Every magistrate while in office shall become a member and shall be subject to the provisions of the Magistrate Retirement Act; provided, however, that a magistrate who, prior to July 1, 2014, applied for and received an exemption from membership shall not become a member until such exemption ends. A magistrate who is retired under any state system or the educational retirement system shall:
A. pay the applicable member contributions and the state, through the administrative office of the courts, shall pay the applicable employer contributions as provided pursuant to the Magistrate Retirement Act; and
B. not accrue a service credit and shall not be eligible to purchase service credit nor to retire pursuant to the Magistrate Retirement Act.
History: Laws 1992, ch. 118, § 4; 2014, ch. 39, § 3; 2014, ch. 43, § 3.
ANNOTATIONSThe 2014 amendment, effective July 1, 2014, eliminated the optional exemption from membership in the magistrate retirement system; required membership; in the first sentence, deleted the former language which provided an exception for magistrates who elected to be covered by the Public Employees Retirement Act and magistrates who previously retired pursuant to a state system or the educational retirement system; after "Every magistrate", added "while", after "while in office", deleted "on or after the effective date of the Magistrate Retirement Act", after "become a member", deleted "upon appointment or election to that office", and after "Magistrate Retirement Act", deleted "upon taking office; unless a written application for exemption from membership is filed with the association within ninety days of taking office", deleted the former second sentence which provided for an exemption from membership in the magistrate retirement system, added the second sentence, including Subsections A and B, and deleted the former third sentence which provided for the resumption of membership upon revocation of the exemption.
Laws 2014, ch. 39, § 3 and Laws 2014, ch. 43, § 3, both effective July 1, 2014, enacted identical amendments to this section. The section was set out as amended by Laws 2014, ch. 43, § 3. See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.
Severability. — Laws 2014, ch. 43, § 16 provided that if any part or application of Laws 2014, ch. 43 is held invalid, the remainder or its application to other situations or persons shall not be affected.