Tex. GOV'T Code § 834.001. TYPES OF BENEFITS.
The types of benefits payable by the retirement system are:
(1) service retirement benefits; and
(2) death benefits.
BENEFITS
Tex. GOV'T Code ch. 834
in effectTex. GOV'T Code § 834.002. APPLICATION FOR RETIREMENT.
A member may apply for service retirement by filing an application for retirement with the board of trustees before the date the member wishes to retire.
Tex. GOV'T Code § 834.004. INELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS.
An annuity that is based on service of a member who is removed from judicial office by impeachment, or otherwise for official misconduct, may not be paid under this subtitle.
Tex. GOV'T Code § 834.005. DISCLAIMER OF BENEFITS.
The retirement system shall give effect to a full or partial disclaimer of benefits executed in accordance with Chapter 240 , Property Code, unless the benefit to be disclaimed is a lifetime annuity.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1048, Sec. 28, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
SUBCHAPTER B. SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFITS
Tex. GOV'T Code § 834.101. ELIGIBILITY FOR SERVICE RETIREMENT ANNUITY.
(a) A member is eligible to retire and receive a base service retirement annuity if the member:
(1) is at least 65 years old, currently holds a judicial office, and has at least 10 years of service credited in the retirement system;
(2) is at least 65 years old and has at least 12 years of service credited in the retirement system, regardless of whether the member currently holds a judicial office;
(3) has at least 20 years of service credited in the retirement system, regardless of whether the member currently holds a judicial office; or
(4) has served at least 12 years on an appellate court and the sum of the member's age and amount of service credited in the retirement system equals or exceeds the number 70, regardless of whether the member currently holds a judicial office.
(b) A member who meets service requirements provided by Subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2) is eligible to retire and receive a service retirement annuity actuarially reduced as provided by Section 834.102 (d) from the standard service retirement annuity, if the member is at least 60 years old.
(c) A member's resignation from a judicial office before applying for an annuity does not make the member ineligible for the annuity unless the member applies for an annuity under Subsection (a)(1).
For expiration of Subsections (e) and (f), see Subsection (f).
Tex. GOV'T Code § 834.102. SERVICE RETIREMENT ANNUITY.
(a) The base service retirement annuity for a person whose effective date of retirement is:
(1) before September 1, 2019, is an amount equal to 50 percent of the state base salary, as adjusted from time to time, being paid in accordance with Section 659.012 (a) to a judge of a court of the same classification as the court on which the retiree last served before retirement; or
(2) on or after September 1, 2019, is an amount equal to 50 percent of the state salary, as adjusted from time to time, being paid in accordance with Section 659.012 (b)(2) to a judge of a court of the same classification as the court on which the retiree last served before retirement.
(b) The retirement system shall increase by 10 percent of the amount of the applicable state salary under Subsection (a) or (d) the annuity of a member who on the effective date of retirement:
(1) has not been out of judicial office for more than one year; or
(2) has served as a visiting judge in this state and the first anniversary of the last day of that service has not occurred.
(c) The service retirement annuity of a member qualifying for retirement under Section 834.101 (a) is the applicable state salary under Subsection (a), multiplied by a percentage amount that is the sum of 50 percent plus the product of 2.3 percent multiplied by the number of years of subsequent service credit the member accrues under Section 835.1015 (a). After including any increase under Subsection (b), the service retirement annuity under this subsection may not be an amount that is greater than 90 percent of the applicable salary under Subsection (a).
(d) The service retirement annuity of a person qualifying for retirement under Section 834.101 (b) whose effective date of retirement is:
(1) before September 1, 2019, is an amount computed as a percentage of the state base salary, as adjusted from time to time, being paid in accordance with Section 659.012 (a) to a judge of a court of the same classification as the court on which the retiree last served before retirement, according to the following schedule:
(2) on or after September 1, 2019, is an amount computed as a percentage of the state salary, as adjusted from time to time, being paid in accordance with Section 659.012 (b)(2) to a judge of a court of the same classification as the court on which the retiree last served before retirement, according to the following schedule:
(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) or (d) or any other law:
(1) any increase in the state base salary being paid to a district judge as set by the General Appropriations Act in accordance with Section 659.012 by the 89th Legislature, Regular Session, 2025, does not apply to a service retirement annuity computed under this section of a retiree or beneficiary if the retiree on whose service the annuity is based retired before September 1, 2025; and
(2) the amount of the state base salary being paid to a district judge as set by Chapter 1170 (H.B. 1), Acts of the 88th Legislature, Regular Session, 2023 (the General Appropriations Act), for the fiscal year ending August 31, 2025, in accordance with Section 659.012 continues to apply to the annuities described by Subdivision (1) until the effective date of legislation the 90th Legislature or a later legislature enacts that increases the state base salary paid to a district judge as set by the General Appropriations Act in accordance with Section 659.012 .
(f) On the effective date of legislation the 90th Legislature or a later legislature enacts that increases the state base salary paid to a district judge, as described by Subsection (e), this subsection and Subsection (e) expire.
Tex. GOV'T Code § 834.103. OPTIONAL SERVICE RETIREMENT ANNUITY.
(a) Instead of a service retirement annuity payable under Section 834.102 , a retiring member may elect to receive an optional service retirement annuity, payable throughout the life of the retiree and actuarially reduced, under tables adopted by the board of trustees, from the annuity otherwise payable to its actuarial equivalent.
(b) Optional service retirement annuities available to a retiring member are those available to retiring members of the Employees Retirement System of Texas under Section 814.108 (c).
(c) A person may apply for an optional service retirement annuity by filing an application for the annuity with the retirement system before the 31st day after the date of the person's retirement.
(d) If a person who is nominated by a retiree in the written designation under Subsection (b) predeceases the retiree, the reduced annuity of a retiree who has elected an optional lifetime retirement annuity under Section 814.108 (c) shall be increased to the standard service retirement annuity that the retiree would otherwise be entitled to receive if the retiree had not selected that annuity option. The standard service retirement annuity shall be adjusted as appropriate for:
(1) early retirement as permitted by law; and
(2) postretirement increases in retirement benefits authorized by law after the date of retirement.
(e) The increase in the annuity under Subsection (d) begins with the monthly payment made to the retiree for the month following the month in which the person nominated dies or the September 30, 1991, payment, whichever is later, and is payable to the retiree for the remainder of the retiree's life.
(f) The computation of an optional service retirement annuity must include the ages of the retiring member and the member's designated beneficiary at the time of the member's retirement.
SUBCHAPTER D. DEATH BENEFITS
Tex. GOV'T Code § 834.301. SELECTION OF DEATH BENEFIT PLAN BY MEMBER.
(a) A member who has at least 10 years of service credit in the retirement system may select a death benefit plan for the payment, if the member dies before retirement, of a death benefit annuity to one or more persons designated by the member. Death benefit annuities available for selection by a member described in this subsection are the optional annuities provided by Sections 814.108 (c)(1) and (c)(4).
(b) Section 814.301 (b) applies to a death benefit plan selected by a member in applicable circumstances.
(c) The computation of a death benefit annuity must include the ages of the member and of the member's designated beneficiary at the time of the member's death.
(d) A member may select a death benefit plan by filing an application for a plan with the board of trustees on a form prescribed by the board. After selection, a death benefit plan may take effect at death unless the member amends the plan, selects a retirement annuity at the time of the member's retirement, or becomes ineligible to select a plan.
(e) A death benefit annuity is payable beginning on the day after the date the member dies.
Tex. GOV'T Code § 834.302. SELECTION OF DEATH BENEFIT PLAN BY SURVIVOR OF MEMBER.
(a) If a member eligible to select a death benefit plan under Section 834.301 (a) dies without having made a selection or if a selection cannot be made effective, the member's designated beneficiary may select a plan in the same manner as if the member had made the selection. If there is no designated beneficiary, the personal representative of the decedent's estate may make the selection.
(b) If a person dies who meets the description in Section 814.302 (b), the person's designated beneficiary or the guardian of surviving minor children may select a death benefit plan under that subsection.
Tex. GOV'T Code § 834.303. RETURN OF CONTRIBUTIONS.
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), if a member dies before retirement, the amount of the member's contributions to the retirement system is payable as a lump-sum death benefit.
(b) The benefit provided by this section is payable to a person designated by the member in a signed document filed with the board of trustees. If a member does not designate a beneficiary, the benefit is payable to the member's estate.
(c) A death benefit may not be paid under this section if a death benefit annuity has been selected as provided by Section 834.301 or 834.302 .
Tex. GOV'T Code § 834.304. RETURN OF EXCESS CONTRIBUTIONS.
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), if a person dies after retirement, a lump-sum death benefit is payable in an amount, if any, by which the retiree's contributions to the retirement system on the date of retirement exceed the amount of annuity payments made before the retiree's death.
(b) The benefit provided by this section is payable to the retiree's designated beneficiary. If a retiree dies without having designated a beneficiary, the benefit is payable to the person entitled to distribution of the decedent's estate, if that person or the personal representative of the decedent's estate claims the benefit before the second anniversary of the decedent's death.
(c) A death benefit may not be paid under this section if an optional retirement annuity has been selected as provided by Section 834.103 .
Tex. GOV'T Code § 834.305. BENEFICIARY CAUSING DEATH OF MEMBER OR ANNUITANT.
(a) Any benefits, funds, or account balances payable on the death of a member or annuitant may not be paid to a person convicted of or adjudicated as having caused that death but instead are payable as if the convicted person had predeceased the decedent.
(b) A person who becomes eligible under this section to select death or survivor benefits may select benefits as if the person were the designated beneficiary.
(c) The retirement system shall reduce any annuity computed in part on the age of the convicted or adjudicated person to a lump sum equal to the present value of the remainder of the annuity. The reduced amount is payable to a person entitled as provided by this section to receive the benefit.
(d) The retirement system is not required to change the recipient of any benefits, funds, or account balances under this section unless it receives actual notice of the conviction or adjudication of a beneficiary. However, the retirement system may delay payment of any benefits, funds, or account balances payable on the death of a member or annuitant pending the results of a criminal investigation or civil proceeding and other legal proceedings relating to the cause of death.
(e) For the purposes of this section, a person has been convicted of or adjudicated as having caused the death of a member or annuitant if the person:
(1) pleads guilty or nolo contendere to, or is found guilty by a court or jury in a criminal proceeding of, causing the death of the member or annuitant, regardless of whether sentence is imposed or probated, and no appeal of the conviction is pending and the time provided for appeal has expired; or
(2) is found liable by a court or jury in a civil proceeding for causing the death of the member or annuitant and no appeal of the judgment is pending and the time provided for appeal has expired.
Added by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1249 (S.B. 1664 ), Sec. 15, eff. September 1, 2011.