If you return to service in a position that requires membership in CJRS:

• benefit payments stop
• you immediately become a member of CJRS again
• State Health Plan coverage may be suspended

The benefit you receive when you retire again is based on creditable service before and after your first retirement.

If at any time you are re-employed and become a member of CJRS again, your retirement benefits will (in most cases) be greater at the time of your second early/service retirement. If you return to service and contribute for at least three additional years, you can merge the two accounts and change the retirement payment plan and/or the beneficiary(ies) you selected at the time of your original retirement.

If you have initiated your retirement benefit under the conditions described in Section 8 (Initiating Your Retirement Benefits), including the condition that you had no pre-arrangement to return to employment, then service as an emergency judge has no effect upon your retirement allowance. However, if you are recalled to service as an emergency judge, your total annual compensation (retirement allowance plus compensation as an emergency judge) may not exceed what is received by the active justice or judge of the bench to which you are recalled.

If you retired with monthly early or service retirement benefits from CJRS and are re-employed by a TSERS employer (including an Optional Retirement Plan-eligible position), the following apply. If you are re-employed in a position that requires membership in TSERS, your CJRS retirement payment will be suspended on the first day of the month after the month of re-employment, and you will become a contributing member of TSERS in the month in which you are restored to service.

If you are re-employed with a TSERS employer on a part-time, interim, temporary or contractual basis, or are otherwise performing services that do not require membership in TSERS, your CJRS retirement payment will be suspended if your earnings exceed certain criteria. This suspension of benefits will happen if you exceed your earnings limitation.

If you exceed your earnings limitations, your retirement benefit will be suspended on the first day of the month following the month in which you exceeded the limit for the remainder of the calendar year. 

Your retirement payment will start again on January 1 of the year after your benefit is suspended. If your earnings exceed the allowable amount in the month of December, your benefit will not be suspended. 

If your retirement benefit is suspended, your State Health Plan coverage under the Retirement Systems will also be suspended. 

When your retirement benefit is restored, your health coverage under the Retirement Systems will be reinstated on the first of the month following the month your retirement benefit is restored.

If you accept any type of public or private employment, on an annual basis, you may earn up to the difference between your highest consecutive 12 months of salary in the 48 months preceding your disability retirement date and the amount of your annual disability retirement benefits, without affecting your disability retirement benefit. If you earn more than this amount, your disability retirement benefit will be reduced dollar for dollar by the amount of your excess earnings. The amount you are allowed to earn is increased each January by any increase in the annual national Consumer Price Index. Please contact the Retirement Systems Division for additional information on the provisions that apply to you.

Before you accept reemployment with a CJRS, TSERS or ORP employer, ask your new employer whether the employment will affect your health plan coverage, and if the reemployment will cause: 

• Your State Health Plan coverage under the Retirement Systems to be suspended.
• You to qualify for State Health Plan active group coverage and whether you will qualify for the state’s contribution toward your coverage.