North Carolina § 143-166 - 60. Separate insurance benefits plan for law-enforcement officers.

§ 143-166. 60. Separate insurance benefits plan for law-enforcement officers.

A Separate Insurance Benefits Plan, hereinafter called the "Plan", is to be an employee welfare benefit plan, established for the benefit of (i) all law enforcement officers, as defined in G.S. 135-1(11c) and G.S. 128-21(11d) employed by the State and local governments and (ii) all former law-enforcement officers previously employed by the State and local governments, who had 20 or more years of service as an officer or are in receipt of a disability retirement allowance from any State-administered retirement system or are in receipt of a benefit from the Disability Income Plan of North Carolina, who shall be participants. The Boards of Trustees of the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System and the Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System shall jointly administer the Plan and shall, under the terms and conditions otherwise appearing in this Article, provide Plan benefits either (i) by establishing a separate trust fund in conformance with Section 501(c)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 as amended or, (ii) by causing the Plan to affiliate with a master trust, the North Carolina Teachers' and State Employees' Benefits Trust, providing the same benefits for participants. Employer and non-employer contributions to the Benefit Trust and earnings on those contributions are irrevocable. The assets of the Benefit Trust are dedicated to providing benefits to participants, surviving spouses, participants' estates, and persons named by the participant to receive the benefit. The assets of the Benefit Trust are not subject to the claims of creditors of the employees and non-employees making contributions to the Benefit Trust, are not subject to the claims of any creditors of the Benefit Trust's trustees and administrators, and are not subject to the claims of creditors of participants. Benefit Trust assets may be used for reasonable expenses to administer benefits provided by the Fund as approved by the Board of Trustees. The initial assets of the Plan are the assets of the former Separate Benefit Plan established under G.S. 143-166.04 as it existed prior to January 1, 1986, which shall be transferred to the Plan on January 1, 1986. The Plan shall be separate and apart from any retirement systems or plans. The Boards of Trustees shall promulgate rules and regulations as are necessary to establish benefits under the Plan, within the availability of funds, to provide: Repealed by Session Laws 2020-48, s. 5.1, effective June 26, 2020. A group life insurance benefit for participants employed by an employer at the time of death, not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000); A group life insurance benefit for participants who are eligible former officers, not to exceed four thousand dollars ($4,000); and An accidental line-of-duty insurance death benefit not to exceed two thousand one hundred dollars ($2,100) in total on account of the death of a participant caused by an accident while in the actual performance of duty as an officer. In addition to the benefits provided under subsection (d) of this section, the assets of the Plan may be used to pay the employer health insurance contributions and contribution rates on behalf of law enforcement officers, as defined in G.S. 135-1(11c), employed by the State and former law enforcement officers receiving a retirement allowance from the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System. The insurance benefit of the Plan on account of the death of a participant shall be payable to the surviving spouse of the participant or otherwise to the participant's estate; provided, should a participant instruct the Board of Trustees in writing that the participant does not wish these benefits to be paid to his or her spouse or estate, then the benefits shall be paid to the person or persons as the participant may name for this purpose. The life insurance benefits shall be payable only on account of participants in the Plan for six or more months or, if an actively employed officer, at any time after employment if death results from an accident. The accident and sickness disability insurance benefits shall be payable to a participant at any time after becoming a participant in the Plan. Should amounts in the trust fund of the Plan be insufficient at any time to enable the Boards of Trustees to pay benefits due in full, then an equitable graded percentage of the payment shall be made. The provisions of the State and Local Retirement Systems pertaining to administration and management of funds under G.S. 128-28, G.S. 128-29, G.S. 135-6 and G.S. 135-7 are made applicable to the Plan. Exemption from Garnishment and Attachment. - The right of a participant in the Separate Insurance Benefits Plan to the benefits provided under this Article is nonforfeitable and exempt from levy, sale, and garnishment. History (1985, c. 479, s. 196(t); 1987, c. 738, s. 29(p); 1989, c. 792, s. 2.8; 2003-284, s. 30.19B(b); 2013-360, s. 35.17(a); 2014-97, s. 9; 2017-129, s. 2(v); 2020-48, s. 5.1.) Editor's Note. - At the direction of the Revisor of Statutes, in 2011, the reference to "G.S. 128-21(11b)" near the beginning of subsection (a) was changed to "G.S. 128-21(11c)" to conform to the redesignation of subdivision (11b) as (11c) as a result of changes made to the section by Session Laws 2011-92. In 2012, the reference to "G.S. 128-21(11c)" in subsection (a) was changed to "G.S. 128-21(11d)" and the reference to "G.S. 135-1(11b)" in subsection (a) was changed to "G.S. 135-1(11c)" to conform to the redesignation of those subdivisions by Session Laws 2012-185. Session Laws 2013-360, s. 35.17(b), provides: "During the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium, the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Justice shall report monthly to the Department of State Treasurer a list of the sworn law enforcement officers on whose behalf the departments have paid employer premiums to the State Health Plan. After receiving the reports, the Department of State Treasurer shall review and approve the reports and execute periodic transfers to the General Fund in order to ensure that these State law enforcement employer premium costs are financially supported by the Separate Insurance Benefits Plan established under G.S. 143-166.60 ." Session Laws 2013-360, s. 35.17(c), as amended by Session Laws 2014-100, s. 35.17, provides: "For each fiscal year of the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium, the Department of State Treasurer shall calculate the total compensation for which the Department of Public Safety and Department of Justice have paid retirement contributions on behalf of sworn law enforcement officers. The Department of State Treasurer shall multiply this total compensation by five and forty hundredths percent (5.40%) for months during the 2013-2014 fiscal year and by five and forty-nine hundredths percent (5.49%) for months during the 2014-2015 fiscal year and shall ensure that the General Fund is fully reimbursed for these costs by executing periodic transfers of the resulting amounts from the Separate Insurance Benefits Plan established under G.S. 143-166.60 to the General Fund." Session Laws 2013-360, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2013.'" Session Laws 2013-360, s. 38.2, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2013-360, s. 38.5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2014-100, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2014.'" Session Laws 2014-100, s. 38.4, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2014-2015 fiscal year, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2014-2015 fiscal year." Session Laws 2014-100, s. 38.7, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2020-48, s. 6.1, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2013-360, s. 35.17(a), effective July 1, 2013, added subsection (d1). Session Laws 2014-97, s. 9, effective July 1, 2014, in the first sentence of subsection (e), substituted "the participant" for "he" and "his or her spouse" for "his spouse." Session Laws 2017-129, s. 2(v), effective June 30, 2017, in subsection (b), inserted "the North Carolina Teachers' and State Employees' Benefit Trust" in the first sentence, and added the last four sentences. Session Laws 2020-48, s. 5.1, effective June 26, 2020, repealed subdivision (d)(1), which read: "An accident and sickness disability insurance benefit." §§ 143-166.61 through 143-166.69: Reserved for future codification purposes.