March 8, 2024
Circular Letter: 200-013-24
Topic: Contracts

To: All Counties and Trial Courts

Purpose

The purpose of this Circular Letter is to inform you about recently enacted legislation, Senate Bill 548, which authorizes a county and the trial court located within the county to jointly and voluntarily elect to separate their joint California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) contract into individual contracts.

Senate Bill 548

As enacted, Senate Bill 548 (Chapter 307, Statutes of 2023) amends Government Code (Gov. Code) sections 7522.02, 20460.1, and 71624 and adds Gov. Code sections 20471.2 and 20815.6 to the California Public Employees’ Retirement Law. Under the amended law a county and trial court with a joint CalPERS contract may jointly request the separation of their contract. The law prohibits the separation of the contract from being a cause for modification of employee retirement benefits.

Upon request by the county and trial court and receipt of specified information from the county and trial court, the bill requires CalPERS to perform a calculation of the assets and liabilities under the joint contract for purposes of separating the contract. Upon separation of the contract, the assets and liabilities of the trial court will be moved to its individual contract. The separation of the contract will be irrevocable, and the county and trial court will not be permitted to reestablish a joint contract.

Additional Resources

Additional information (e.g., bill language, legislative analysis, bill history) regarding Senate Bill 548 can be found on the California Legislative Information website.

Questions

If you would like to initiate a request for a cost valuation report to separate a county and trial court joint contract, contact the CalPERS Pension Contract Team at 888 CalPERS (or 888-225-7377888-225-7377) or email us at pensioncontracts@calpers.ca.gov.

 

Melody Benavides, Division Chief
CalPERS Pension Contracts and Prefunding Division