APERS' mission is to provide income to retired members, to survivors and to disabled members of the system. To this end, the system prudently invests all contributions received, monitors reporting by participating employers, maintains records and disburses monthly benefit checks to all those entitled.
Act 177, Title XXIV & Board Regulations
ACT 177 - In 1957, the Arkansas General Assembly passed Act 177, which established the Arkansas State Employees Retirement System to administer a multi-employer defined benefit retirement plan for many State of Arkansas employees. Other state employees, such as those in the judiciary, those in the State Police and those in the Highway Department participate in different defined benefit retirement programs. A copy of ACT 177 of 1957 can be found here.
TITLE XXIV - Title 24 of the Arkansas Code Annotated contains most of the statutes that govern the Arkansas Public Employee Retirement System, including an entire chapter devoted specifically to APERS. You can view all of the code, including Title 24, on the Code of Arkansas Public Access page of Lexis.com, which should always have the current version of Arkansas law.
Board Rules – Current APERS Rules and other information about our Board of Trustees can be found on the Board Page.
Plan Information
Plan Name
The Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System (APERS).
Plan Type
Defined benefit plan, qualified under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, with defined contribution options.
Administration
The administration and control of the System is vested in a board called the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Public Employees’ Retirement System. By resolution duly adopted, the Board delegated to the executive director any of the powers and duties vested in or imposed upon it by law. For more information, visit our Board of Trustees page.
Service of Legal Process
Ms. Laura Gilson
Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System
124 West Capitol, Suite 400
Little Rock, AR 72201
Authority
APERS was established by Act 157 of 1957, and is governed by Title 24 of the Arkansas Code Annotated, specifically Chapters 2, 4, and part of 7. Changes to the law can be made only by an act of the Arkansas Legislature.
Funding
The System is funded by employee and employer contributions which are invested by outside investment managers.
Plan Year
The plan year is July 1 through June 30.
APERS Senior Staff
Amy Fecher
Executive Director
Allison Woods
Deputy Director of Benefits
Carlos Borromeo
Deputy Director of Investments and Finance
Ashley Golleher
Deputy Director of Operations
Jason Willett
Chief Financial Officer
Usha Doolabh
Manager, Investments
Laura Gilson
General Counsel
Patty Shipp
Assurance Officer
Jennifer Taylor
Director of Benefits Administration
Phillip Norton
Director of Information Systems
Jacobia Bates
Director of Public Affairs
Cheryl Wilburn
Manager, Benefits Operations
Shelly George
Manager, Employer Services
Tammy Shadwick
Manager, Human Resources
Jon Aucoin
Manager, Digital Services
APERS Participating Employers
Click here to see a full list of APERS participating employers.
Investments
From the plan's inception until 1985, Arkansas law restricted the management of the trust fund to a list of permissible investments. In 1985, Act 412 repealed the list and adopted the "prudent investor rule" in its place. This act also allowed the establishment of a custodial bank relationship, and it encouraged the System to invest between five and ten percent of its portfolio in Arkansas-related assets so long as these were consistent with the prudent investor policy. In 1989, Act 302 allowed the Board to employ multiple discretionary money managers as appropriate. In 1997, Act 1194 revised and updated the investment policies and rules, including the prudent investor rule.
Contributions
APERS initially operated only a "contributory" plan. Members joining the System prior to January 1, 1978 were required to contribute a percentage of their salary to the System with the employer contributing an additional portion on their behalf.
Effective January 1, 1978 this was changed so that new members would no longer be required to contribute, and only the employers paid into the System. When this new non-contributory plan went into effect, all existing members of the System were given an opportunity to remain in the original contributory plan or to convert to the non-contributory plan.
Act 2084 of 2005 established a new contributory plan for the System. Effective July 1 of that year, all new members would be contributory and remit 5% of their salary into the System. Members of the original contributory plan also had their contribution rate lowered from 6% to 5%, and the existing non-contributory members were given the option to remain in that plan or switch to the new contributory plan.
Throughout this period, employers only contributed on behalf of active members and not on those who had entered the DROP or been rehired after retiring. However, Act 558 of 2011, which took effect January 1, 2012, required employers to make contributions for all employees working in eligible APERS-covered positions whether active, retired, or in the DROP. Note that retirees and DROP participants neither contribute nor earn addtional service credit (see our Returning to Work FAQ for important information about working after retirement).
