Iowa Code
Chapter 97B - IOWA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM (IPERS)
Section 97B.49B - Protection occupation.

97B.49B Protection occupation.
1. Definitions. For purposes of this section:
a. “Applicable percentage” means the greater of the following percentages:
(1) Sixty percent.
(2) For each active or inactive vested member retiring on or after July 1, 1996, but before July 1, 2000, sixty percent plus, if applicable, an additional one-fourth of one percentage point for each additional calendar quarter of eligible service beyond twenty-five years of service for the member, not to exceed a total of five additional percentage points.
(3) For each active or inactive vested member retiring on or after July 1, 2000, but before July 1, 2001, sixty percent plus, if applicable, an additional one-fourth of one percentage point for each additional calendar quarter of eligible service beyond twenty-four years of service for the member, not to exceed a total of six additional percentage points.
(4) For each active or inactive vested member retiring on or after July 1, 2001, but before July 1, 2002, sixty percent plus, if applicable, an additional one-fourth of one percentage point for each additional calendar quarter of eligible service beyond twenty-three years of service for the member, not to exceed a total of seven additional percentage points.
(5) For each active or inactive vested member retiring on or after July 1, 2002, but before July 1, 2003, sixty percent plus, if applicable, an additional one-fourth of one percentage point for each additional calendar quarter of eligible service beyond twenty-two years of service for the member, not to exceed a total of eight additional percentage points.
(6) For each active or inactive vested member retiring on or after July 1, 2003, sixty percent plus, if applicable, an additional three-eighths of one percentage point for each additional calendar quarter of eligible service beyond twenty-two years of service for the member, not to exceed a total of twelve additional percentage points.
b. “Applicable years of service” means the following:
(1) For each active or inactive vested member retiring on or after July 1, 1996, and before July 1, 2000, twenty-five.
(2) For each active or inactive vested member retiring on or after July 1, 2000, and before July 1, 2001, twenty-four.
(3) For each active or inactive vested member retiring on or after July 1, 2001, and before July 1, 2002, twenty-three.
(4) For each active or inactive vested member retiring on or after July 1, 2002, twenty-two.
c. “Eligible service” means membership and prior service in a protection occupation. In addition, for a member with membership and prior service in a protection occupation described in paragraph “e”, subparagraph (2), eligible service includes membership and prior service as a sheriff or deputy sheriff as defined in section 97B.49C.
d. “Fraction of years of service” means a number, not to exceed one, equal to the sum of the years of eligible service in a protection occupation divided by the applicable years of service for the member.
e. “Protection occupation” includes all of the following:
(1) A conservation peace officer employed under section 456A.13 or as designated by a county conservation board pursuant to section 350.5.
(2) A marshal in a city not covered under chapter 400 or a fire fighter or police officer of a city not participating in the retirement systems established in chapter 410 or 411.
(3) A correctional officer or correctional supervisor employed by the Iowa department of corrections, and any other employee of that department whose primary purpose is, through ongoing direct inmate contact, to enforce and maintain discipline, safety, and security within a correctional facility. The Iowa department of corrections and the department of administrative services shall jointly determine which job classifications are covered under this subparagraph.
(4) An airport safety officer employed under chapter 400 by an airport commission in a city of one hundred thousand population or more.
(5) An employee of the state department of transportation who is designated as a “peace officer” by resolution under section 321.477, but only if the employee retires on or after July 1, 1990. For purposes of this subparagraph, service as a traffic weight officer employed by the highway commission prior to the creation of the state department of transportation or as a peace officer employed by the Iowa state commerce commission prior to the creation of the state department of transportation shall be included in computing the employee’s years of membership service.
(6) A fire prevention inspector peace officer employed by the department of public safety prior to July 1, 1994, who does not elect coverage under the Iowa department of public safety peace officers’ retirement, accident, and disability system, as provided in section 97B.42B.
(7) An employee covered by the merit system as provided in chapter 8A, subchapter IV, whose primary duty is providing airport security and who carries or is licensed to carry a firearm while performing those duties.
(8) An airport fire fighter employed by the department of public defense.
(9) A jailer or detention officer who performs duties as a jailer, including but not limited to the transportation of inmates, who is certified as having completed jailer training pursuant to chapter 80B, and who is employed by a county as a jailer.
(10) An employee covered by the merit system as provided in chapter 8A, subchapter IV, whose primary duty is providing security at Iowa national guard installations and facilities and who carries or is licensed to carry a firearm while performing those duties.
(11) An emergency medical care provider who provides emergency medical services, as defined in section 147A.1, and who is not a member of the retirement systems established in chapter 410 or 411.
(12) An investigator employed by a county attorney’s office who is a certified law enforcement officer and who is deputized as an investigator for the county attorney’s office by the sheriff of the applicable county.
(13) An employee of the insurance division of the department of commerce who as a condition of employment is required to be certified by the Iowa law enforcement academy and who is required to perform the duties of a peace officer as provided in section 507E.8.
(14) An employee of a judicial district department of correctional services whose condition of employment requires the employee to be certified by the Iowa law enforcement academy and who is required to perform the duties of a parole officer as provided in section 906.2.
(15) A peace officer employed by an institution under the control of the state board of regents whose position requires law enforcement certification pursuant to section 262.13.
(16) A person employed by the department of human services as a psychiatric security specialist at a civil commitment unit for sexually violent offenders facility.
2. Calculation of monthly allowance. Notwithstanding other provisions of this chapter, a member who is or has been employed in a protection occupation who retires on or after July 1, 1994, and at the time of retirement is at least fifty-five years of age may elect to receive, in lieu of the receipt of any benefits as calculated pursuant to section 97B.49A or 97B.49D, a monthly retirement allowance equal to one-twelfth of an amount equal to the applicable percentage of the three-year average covered wage as a member who has been employed in a protection occupation multiplied by a fraction of years of service, with benefits payable during the member’s lifetime.
3. Additional contributions.
a. For the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1988, and each succeeding fiscal year, there is appropriated from the state fish and game protection fund to the system the amount necessary to pay the employer share of the cost of the additional benefits provided to employees covered under subsection 1, paragraph “e”, subparagraph (1).
b. Annually, during each fiscal year commencing with the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1988, each applicable city shall pay to the system the amount necessary to pay the employer share of the cost of the additional benefits provided to employees of that city covered under subsection 1, paragraph “e”, subparagraphs (2) and (4).
c. For the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1988, and each succeeding fiscal year, the department of corrections shall pay to the system from funds appropriated to the Iowa department of corrections, the amount necessary to pay the employer share of the cost of the additional benefits provided to employees covered under subsection 1, paragraph “e”, subparagraph (3).
d. For the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1990, and each succeeding fiscal year, the state department of transportation shall pay to the system, from funds appropriated to the state department of transportation from the road use tax fund and the primary road fund, the amount necessary to pay the employer share of the cost of the additional benefits provided to employees covered under subsection 1, paragraph “e”, subparagraph (5).
e. For the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1992, and each succeeding fiscal year, the department of public safety shall pay to the system from funds appropriated to the department of public safety, the amount necessary to pay the employer share of the cost of the additional benefits provided to a fire prevention inspector peace officer pursuant to subsection 1, paragraph “e”, subparagraph (6).
f. For the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1994, and each succeeding fiscal year through the fiscal year ending June 30, 1998, each judicial district department of correctional services shall pay to the system from funds appropriated to that judicial district department of correctional services, the amount necessary to pay the employer share of the cost of the additional benefits provided to employees of a judicial district department of correctional services who are employed as a probation officer III or a parole officer III.
g. For the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2004, and each succeeding fiscal year, there is appropriated from the general fund of the state to the system, from funds not otherwise appropriated, an amount necessary to pay the employer share of the cost of the additional benefits provided to airport fire fighters under this section.
4. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, the three-year average covered wage for a member retiring under this section whose years of eligible service equals or exceeds twenty-two years of eligible service for that member shall be determined by calculating the member’s eligible combined wage for each year of eligible service. For purposes of this subsection, “eligible combined wage” means the wages earned by the member for each quarter year period from eligible service and from covered employment that is not eligible service if at least seventy-five percent of the wages earned was from eligible service.
98 Acts, ch 1183, §36; 98 Acts, ch 1223, §19; 2000 Acts, ch 1077, §36 – 39; 2001 Acts, ch 68, §21, 24; 2002 Acts, ch 1135, §20, 21; 2003 Acts, ch 145, §176, 177, 286; 2004 Acts, ch 1103, §31 – 33; 2008 Acts, ch 1171, §31, 32, 48, 49; 2013 Acts, ch 29, §43; 2014 Acts, ch 1007, §1; 2014 Acts, ch 1138, §20; 2016 Acts, ch 1056, §1
Referred to in §97A.6, 97B.1A, 97B.11, 97B.46, 97B.48, 97B.48A, 97B.49C, 97B.49D, 97B.50, 97B.50A, 97B.51, 97B.52, 97B.53, 97B.80, 261.87, 321.178, 411.6, 602.11115, 602.11116, 724.6

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