Mississippi

Overview

The Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi (PERS), a governmental defined benefit pension plan qualified under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, is the retirement system for nearly all non-federal public employees in the state including employees of the state, public school districts, municipalities, counties, community colleges, state universities, and such other public entities as libraries and water districts.

Additional programs administered by PERS for the benefit of its members and the state include the Supplemental Legislative Retirement Plan (SLRP), the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol Retirement System (MHSPRS), the Institutions of Higher Learning Optional Retirement Plan (ORP), Fire and Police Disability and Relief Funds and General Municipal Retirement Systems (MRS) for employees of 17 cities, the Mississippi Deferred Compensation Plan, and the PERS Retiree Insurance Program.

Plan Design

Defined benefit plans serve as the primary retirement benefit for substantially all public employees in Mississippi.

According to the US Government Accountability Office, 97 percent of employees of state and local government in Mississippi participate in Social Security.

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Authorizing Statutes and Board Structure

MS Code § 25-11-101 establishes the Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi. MS Code § 25-11-15 establishes the PERS Board of Trustees, which consists of 10 members.

Details regarding the composition of these and other retirement boards is accessible via the Retirement and Investment Board Characteristics search tool located at the bottom of this page.

Fiduciary Duty/Prudence Standard

The board, the executive director and employees shall discharge their duties with respect to the investments of the system solely for the interest of the system with the care, skill, prudence and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent investor acting in a like capacity and familiar with such matters would use in the conduct of an enterprise of a like character and with like aims, including diversifying the investments of the system so as to minimize the risk of large losses, unless under the circumstances it is clearly prudent not to do so.
 
Among other restrictions specified in MS Code § 25-11-121(1)(l):
 
  • (i) The maximum investments in stocks shall not exceed eighty percent (80%) of the total book value of the total investment fund of the system;
  • (ii) The stock of such corporation shall:
    • 1. Be listed on a national stock exchange; or
    • 2. Be traded in the over-the-counter market;
  • (iii) The outstanding shares of such corporation shall have a total market value of not less than Fifty Million Dollars ($50,000,000.00);
  • (iv) The amount of investment in any one (1) corporation shall not exceed three percent (3%) of the book value of the assets of the system;
  • (v) The shares of any one (1) corporation owned by the system shall not exceed five percent (5%) of that corporation's outstanding stock.

Legal Protections of Retirement Benefits

No explicit constitutional protection for public pension benefits, but courts protect contractual pension rights. Article 3, §16 of the Mississippi Constitution prohibits laws impairing the obligation of contracts. Note that Article 15, §273 prevents the use of the initiative process to amend or repeal the state retirement system. Public Employees' Retirement System v. Porter, 763 So.2d 845 (Miss. 2000)(holding that statute mandating that pre-retirement death benefits go to a surviving spouse rather than named beneficiary, was an unconstitutional impairment of contract). (MS CONST., Article 15, §273; Article 3, §16) Source: Robert Klausner, Esq., State Constitutional Protections for Public Sector Retirement Benefits

See also the following search tools:

Retirement System Account Interest Policies Economic Actuarial Assumptions Retirement and Investment Board Characteristics
Information about interest rates applied to account balances of inactive plan participants Assumed rates of investment return and inflation Composition and characteristics of public retirement and investment oversight boards
Mortality Assumptions Plan Design Features Post-retirement Employment Policies
Public retirement system actuarial assumptions for mortality Numerous elements of retirement plan design Policies governing return-to-work for retirement system annuitants

More Data

Flag of Mississippi (April 23, 1894)

Population (2024) 2,943,045

Mississippi public pension statistics,
per U.S. Census Bureau as of FY 2024

Assets

$34.5 billion

Active Members

146,515

Annuitants

120,711

Benefits Paid

$3.5 billion

Employee Contributions

$689.0 million

Employer Contributions

$1.5 billion

Systems

One state system that accounts for 100 percent of assets and public pension plan participants in the state. 

More Data

Other Resources


 


Become A Member

Becoming a member of NASRA offers a unique opportunity to join a community committed to the sound, efficient, and innovative stewardship of public retirement systems. Membership connects you with a network of professionals and experts, providing valuable insights into managing public retirement systems with a focus on sustainability and risk-averse strategies.

By joining NASRA, you gain the tools and resources to enhance the management of public retirement systems, ensuring their long-term success and reliability for generations to come.

What's New at NASRA: Updated Cost of Living Issue Brief

Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) play a significant role in public pensions. They help retirees keep up with rising prices, but they also add costs to pension plans. Policymakers and plan sponsors are tasked with balancing three things: benefits adequacy, plan sustainability, and affordability for members and plan sponsors.
The recent increase in inflation caused many policymakers and, in some cases pension trustees, to review how benefits are designed and paid for, including the way COLAs are granted and funded. NASRA’s recently updated issue brief on the lates trends in COLAs is available in the NASRA Research Center.