(a) Any member of the Judicial Retirement Fund of Alabama whose creditable service and contributions have been certified and transferred to the Judicial Retirement Fund, shall be entitled to retire under the said fund on service or disability, upon attaining sufficient years of age and creditable service, including credit for service transferred to the fund under the provisions of this article, to qualify for said retirement, in accordance with the service and age requirements contained in this chapter for the judicial position in which such member is serving at the time of retirement, subject to the adjustments in benefits and allowances provided for in this section.
The surviving spouse of a member of the Judicial Retirement Fund shall be entitled to count or employ creditable service certified and transferred under this article to the fund on or before the date of death of the member in order to qualify for any benefits and/or allowances provided for said spouse under this chapter, subject to the adjustments in benefits and allowances provided for in this section.
(b) In the event a member of the Judicial Retirement Fund or the surviving spouse thereof, except a district or probate judge or surviving spouse thereof, must employ and count creditable service transferred under this article to qualify for retirement and/or benefits under the fund, the benefits or allowances payable to such member or spouse shall be calculated as follows, and shall be in lieu of any and all other rights, benefits and allowances, except social security payments:
(1) The annual service allowance payable to such retiring member shall be an annual amount equal to the sum of:
a. The amount which results when the current salary payable by the state for the judicial position from which the member is retiring is multiplied by the percentage factor resulting from multiplying 75 percent by the ratio created when the member's number of years of creditable service, excluding transferred credit, is compared to the number of years of creditable service required under this chapter, to retire on service with respect to the member's age at the time of retirement; and
b. Two and one-eightieth percent of the member's average final compensation, that is the average annual compensation, during the three years in the last 10 years of creditable service transferred under this article for which such average is highest, or during his entire period of transferred creditable service if less than three years credit is transferred under this article multiplied by the number of years of the member's creditable service transferred under the provisions of this article.
The annual service allowance shall be payable to a retiring member in equal monthly installments but, anything this section to the contrary notwithstanding, shall not exceed 75 percent of the current salary payable from the state for the judicial position from which the member retired.
(2) The annual allowance payable to the surviving spouse of a member shall be an annual amount equal to the sum of:
a. Three percent of the current salary payable from the state for the judicial position from which the deceased member retired or in which the member was serving, prior to retirement, at the time of death multiplied by the member's number of years of creditable service, excluding transferred credit; and
b. Forty percent of two and one-eightieth percent of the member's average final compensation for the creditable service transferred under this article multiplied by the number of years of the members' creditable service transferred under the provisions of this article.
The annual allowance to the surviving spouse shall be payable in equal monthly installments for the remainder of the surviving spouse's life or until remarriage, but anything in this section to the contrary notwithstanding, said annual allowance shall not exceed 30 percent of the current salary payable by the state to the judicial position from which the member retired or in which said member was serving prior to retirement at the time of death.
(3) The annual disability allowance payable to a retiring member shall be an annual amount equal to the sum of:
a. A percentage of the current salary payable by the state for the judicial position from which the member is retiring multiplied by the member's number of years of creditable service, excluding transferred credit, in accordance with the following schedule:
| Creditable Service | Percentage of Salary |
| 1 | 5 |
| 2 | 10 |
| 3 | 15 |
| 4 | 20 |
| 5 | 30 |
| 6 | 35 |
| 7 | 45 |
| 8 | 55 |
| 9 | 65 |
| 10 | 75 |
| and, |
b. Two and one-eightieth percent of the average final compensation for the period of transferred service credit multiplied by the member's number of years of creditable service transferred under this article.
The annual disability allowance shall be payable in equal monthly installments but, anything in this section to the contrary notwithstanding, said allowance shall not exceed 75 percent of the current salary payable by the state to the position from which the member retired.
Last modified: May 3, 2021