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HomeGovernment CodeDiv. 5Pt. 3Ch. 12Art. 2§ 21071 State Employee Retirement Rules

§ 21071 State Employee Retirement Rules

Government Code·California
AI Summary·Official Text·Key Terms·Related Statutes·References
AI SummaryVerified

§ 21071 State Employee Retirement Rules

Key Takeaways

  • •If you started working for the state in certain jobs after July 1, 1991, you follow a specific retirement plan called Section 21076.
  • •If you were already working for the state before July 1, 1991, you might get to choose a different retirement plan, unless you already picked one and can't change it.
  • •Starting April 1, 1998, some workers could choose a different retirement formula (Section 21353.5) if their job group agreed to it.
  • •This law doesn’t apply to people working at California State University or certain other state jobs.

Example

A person starts working for the state in a non-civil service job on August 1, 1991.

Since they started after July 1, 1991, they automatically follow the retirement rules in Section 21076 unless they had a chance to pick something else before.

AI-generated — May contain errors. Not legal advice. Always verify source.

Official Source
View on CA.gov

§ 21071 State Employee Retirement Rules

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c), persons who first become state miscellaneous or state industrial members of the system on or after July 1, 1991, and who are (1) excluded from the definition of state employee in subdivision (c) of Section 3513, (2) employed by the executive branch of government and are not members of the civil service, or (3) included in the definition of state employee in subdivision (c) of Section 3513 shall become subject to Section 21076. (b) Any person who was a member on or before June 30, 1991, eligible to elect membership on or before June 30, 1991, or who was employed in any position on or before June 30, 1991, that would lead to membership as a state member, as defined in Section 20370, and who thereafter enters employment subject to Section 21076 shall be granted the rights provided in subdivision (c) of Section 21070, unless the person had earlier made an irrevocable election to be subject to Section 21076 or 21077. The one-year period in which to make the election provided in subdivision (c) of Section 21070 for any member who became a state member prior to January 1, 1994, shall commence with the mailing of a notice by the system to the member of his or her election right. The effective date of the election shall be the date on which the member became a state miscellaneous or state industrial member. The member shall be obligated to make the contributions specified in Section 20677. (c) Effective on or after April 1, 1998, state miscellaneous or industrial members may elect to be subject to the service retirement formula prescribed in Section 21353.5, as an alternative to Second Tier membership under Section 21076. The election shall be provided to eligible members by the appointing authority, and, to be effective, an election must be filed with the board. Eligible members who must be in the employment of the state are defined as members in state bargaining units for which a memorandum of understanding has been agreed to by the state employer and the recognized employee organization to become subject to Section 21353.5. The effective date of a member’s election shall be the first day of the month following the date the election is filed with the system. (d) This section shall not apply to state miscellaneous members employed by the California State University or employees described in Section 20324. (e) This section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2000. (f) The amendments to this section enacted during the first year of the 1999–2000 Regular Session are subject to the limitations set forth in Section 21251.13. (Amended (as amended by Stats. 1999, Ch. 555) by Stats. 2000, Ch. 135, Sec. 72. Effective January 1, 2001. Pursuant to subd. (f), amendments are conditionally operative as prescribed in Section 21251.13. Section inoperative January 1, 2000, by subd. (e).)

Last verified: January 22, 2026

Key Terms

state miscellaneous or state industrial membersSection 21076Section 21070Section 21353.5

Related Statutes

  • § 21070.5 State Employee Retirement Benefits
  • § 21072 State Service Credit Rules
  • § 21073.5 Second Tier Service Credit Election
  • § 21070 State Employee Benefit Options
  • § 21070.6 Pre-2013 Service Credit Eligibility

References

  • Official text at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
  • California Legislature. Government Code. Section 21071.
View Official Source