state highway patrol and be completed within a period equal to that of the leave of absence.

(D) Service credits granted under division (C) of this section shall not include any duplications of credits for which a pension is payable by the public employees retirement system.

The Legislative Service Commission presents the text of this section as a composite of the section as amended by multiple acts of the General Assembly. This presentation recognizes the principle stated in R.C. 1.52(B) that amendments are to be harmonized if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation.

Available Versions of this Section

• June 30, 2000 – Senate Bill 189 - 123rd General Assembly
• March 23, 2015 – Senate Bill 42 - 130th General Assembly
• April 6, 2017 – House Bill 520 - 131st General Assembly
• September 29, 2017 – Amended by House Bill 49 - 132nd General Assembly
• May 11, 2018 – Amended by House Bill 362, House Bill 49 - 132nd General Assembly