43:10-18.9. Retirement on half pay; pensions to surviving widow or children; retirement after completion of 15 years of service
(a) Subject to the other provisions of this act, any county employee:
(1) who shall have served or who shall hereafter have served in the employ of such county continuously or in the aggregate, and shall have accumulated credit in the retirement system, for a period of 20 years, and who shall have attained the age of 60 years, shall, upon his application, be retired on one-half of salary; or
(2) who shall have served in the employ of such county continuously or in the aggregate, and shall have accumulated credit in the retirement system, for a period of 30 years, and who shall have attained the age of 55 years, shall, upon his application, be retired on one-half of salary; or
(3) who shall regardless of age have served in the employ of such county continuously or in the aggregate for a period of 35 years, shall, upon his application, be retired on one-half of salary.
In addition, any county employee who shall retire at 55 years of age or older, and who shall have served at least 30 years in the employ of the county, shall receive an additional one and one-half per cent of salary for each additional year of service exceeding 30 years, not to exceed 60% of salary.
Upon and after the death of such employee or pensioner, said retirement pension shall be paid to the surviving widow, so long as she remains unmarried; surviving widower, so long as he remains unmarried; or minor children up to 18 years of age, as the case may be.
(b) (Deleted by amendment.)
(c) Should a member, after having completed 15 years of service for which credit has been established in the pension fund, be separated voluntarily or involuntarily from the service, before reaching age 60, and not by removal for cause on charges of misconduct or delinquency, he may elect to receive the payments provided for in section 18 of the act to which this act is amendatory and supplementary, or a deferred pension beginning at age 60, in the amount equal to two and one-half per cent of salary for each year of service for which credit has been established in the pension fund, except that no pension payable under this subsection shall exceed 50% of salary.
Upon and after the death of such pensioner, said pension, which the pensioner was receiving prior to his death, shall be paid to the surviving widow, so long as she remains unmarried; surviving widower, so long as he remains unmarried; or minor children up to 18 years of age, as the case may be.
L.1943, c. 160, p. 459, s. 9. Amended by L.1966, c. 243, s. 3, eff. Aug. 17, 1966; L.1971, c. 426, s. 3, eff. Feb. 1, 1972; L.1983, c. 211, s. 2, eff. June 10, 1983.