A. For a judge or justice who occupied such an office prior to July 1, 1980, but who had ceased to hold such an office prior to that date and who elected to be excluded from the provisions of the Judicial Retirement Act; or a judge or justice who occupied such an office on July 1, 1980, but who elected to be covered under the provisions of the retirement plan in effect at that time, the amount of monthly pension is an amount equal to one-twelfth of: seventy-five percent of salary received during last year in office prior to retirement number of years of service, not exceeding ten years, divided by ten. B. For a judge or justice who initially became a member before July 1, 2005 and who initially occupied such an office after July 1, 1980; or a judge or justice who occupied such an office on or before July 1, 1980 and who has elected to be covered pursuant to the provisions of the Judicial Retirement Act, the amount of monthly pension is an amount equal to the sum of: (1) for service credit earned on or before June 30, 2014, an amount equal to one-twelfth of: seventy-five percent of salary received during last year in office prior to retirement X .05 X (number of years of service, not exceeding fifteen years, plus five years); and (2) for service credit earned on and after July 1, 2014, an amount equal to one-sixtieth of the greatest aggregate amount of salary received for sixty consecutive, but not necessarily continuous, months in office multiplied by the product of three and one-half percent times the number of years of service credit. C. For a judge or justice who initially became a member after June 30, 2005 but on or before June 30, 2014, the amount of monthly pension is an amount equal to the sum of: (1) for service credit earned on or before June 30, 2014, an amount equal to one-twelfth of the salary received during the last year in office prior to retirement multiplied by the product of three and seventy-five hundredths percent times the sum of the number of years of service; and (2) for service credit earned on and after July 1, 2014, an amount equal to one-sixtieth of the greatest aggregate amount of salary received for sixty consecutive, but not necessarily continuous, months in office multiplied by the product of three and one-half percent times the number of years of service credit. D. For a judge or justice who initially became a member on or after July 1, 2014, the amount of monthly pension under form of payment A is an amount equal to one-sixtieth of the greatest aggregate amount of salary received for sixty consecutive, but not necessarily continuous, months in office multiplied by the product of three and one-fourth percent times the number of years of service. E. The amount of pension under form of payment A for a pension calculated pursuant to Subsection D of this section shall not exceed eighty-five percent of one-sixtieth of the greatest aggregate amount of salary received for sixty consecutive, but not necessarily continuous, months prior to the member leaving office. F. The amount of pension payable for a pension calculated pursuant to Subsection A, B or C of this section shall not exceed eighty-five percent of one-sixtieth of the greatest aggregate amount of salary received for sixty consecutive, but not necessarily continuous, months prior to the member leaving office. A pension benefit determined pursuant to this subsection shall not be less than the benefit earned as of June 30, 2014. History: Laws 1992, ch. 111, § 9; 2005, ch. 246, § 2; 2014, ch. 35, § 6. The 2014 amendment, effective July 1, 2014, decreased the pension multiplier for service credit earned after June 30, 2014; increased the maximum pension benefit; at the beginning of the subsection, deleted former language which provided that "The amount of monthly pension is equal to"; in Subsection A, at the beginning of the subsection, deleted "in the case of a former or current judge or justice"; in Subsection A, added the language at the beginning of the sentence through "the amount of monthly pension is"; in Subsection B, in the introductory paragraph, at the beginning of the paragraph, deleted "in the case of a new judge or justice who initially became a member prior to July 1, 2005" and added the remainder of the introductory paragraph; in Subsection B, Paragraph (1), at the beginning of the sentence, added "for service credit earned on or before June 30, 2014"; in Subsection B, added Paragraph (2); in Subsection C, at the beginning of the introductory sentence, deleted "in the case of a new" and added "For a", after "became a member", deleted "on or", after "member after", deleted "July 1" and added "June 30", and after "June 30, 2005", added the remainder of the sentence; in Subsection C, Paragraph (1), at the beginning of the sentence, added "for service credit earned on or before June 30, 2014" and after "number of years of service", deleted the remainder of the sentence, which provided that the pension could not exceed seventy-five percent of one-twelfth of the salary received during the last year in office; in Subsection C, added Paragraph (2); and added Subsections D, E and F. Severability. — Laws 2014, ch. 35, § 16 provided that if any part or application of Laws 2014, ch. 35 is held invalid, the remainder or its application to other situations or persons shall not be affected. The 2005 amendment, effective June 17, 2005, provided the monthly pension of a new judge or justice who initially became a member prior to July 1, 2005 in Subsection B; and added Subsection C to provide for the monthly pension of a new judge or justice who initially became a member on or after July 1, 2005. Interpretation of NMSA 1978, § 10-12B-9(C)(1). — In going beyond the plain language, and reading 10-12B-9(C)(1) NMSA 1978 and (C)(2) together and in the context of the statutory scheme as a whole, "years of service" in 10-12B-9(C)(1) NMSA 1978 refers to members' years of service credit earned between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2014, and therefore a member is given credit for their service between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2014, via 10-12B-9(C)(1) NMSA 1978, given credit for their service from July 1, 2014 forward via 10-12B-9(C)(2) NMSA 1978, and not given double credit for any service. Butkus v. PERA , 2024-NMCA-041, cert. denied. Where plaintiff, a retired judge under the Judicial Retirement Act, 10-12B-1 to 10-12B-19 NMSA 1978, retired with a total service credit of fifteen years and one month, which consisted of approximately eight years and seven months between June 30, 2005 and June 30, 2014, and six and one-half years after June 30, 2014, and, following the public employees retirement board's (board) calculation of plaintiff's pension, plaintiff argued that the board miscalculated his pension when it determined that "years of service" in 10-12B-9(C)(1) NMSA 1978 refers to a member's years of service between June 30, 2005 and June 30, 2014, instead of the retiree's full tenure as a judge in the two pronged calculation required by 10-12B-9(C) NMSA 1978, and where plaintiff also claimed that he, and other members in his position, are entitled to a monthly pension that includes double payment for his service from July 1, 2014, onward, the board did not err in calculating plaintiff's pension, because plaintiff's interpretation of 10-12B-9(C)(1) NMSA 1978 would significantly increase benefits contrary to the legislature's clear intent to increase the solvency of the judicial retirement fund, and is also contrary to the structure of the statute, which includes a calculation that separately addresses the time a relevant member has served between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2014, in 10-12B-9(C)(1) NMSA 1978, and the time they have served July 1, 2014 and beyond, in 10-12B-9(C)(2) NMSA 1978. Butkus v. PERA , 2024-NMCA-041, cert. denied.
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