490:29 Retirement of Nonjudicial Employees. –
I. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all full-time nonjudicial employees of the judicial branch shall, effective January 1, 1984, be eligible for membership in the New Hampshire retirement system. Employees who elect to become members of the New Hampshire retirement system shall not be eligible for membership in the local retirement system, except that nothing herein shall prevent an employee from returning a vested interest in a local retirement system. The 6 month probationary period normally in effect shall be waived for all full-time nonjudicial employees who are employed by the court system on January 1, 1984. All nonjudicial personnel hired after January 1, 1984, shall become members of the New Hampshire retirement system following the normally required probationary period.
II. Any such employee who is currently a member of a retirement system other than the New Hampshire retirement system may elect in writing to remain in the local retirement system by notifying the supreme court and the local governing body on or before December 1, 1983. Employees so electing shall be considered employees of the local governing body for inclusion in the local retirement system only. The state, after such election, shall pay into the local retirement system monthly all sums which would otherwise become payable by the local governing body into the local retirement system as its contributory share toward the retirement of said employee; provided, however, that the contributory share shall not exceed the average percentage of the local governing body's annual contributions for all employees for the 3 years preceding January 1, 1984. The state shall withhold from the salary of any such employee the employee's contributory share into the local retirement system and shall pay monthly the amount so withheld to the local governing body for deposit in the local retirement system on behalf of such employee. Employees electing to continue as members of local retirement systems shall not be eligible for membership in the New Hampshire retirement system.
III. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, all fulltime nonjudicial employees who elect to become members of the New Hampshire retirement system may purchase prior service credits for those years during which they were employed as full-time court employees. Prior service credit in the New Hampshire retirement system equal to the membership service in a local retirement system may be purchased upon certification that the member is not eligible for benefits from the local retirement system.
IV. All full-time nonjudicial employees who have prior service as a full-time court employee of a county or municipality prior to January 1, 1984 may include such full-time court service in the calculation of creditable service as a state employee under RSA 21-I:30, VI(b).
Source. 1983, 381:3; 382:22. 2008, 4:1, eff. May 24, 2008. 2012, 175:5, eff. July 1, 2012.