West Virginia

Overview

The West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board is the sole state retirement system in the state, administering nine defined benefit plans and one defined contribution plan. The CPRB provides benefits for all employees of the state, public school teachers, and employees of political subdivisions that have elected to participate. Assets are managed by the West Virginia State Investment Board.

Plan Design

Defined benefit plans serve as the primary retirement benefit for nearly all public employees in West Virginia. A defined contribution plan was the only plan provided to newly-hired teachers from July 1, 1991 through June 30, 2005. Those hired into the DC plan subsequently were provided opportunities to switch to the defined benefit plan. Teachers who did not elect to switch, and who remain employed as teachers in the state, continue to participate in the defined contribution plan.

According to the US Government Accountability Office, 95 percent of employees of state and local government in West Virginia participate in Social Security.

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Authorizing Statutes and Board Structure

West Virginia Code Chapter 5 Article 10D authorizes and describes the West Virginia Consolidated Retirement Board, which is made up of 13 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

West Virginia Code 12-6-11 describes the board’s investment standard of care, as follows:
(a) Any investments made under this article shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the Uniform Prudent Investor Act codified as article six-c, chapter forty-four of this code and is further subject to the following requirements: (1) Trustees shall discharge their duties with respect to the 401(a) plans for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to participants and their beneficiaries; (2) Trustees shall diversify fund investment so as to minimize the risk of large losses unless, under the circumstances, it is clearly prudent not to do so; (3) Trustees shall defray reasonable expenses of investing and operating the funds under management; (4) Trustees shall discharge their duties in accordance with the documents and instruments governing the trusts or other funds under management insofar as the documents and instruments are consistent with the provisions of this article; (5) Trustees, at the annual meeting required in subsection (h), section three of this article, shall review, establish and modify, if necessary, the investment objectives of the individual participant plans as incorporated in the investment policy statements of the respective trusts so as to provide for the financial security of the trust funds giving consideration to the following: (A) Preservation of capital; (B) Diversification; (C) Risk tolerance; (D) Rate of return; (E) Stability; (F) Turnover; (G) Liquidity; and (H) Reasonable cost of fees.

Legal Protections of Retirement Benefits

No explicit constitutional protection for public pension benefits, but courts protect against the impairment of contracts. Dadisman v. Moore, 384 S.E.2d 816 (1988) (holding that the protection of public pension rights is a constitutional and moral obligation of the state); but see Myers v. West Virginia Consol. Public Retirement Bd., 704 S.E.2d 738,226 W.Va. 738 (W.Va. 2010) (after pension benefits are vested, the Legislature is constitutionally prohibited from reducing benefits but prospective modifications are permissible). (WV CONST., Article 3, §4) Source: Robert Klausner, Esq., State Constitutional Protections for Public Sector Retirement Benefits
 

See also the following search tools:

More Data

• Public Fund Survey Summary of Findings
• Roll Call (NASRA members-only)