Section 17-318 - Administration of retirement system - Board of trustees - FundA board of trustees shall be responsible for the proper administration and operation of the judges' retirement system.
(a) Such board of trustees shall have as members the chief justice of the Supreme Court, or a member of that court designated by the chief justice, the state treasurer, the comptroller of the treasury, commissioner of finance and administration, and one member appointed by the governor. The state treasurer shall be chairman of the board. The board shall elect one of its members vice-chairman. A majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum, and all action taken by the board shall be by affirmative vote of a majority of all members of the board.(b) All personnel required by the board in the administration of the plan shall be provided by the division of retirement in the office of treasurer of the state of Tennessee and all administrative duties shall be performed by and all administrative records shall be maintained by the division of retirement. The state attorney-general or an assistant designated by him shall act as legal advisor and attorney for the board.(c) Subject to the administrative duties reserved by state law to the state treasurer with respect to all state retirement systems, the board of trustees shall have complete control of the administration of the system, subject to the provisions of this judges' retirement system, with all powers necessary to enable it to carry out properly its duties in that respect. The members of the board shall serve without compensation as board members but shall be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred by them in the performance of their duties. The board shall be fully protected with respect to any action taken or suffered by the board in good faith and reliance upon any table, valuation, certificate, report, advice or opinion furnished by any consultant or actuary, opinions given by the state attorney-general or an assistant thereof or the advice of any qualified investment consultant, and all actions so taken or suffered by the board shall be conclusive upon each member of the board and upon all judges or persons interested in the judges' retirement system.(d) The board shall not be liable for the making, retention, or sale of any investment or reinvestment made by it nor for the loss to or diminution of the fund, except due to its own gross negligence, willfull misconduct, or bad faith.(e) No member of the board shall have an interest, direct or indirect, in the gains or profits of any investment made by the board, save insofar as any member may be a judge participating in the judges' retirement system, and no member of the board shall receive, directly or indirectly, any payment or emolument for his services except as expressly provided in this judges' retirement system. No member of the board shall, directly or indirectly, for himself or an agent, in any manner use the funds or deposits of the judges' retirement system, except to make such payments therefrom as are authorized by the board, nor shall any member become an indorser or surety or in any manner an obligor for moneys loaned by or borrowed from the board.(f) For the purpose of providing funds necessary under the judges' retirement system, there is hereby created and established a judges' retirement fund. The fund shall be administered and utilized as a trust fund and shall be used for the purpose of providing benefits in accordance with provisions of this judges' retirement system and shall be the means of financing benefits and financing expenses of administering the fund by the board in accordance with this chapter.(g) The board of trustees shall be the trustee of the fund created by this chapter and shall have the full power to invest and reinvest all funds to the extent the board deems appropriate, subject to the limitation that no investment shall be made except, in the exercise of bona fide discretion, in securities which at the time of making the investment are, by statute, permitted for the investment of funds in the "Tennessee state retirement system." Subject to such limitations, the board shall have the full power to hold, purchase, sell, assign, transfer, or dispose of any of the securities or investements in which the fund created herein has been invested, as well as of the proceeds of such investments and the moneys belonging to the fund. The state treasurer shall be the custodian of the fund. All payments from the fund shall be authorized by the state treasurer on vouchers requested by the board of trustees and duly issued by the state treasurer.(h) For the purpose of providing sufficient funds to aid in meeting the cost of benefits provided by this chapter, all unexpended funds, not in excess of the actuarial requirements of this judges' retirement system, now accrued in the treasury of the state from litigation privilege taxes imposed and designed by law for the payment of compensation to retired judges, are hereby made and constituted a part of said judges' retirement fund and are allocated thereto. And all moneys not in excess of the actuarial requirement of this judges' retirement system hereafter accruing from any litigation privilege tax specifically imposed and designated by law for payment of compensation to retired judges, shall be credited to the judges' retirement fund and used and accounted for as such.(i) Actuarial Requirements: The board of trustees shall consult an actuary at least each biennium who shall be the technical advisor to the board on matters regarding the operation of the judges' retirement fund and shall perform such other duties as are required by the board in connection with this judges' retirement system. The fee for his services shall be paid from income received on investments of the fund. The actuarial requirements of the judges' retirement system shall be determined so that contributions to the fund will meet current actuarial liabilities and amortize all unfunded accrued actuarial liabilities by 1998.(j) On or before the first day of January, next preceding each regular meeting of the general assembly, beginning on or after January 1, 1967, the board of trustees shall advise the state treasurer of the actuarial requirements of the judges' retirement system and the treasurer shall certify to the state budget director the amount needed, if any, over and above the amount contributed by judges and the amount received from the litigation tax levied by this chapter, to make the system actuarially sound as of that date. The state budget director shall include in the budget an appropriation equal to the amount certified to him by the treasurer to be paid into the judges' retirement fund. A statement of the financial condition of the trust fund of the judges' retirement fund shall be published by the board of trustees in an annual report to the treasurer.Acts 1955, ch. 208, § 1; 1965, ch. 237, § 6.