PERS; change separation requirement for retired teachers returning to work from 90 days to 30 days.

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To: Education
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) Johnson

SENATE BILL NO. 2299

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-11-126, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO ALLOW RETIRED TEACHERS TO RETURN TO WORK, AND TO CONTINUE 2
RECEIVING A RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE, AFTER HAVING BEEN RETIRED FOR AT 3
LEAST 30 DAYS; TO AMEND SECTION 25-11-127, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 4
1972, TO CONFORM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 6
SECTION 1. Section 25-11-126, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 7
amended as follows: 8
25-11-126. (1) Any person who has at least thirty (30) 9
years of creditable service, who was employed as a public school 10
teacher at the time of his or her retirement, has been retired at 11
least * * * thirty (30) days and is receiving a retirement 12
allowance, and holds a standard teaching license in 13
Mississippi * * * may be employed as a teacher in a public school 14
district after retirement, and choose to continue receiving the 15
retirement allowance under this article during his or her 16
employment as a teacher after retirement in addition to receiving 17
the salary authorized under this section, along with the local 18
contribution of the school district in which the retiree is 19
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employed, at the discretion of the school district. Any teacher 20
who has retired with at least twenty-five (25) years of creditable 21
service as of July 1, 2024, may also participate in this program 22
if the teacher otherwise qualifies under this section. 23
(2) A retired teacher may only be hired to teach in a school 24
district designated by the Department of Education as having 25
critical shortages and/or critical subject-area shortages, and 26
shall hold the related standard teaching license and/or 27
endorsements to teach in the subject area. The base compensation 28
authorized for returning retired teachers under Section 37-19-7 29
shall not be graduated annually in the same manner as teachers who 30
are employed by a school district under traditional employment 31
guidelines, but shall remain static for the entirety of his or her 32
eligible teaching period as a retired teacher. 33
(3) (a) A retired teacher may be employed as a teacher, 34
continue receiving his or her retirement allowance and be a 35
contributing member of the system without accruing additional 36
retirement benefits for a total of five (5) years, which may be 37
performed consecutively or intermittently. This method is 38
designed specifically to provide funding for the system to 39
actuarially offset any pension liability created by this section. 40
Each school district hiring retired teachers under the authority 41
of this section, shall make a direct payment to PERS, which shall 42
serve as pension liability participation assessment. The pension 43
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liability participation assessment and the retired teacher's 44
salary for returning to work shall be determined as follows: 45
(i) A school district shall rely on the salary 46
schedule in Section 37-19-7 in considering the salary for a 47
retired teacher; provided, however, that the school district may 48
allocate up to one hundred and twenty-five percent (125%) of the 49
amount provided under the salary schedule comparable to the 50
teacher's years of service and license type as salary and 51
assessment under the program. 52
(ii) After determining the retired teacher's 53
compensation, the school district may pay no more than fifty 54
percent (50%) of the retired teacher's compensation as salary to 55
the retired teacher; and 56
(iii) The remaining fifty percent (50%) of the 57
retired teacher's compensation as salary shall be paid by the 58
school district to PERS as a pension liability participation 59
assessment. 60
(b) If a retired teacher, reemployed under the 61
authority of this section, works in a school district for any 62
portion of a scholastic year less than a full contractual term of 63
traditional teachers, the time worked by the retired teacher shall 64
constitute one (1) of the five (5) years of post retirement 65
teaching eligibility. A retired teacher, under the authority of 66
this section, shall be entitled to work in any applicable school 67
district and shall not be obligated to remain in any one (1) 68
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school district for the entirety of his or her post retirement 69
teaching eligibility, but shall be cumulative in nature so as not 70
to exceed five (5) years. The salary authorized under Section 71
37-19-7 for retired teachers shall be prorated for any period 72
worked by the retired teacher that is less than one (1) full 73
academic year. 74
(c) The State Department of Education shall transfer to 75
the system the Mississippi Adequate Education Program funds of 76
local school districts that on or after July 1, 2024, hire retired 77
members as teachers under this section and other funds that 78
otherwise would have been payable to the districts if the 79
districts had not taken advantage of this section. The crediting 80
of assets and financing shall follow the provisions of Section 81
25-11-123. 82
(d) Local educational agencies shall transfer to the 83
system Mississippi Adequate Education Program funds of local 84
school districts that on or after July 1, 2024, hire retired 85
members as teachers under this section and other funds that 86
otherwise would have been payable to the districts if the 87
districts had not taken advantage of this section. The crediting 88
of assets and financing must follow the provisions of Section 89
25-11-123. 90
(4) Under the authority of this section, school districts 91
may employ retired teachers based on criteria established by the 92
department of education for critical teacher shortage areas and 93
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critical subject-matter areas. A school district that is not 94
within a critical teacher shortage area may employ teachers for 95
critical subject-matter areas. 96
(5) A person may be hired under this section subject to the 97
following conditions: 98
(a) The retired member holds any teacher's professional 99
license or certificate as may be required in Section 37-3-2, and 100
holds the related standard teaching license and/or endorsements to 101
teach in the applicable subject area; 102
(b) The superintendent of the employing school district 103
certifies in writing to the State Department of Education that the 104
retired member has the requisite experience, training and 105
expertise for the position to be filled; 106
(c) The superintendent of the school district certifies 107
or the principal of the school certifies that there was no 108
preexisting arrangement for the person to be hired; 109
(d) The person had a satisfactory performance review 110
for the most recent period before retirement; and 111
(e) The person is hired to teach in a critical 112
subject-matter area or in a critical teacher shortage area. 113
(6) The State Superintendent of Public Education shall 114
report the persons who are employed under this section to the 115
Executive Director of the Public Employees' Retirement System. 116
(7) The department of education shall promulgate regulations 117
that prescribe a salary schedule that reflects the provisions of 118
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this section. Each school district shall create a policy, 119
approved by the local school board, related to the hiring of 120
retired teachers and including, but not limited to, the hiring of 121
full- and part-time retired teacher employees under this section 122
and Section 25-11-127. 123
(8) Any retired teacher who returns to work in accordance 124
with this section shall not be eligible to return to work under 125
the provisions of Section 25-11-127. 126
SECTION 2. Section 25-11-127, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 127
amended as follows: 128
25-11-127. (1) (a) Except as provided in Section 129
25-11-126, no person who is being paid a retirement allowance or a 130
pension after retirement under this article shall be employed or 131
paid for any service by the State of Mississippi, including 132
services as an employee, contract worker, contractual employee or 133
independent contractor, until the retired person has been retired 134
for not less than ninety (90) consecutive days from his or her 135
effective date of retirement. After the person has been retired 136
for not less than ninety (90) consecutive days from his or her 137
effective date of retirement or such later date as established by 138
the board, he or she may be reemployed while being paid a 139
retirement allowance under the terms and conditions provided in 140
this section or in Section 25-11-126. 141
(b) No retiree of this retirement system who is 142
reemployed or is reelected to office after retirement shall 143
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continue to draw retirement benefits while so reemployed, except 144
as provided in this section or in Section 25-11-126. 145
(c) No person employed or elected under the exceptions 146
provided for in this section shall become a member under Article 3 147
of the retirement system. 148
(2) Except as otherwise provided in Section 25-11-126, any 149
person who has been retired under the provisions of Article 3 and 150
who is later reemployed in service covered by this article shall 151
cease to receive benefits under this article and shall again 152
become a contributing member of the retirement system. When the 153
person retires again, if the reemployment exceeds six (6) months, 154
the person shall have his or her benefit recomputed, including 155
service after again becoming a member, provided that the total 156
retirement allowance paid to the retired member in his or her 157
previous retirement shall be deducted from the member's retirement 158
reserve and taken into consideration in recalculating the 159
retirement allowance under a new option selected. 160
(3) The board shall have the right to prescribe rules and 161
regulations for carrying out the provisions of this section. 162
(4) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to 163
prohibit any retiree, regardless of age, from being employed and 164
drawing a retirement allowance either: 165
(a) For a period of time not to exceed one-half (1/2) 166
of the normal working days for the position in any fiscal year 167
during which the retiree will receive no more than one-half (1/2) 168
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of the salary in effect for the position at the time of 169
employment, or 170
(b) For a period of time in any fiscal year sufficient 171
in length to permit a retiree to earn not in excess of twenty-five 172
percent (25%) of retiree's average compensation. 173
To determine the normal working days for a position under 174
paragraph (a) of this subsection, the employer shall determine the 175
required number of working days for the position on a full-time 176
basis and the equivalent number of hours representing the 177
full-time position. The retiree then may work up to one-half 178
(1/2) of the required number of working days or up to one-half 179
(1/2) of the equivalent number of hours and receive up to one-half 180
(1/2) of the salary for the position. In the case of employment 181
with multiple employers, the limitation shall equal one-half (1/2) 182
of the number of days or hours for a single full-time position. 183
Notice shall be given in writing to the executive director, 184
setting forth the facts upon which the employment is being made, 185
and the notice shall be given within five (5) days from the date 186
of employment and also from the date of termination of the 187
employment. 188
(5) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (6) of this 189
section, the employer of any person who is receiving a retirement 190
allowance and who is employed in service covered by subsection (4) 191
of this section as an employee or a contractual employee shall pay 192
to the board the full amount of the employer's contribution on the 193
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amount of compensation received by the retiree for his or her 194
employment in accordance with regulations prescribed by the board. 195
The retiree shall not receive any additional creditable service in 196
the retirement system as a result of the payment of the employer's 197
contribution. This subsection does not apply to persons who are 198
receiving a retirement allowance and who contract with an employer 199
to provide services as a true independent contractor, as defined 200
by the board through regulation. 201
(6) (a) A member may retire and continue in municipal or 202
county elective office provided that the member has reached the 203
age and/or service requirement that will not result in a 204
prohibited in-service distribution as defined by the Internal 205
Revenue Service, or a retiree may be elected to a municipal or 206
county office, provided that the person: 207
(i) Files annually, in writing, in the office of 208
the employer and the office of the executive director of the 209
system before the person takes office or as soon as possible after 210
retirement, a waiver of all salary or compensation and elects to 211
receive in lieu of that salary or compensation a retirement 212
allowance as provided in this section, in which event no salary or 213
compensation shall thereafter be due or payable for those 214
services; however, any such officer or employee may receive, in 215
addition to the retirement allowance, office expense allowance, 216
mileage or travel expense authorized by any statute of the State 217
of Mississippi; or 218
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ST: PERS; change separation requirement for
retired teachers returning to work from 90 days
to 30 days.
(ii) Elects to receive compensation for that 219
elective office in an amount not to exceed twenty-five percent 220
(25%) of the retiree's average compensation. In order to receive 221
compensation as allowed in this subparagraph, the retiree shall 222
file annually, in writing, in the office of the employer and the 223
office of the executive director of the system, an election to 224
receive, in addition to a retirement allowance, compensation as 225
allowed in this subparagraph. 226
(b) The municipality or county in which the retired 227
person holds elective office shall pay to the board the amount of 228
the employer's contributions on the full amount of the regular 229
compensation for the elective office that the retired person 230
holds. 231
(c) As used in this subsection, the term "compensation" 232
does not include office expense allowance, mileage or travel 233
expense authorized by a statute of the State of Mississippi. 234
(7) Any retired teacher who returns to work in accordance 235
with this section shall not be eligible to return to work under 236
the provisions of Section 25-11-126. 237
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from 238
and after July 1, 2026. 239