FIELDS v. ELECTED OFFICIALS' RETIREMENT

No. CV-13-0005-T-AP.

320 P.3d 1160 (2014)

The Honorable Kenneth FIELDS (ret.), a retired state court judge; and The Honorable Jefferson Lankford (ret.), a retired state court judge, on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated, Plaintiffs/Appellees, v. The ELECTED OFFICIALS' RETIREMENT PLAN; Brian Tobin; Richard Petrenka; Gregory Ferguson; Lauren Kingry; Jeff McHenry; and Randie Stein, are all named in their official capacities as Members of the Board of Trustees of the Elected Officials Retirement Plan of the State of Arizona; and The State of Arizona, Defendants/Appellants.

Supreme Court of Arizona.

February 20, 2014.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Colin F. Campbell, Sharad H. Desai, Thomas L. Hudson (argued), Osborn Maledon PA, Phoenix, for Kenneth Fields and Jefferson Lankford.

Bennett Evan Cooper, Shannon E. Trebbe, Steptoe & Johnson, LLP, Phoenix, for Elected Officials Retirement Plan, Brian Tobin, Richard Petrenka, Gregory Ferguson, Lauren Kingry, Jeff McHenry, and Randie Stein.

Thomas C. Horne, Arizona Attorney General, Charles A. Grube, Assistant Attorney General (argued), Arizona Attorney General's Office, Phoenix, for State of Arizona.

Gregrey G. Jernigan, Office of the President, Arizona State Senate, Phoenix, for Amicus Curiae Andy Biggs.

Peter A. Gentala, Pele K. Peacock, Office of the Speaker, Arizona House of Representatives, Phoenix, for Amicus Curiae Andrew M. Tobin.

William F. Bock, General Counsel, League of Arizona Cities and Towns, Phoenix, for Amicus Curiae League of Arizona Cities and Towns.

Joseph Sciarrotta, Jr., General Counsel, Office of Governor Janice K. Brewer, Phoenix, for Amicus Curiae Governor Janice K. Brewer.

Robert D. Klausner, Adam P. Levinson, Klausner, Kaufman, Jensen & Levinson, Plantation, FL, and Ron L. Kilgard, Keller Rohrback PLC, Phoenix, for Amicus Curiae National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems.

Justice BRUTINEL authored the opinion of the Court, in which Chief Justice BERCH, Vice Chief Justice BALES, Justice PELANDER, and Justice TIMMER joined.


Justice BRUTINEL, opinion of the Court.

¶ 1 Arizona Revised Statutes Section 38-818 establishes a formula for calculating pension benefit increases for retired members of the Elected Officials' Retirement Plan ("Plan"). In 2011, the legislature modified that formula by enacting Senate Bill ("S.B.") 1609. Because that statute diminishes and impairs the retired members' benefits, we hold that it violates the Pension Clause of Article 29, § 1(C) of the Arizona...

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