JRS Tier 2 Credited Service

Membership in the Judges Retirement System of Illinois is comprised of judges and associate judges of any court and the director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, if the director had previously established membership in JRS as a judge.

You automatically become a member of JRS unless you file an election not to participate. Your written decision declining participation must be filed within 30 days from the date of being notified of the option. If you choose not to participate in JRS, you are subject to mandatory Social Security coverage unless contributing a minimum of 7.5% of your judicial salary to the Illinois Deferred Compensation Plan.

As a Tier 2 active judge, you contribute a percentage of your salary by payroll deduction for benefits. You contribute 7.5 percent of your salary toward your retirement annuity, 1 percent towards your annual annuity increases, and 2.5 percent towards the survivor's annuity, for a total of 11 percent of your salary.

If you are single, you are not required to contribute to the survivor’s annuity, but you are required to notify JRS of your decision immediately.

If you are single at the time you become a judge and do not wish to contribute the survivor's annuity, your contributions will be reduced to 8.5% once you return a completed Election Not to Participate in the Survivor's Annuity Provisions-Unmarried Judges form.  If you later become married while an active judge,  you must notify JRS.

JRS will give you options to either:

1. Establish a full survivor benefit from the date you first became a judge by repaying any refunded contributions, plus interest, as well as making contributions to cover the survivor annuity for the period you were unmarried plus 3% interest; or
2. Begin contributing from the date of your marriage forward to provide a prorated benefit for your surviving spouse.
   
3. Establish a full survivor benefit from the date you first became a judge by repaying any refunded contributions, plus interest, as well as making contributions to cover the survivor annuity for the period you were unmarried plus 3% interest; or
   
4. Begin contributing from the date of your marriage forward to provide a prorated benefit for your surviving spouse.
   

Please note: Retired judges have the option to re-establish a full survivor benefit, but do not have a prorated benefit repayment option.

If you are married, or marry while an active judge, you are required to contribute 2.5% of your salary for the survivor’s annuity provision unless you and your spouse file an Irrevocable Election to Not Participate in the Survivor’s Annuity Provisions form. Your form declining participation must be filed within 30 days of notifying JRS of your marital status. No survivor annuity will be payable upon your death. Contributions to the survivor’s annuity are only required for a spouse to qualify for the survivor annuity benefit and are not required for an eligible child to qualify for the child’s annuity.

You pay no tax on your contributions until you receive them.

Service credit is earned with the first day you become a contributing member. Your service during any fraction of a month is considered a full month of service.

NOTE: Beginning on or after January 1, 2011, annual compensation on which contributions are taken cannot exceed that year's annual salary maximum used for benefit computations, as provided by the Illinois Department of Insurance.

See Optional Service Credit

If you have established at least one year of credited service under an Illinois public retirement system that participates in the Retirement Systems’ Reciprocal Act, your service under that system may be used when determining eligibility for a JRS benefit.

In general, the rules of each retirement system apply in determining a benefit. The benefit amount is based on the benefit formula and amount of service in each system on your last day of service and is paid to you by each system.

Under the Reciprocal Act, JRS computes benefits using an eight-year average salary subject to the annual salary maximums for judges whose membership date is after December 31, 2010. The reciprocal system involved calculates their share of the benefit based upon their formula.

The reciprocal system’s formula may require an average salary to compute their share of the benefit. JRS will provide the reciprocal system with the annual salary maximums (as determined by the Department of Insurance) to be used in the computation of benefits.

You cannot be grandfathered into the Tier 1 formula based on service in a reciprocal system prior to January 1, 2011.

Your total benefits cannot be higher than it would have been if all service were in one system. If service credit under JRS is granted by a reciprocal system for the same time period, each system will reduce its credit proportionately.

Follow the link for the list of systems that participate in the Retirement Systems' Reciprocal Act.