Texas Government Code Title 8, Chapter 844 - Benefits

SUBCHAPTER A GENERAL PROVISIONS

• Texas Section 844.001 - Types Of Benefits
  (a) Pension benefits payable from the retirement plan and trust are: (1) retirement annuities payable on service retirements; (2) retirement annuities payable on disability retirements;...
• Texas Section 844.002 - Composition Of Retirement Annuity
  (a) Each retirement annuity payable under this subtitle consists of a basic annuity and a supplemental annuity. (b) A basic annuity is an amount payable...
• Texas Section 844.003 - Effective Date Of Retirement
  (a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the effective date of a member's service retirement is the date the member designates at the time...
• Texas Section 844.004 - Standard Retirement Annuity
  (a) The standard retirement annuity payable under this subtitle is computed with an allowance for the possible payment of a benefit under Section 844.402 and...
• Texas Section 844.0041 - Optional Retirement Annuities
  (a) Instead of the standard retirement annuity payable under Section 844.004, a retiring member may receive an optional retirement annuity under this section or an...
• Texas Section 844.0042 - Authority To Pay Benefits Under Alternate Forms
  (a) The board of trustees may authorize the payment of the benefit that is due a recipient to be made as a lump sum or...
• Texas Section 844.005 - When Annuity Is Payable; Changes Before First Payment
  (a) A retiree may revoke an application for retirement, change the retiree's choice of retirement annuity payment plans, or change the designation of beneficiary after...
• Texas Section 844.006 - Change Of Beneficiary Or Division Of Benefit For Certain Persons Receiving Monthly Benefits
  (a) A retiree who is receiving payments under a retirement annuity computed on the life of the retiree only may revoke any existing selection and...
• Texas Section 844.007 - Interest Credit For Other Than December Retirements
  A member who retires with an effective retirement date other than December 31 will be credited interest on the beginning balance in the member's individual...
• Texas Section 844.008 - Limitation On Payment Of Benefits
  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subtitle, the benefit payable to a retiree of the retirement system may not exceed the maximum benefit permitted...
• Texas Section 844.009 - Partial Lump-sum Distribution On Service Retirement
  (a) With the consent of the board of trustees, the governing body of a subdivision may authorize partial lump-sum distributions under this section. (b) A...

SUBCHAPTER B SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFITS

• Texas Section 844.010 - Certain Beneficiary Designations
  (a) A beneficiary designation that names a former spouse as beneficiary is invalid for purposes of this subtitle unless the designation: (1) is made or...
• Texas Section 844.101 - Application For Service Retirement Annuity
  To receive a retirement annuity for service, an eligible member must apply by filing a valid application with the retirement system. Acts 1981, 67th Leg.,...
• Texas Section 844.102 - Systemwide Eligibility For Service Retirement Annuity
  (a) A member is eligible to apply for and receive a service retirement annuity if the member: (1) is at least 60 years old and...
• Texas Section 844.1021 - Optional Eligibility Provisions For Service Retirement
  (a) In accordance with this subtitle, a subdivision may adopt any optional service retirement eligibility provision described by this section or authorized by the board...

SUBCHAPTER C OPTIONAL RETIREMENT BENEFITS

• Texas Section 844.1022 - Special Eligibility Provisions For Service Retirement
  (a) Subject to the consent of the board of trustees and effective for the period and on terms that the board approves, a subdivision may...
• Texas Section 844.208 - Optional Increase In Retirement Annuities
  (a) The governing body of a participating subdivision, from time to time but not more frequently than once in each 12-month period, may provide for...

SUBCHAPTER D DISABILITY RETIREMENT BENEFITS

• Texas Section 844.209 - Alternative Optional Increase In Retirement Annuities
  (a) The governing body of a participating subdivision, from time to time but not more frequently than once in each 12-month period, may provide for...
• Texas Section 844.301 - Application For Disability Retirement
  (a) A member may apply for disability retirement by filing a valid application for retirement with the retirement system. (b) An applicant must provide medical...
• Texas Section 844.3011 - Annuity Payable On Disability Retirement
  Except for eligibility requirements and as otherwise provided by this subtitle, a retirement annuity payable on the disability retirement of a member is equal in...
• Texas Section 844.302 - Eligibility For Disability Retirement Annuity
  (a) A member who is not vested for service retirement beginning on or before the date the member attains age 60 and who has applied...
• Texas Section 844.303 - Certification Of Disability
  (a) Except as provided by Section 844.302(c) and Subsection (c) of this section, as soon as practicable after an application for disability retirement is filed,...
• Texas Section 844.3051 - Disability Retirement Considered Service Retirement
  (a) The retirement annuity of a disability retiree may not be terminated under this subchapter after the earlier of: (1) the date a disability retiree...
• Texas Section 844.306 - Medical Examination Of Disability Retiree
  (a) Until the date a disability retirement is considered a service retirement under Section 844.3051, once each year during the first five years after a...
• Texas Section 844.307 - Cancellation Of Disability Retirement
  (a) If the medical board finds that a disability retiree has experienced medical improvement to the extent that the retiree is no longer mentally or...

SUBCHAPTER E DEATH BENEFITS

• Texas Section 844.309 - Adjustments At Annuity Termination
  Sec. 844.309. ADJUSTMENTS AT ANNUITY TERMINATION. (a) If a disability retirement is canceled and the retirement annuity terminated under this subchapter, the person automatically resumes...
• Texas Section 844.401 - Return Of Accumulated Contributions
  (a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), if a member dies before retirement, a lump-sum death benefit is payable from the employees saving fund in...
• Texas Section 844.402 - Return Of Excess Contributions
  (a) After the death of a member or former member and after the final payment has been made under any service, disability, or survivor annuity,...
• Texas Section 844.404 - Person Causing Death Of Member Or Annuitant
  (a) A benefit, including any optional group term life benefit, payable on the death of a member or annuitant may not be paid to a...
• Texas Section 844.405 - Trust As Beneficiary
  (a) Except as limited by Subsection (b), a member or retiree may designate a trust as beneficiary for the payment of benefits from the retirement...
• Texas Section 844.406 - Simultaneous Death Of Member And Beneficiary
  When a member or retiree and the spouse or beneficiary of the member or retiree have died within a period of less than 120 hours...
• Texas Section 844.407 - Survivor Annuity
  (a) In this section "eligible member" means a member who has four or more years of credited service with one or more subdivisions that are...

SUBCHAPTER F OPTIONAL GROUP TERM LIFE PROGRAM

• Texas Section 844.408 - No Surviving Spouse, Executor, Or Administrator
  (a) In this section "heirs" has the meaning assigned by Section 3, Texas Probate Code, except that the term excludes any person who has filed...
• Texas Section 844.501 - Coverage In Optional Group Term Life Program
  (a) An employee of a participating subdivision is included within the coverage of the optional group term life program on that day in the first...
• Texas Section 844.502 - Extended Optional Group Term Life Coverage
  (a) A member included in the coverage of the optional group term life program who fails to earn compensation in a month for service to...
• Texas Section 844.503 - Member Optional Group Term Life
  (a) In this section, the terms "regular rate of pay," "hours worked," "salary basis," and "regular salary" have meanings that are consistent with the Fair...
• Texas Section 844.504 - Retiree Optional Group Term Life Benefit
  If a retiree dies who was receiving a retirement annuity based on service for a subdivision that has elected to provide, and continues to provide,...

SUBCHAPTER G FIXED CONTRIBUTION RATE PLAN

• Texas Section 844.505 - Beneficiary Of Optional Group Term Life Benefit
  (a) Unless a member has directed otherwise on a form prescribed by the board of trustees and filed with the retirement system: (1) an optional...

SUBCHAPTER H ANNUALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTION RATE PLAN

• Texas Section 844.601 - Plan Funding By Non-adopting County
  (a) This section applies only to a county that began participation in the retirement system before January 1, 1992, and has not adopted the provisions...
• Texas Section 844.701 - Applicability
  Except for a county described by Section 844.601, this subchapter applies to each subdivision that participates in the retirement system. Added by Acts 1991,...
• Texas Section 844.702 - Member Contributions
  (a) The governing body of the subdivision may designate the rate of member contributions for employees of the subdivision to take effect beginning on the...
• Texas Section 844.703 - Subdivision Contributions
  (a) Each participating subdivision adopting the plan provisions of this subchapter shall pay to the subdivision accumulation fund as its normal contribution an amount equal...
• Texas Section 844.704 - Benefits
  (a) The governing body of a subdivision shall select a percentage for determining multiple matching credits of zero or any percentage that is a multiple...

Last modified: September 28, 2016