{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-161.250","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 161.250","heading":"Board of trustees to control retirement -- Membership -- Appeals --","body":"Trustee education program -- Public disclosure of meeting notices and agendas\nand Annual Comprehensive Financial Report -- Administrative regulations for\nauthorized benefit improvements.\n(1) (a) The general administration and management of the retirement system, and the\nresponsibility for its proper operation and for making effective provisions of\nKRS 161.155 and 161.220 to 161.714 are vested in a board of trustees to be\nknown as the \"Board of Trustees of the Teachers' Retirement System of the\nState of Kentucky.\"\n(b) The board of trustees shall consist of the following:\n1. The chief state school officer;\n2. The State Treasurer;\n3. Two (2) trustees, appointed by the Governor o f the Commonwealth,\nsubject to Senate confirmation in accordance with KRS 11.160 for each\nappointment or reappointment. These two (2) trustees shall have\ninvestment experience. For purposes of this subparagraph, a trustee with\n\"investment experience\" means  an individual who does not have a\nconflict of interest, as provided by KRS 161.460, and who has at least\nten (10) years of experience in one (1) of the following areas of\nexpertise:\na. A portfolio manager acting in a fiduciary capacity;\nb. A professional securities analyst or investment consultant;\nc. A current or retired employee or principal of a trust institution,\ninvestment or finance organization, or endowment fund acting in\nan investment-related capacity;\nd. A chartered financial analyst in good standing as determined by\nthe CFA Institute; or\ne. A university professor, teaching investment-related studies; and\n4. Seven (7) other trustees elected as provided in KRS 161.260. Four (4) of\nthe elective trustees shall be members of the retirement system, to be\nknown as teacher trustees, two (2) shall be p ersons who are not\nmembers of the teaching profession, to be known as the lay trustees, and\none (1) shall be an annuitant of the retirement system to be known as the\nretired teacher trustee. One (1) teacher trustee shall be elected annually\nfor a four -year term. The retired teacher trustee shall be elected every\nfour (4) years. The chief state school officer and the State Treasurer are\nconsidered ex officio members of the board of trustees and may\ndesignate in writing a person to represent them at board meetings.\n(c) 1. Elective trustees shall not serve more than three (3) consecutive four (4)\nyear terms. An elective trustee who has served three (3) consecutive\nterms may be elected again after an absence of four (4) years from the\nboard of trustees.\n2. The t erm limits established by subparagraph 1. of this paragraph shall\napply to elective trustees serving on or after July 1, 2012, and all terms\nof office served prior to July 1, 2012, shall be used to determine if the\nelective trustee has exceeded the term li mits provided by subparagraph\n1. of this paragraph.\n(d) 1. Each appointed trustee shall serve a term of four (4) years. An appointed\ntrustee shall not serve more than three (3) consecutive four (4) year\nterms. An appointed trustee who has served three (3) consecutive terms\nmay be appointed again after an absence of four (4) years from the\nboard of trustees.\n2. Any vacancy that occurs in an appointed position shall be filled in the\nsame manner that provides for the selection of the trustee; however, any\nvacancy shall be filled only for the duration of the unexpired term.\n(2) A member, retired member, or designated beneficiary may appeal the retirement\nsystem's decisions that materially affect the amount of service retirement allowance,\namount of service credi t, eligibility for service retirement, or eligibility for\nsurvivorship benefits to which that member, retired member, or designated\nbeneficiary claims to be entitled. All appeals must be in writing and filed with the\nretirement system within thirty (30) da ys of the claimant's first notice of the\nretirement system's decision. For purposes of this section, notice shall be complete\nand effective upon the date of mailing of the retirement system's decision to the\nclaimant at the claimant's last known address. F ailure by the claimant to file a\nwritten appeal with the retirement system within the thirty (30) day period shall\nresult in the decision of the retirement system becoming permanent with the effect\nof a final and unappealable order. The deadline to file a written appeal shall not be\nsubject to the jurisdiction of any court or appeal process, nor shall it otherwise be\ntolled or waived. Appeals may include a request for an administrative hearing\nwhich shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of KR S Chapter 13B.\nThe board of trustees may establish an appeals committee whose members shall be\nappointed by the chairperson and who shall have the authority to act upon the report\nand recommendation of the hearing officer by issuing a final order on behalf  of the\nfull board of trustees. A member, retired member, or designated beneficiary who\nhas filed a timely, written appeal of a decision of the retirement system may,\nfollowing the administrative hearing and issuance of the final order by the board of\ntrustees, appeal the final order of the board of trustees to the Franklin Circuit Court\nin accordance with the provisions of KRS Chapter 13B.\n(3) The board of trustees shall establish a formal trustee education program for all\ntrustees of the board. The program shall include but not be limited to the following:\n(a) A required orientation program for all new trustees to the board. The\norientation program shall include training on:\n1. Benefits and benefits administration;\n2. Investment concepts, policies, and cur rent composition and\nadministration of retirement system investments;\n3. Laws, bylaws, and administrative regulations pertaining to the\nretirement system and to fiduciaries; and\n4. Actuarial and financial concepts pertaining to the retirement system.\nIf a trustee fails to complete the orientation program within one (1) year from\nthe beginning of his or her first term on the board, the retirement system shall\nwithhold payment of the per diem and travel expenses due to the board\nmember under KRS 161.290 unti l the trustee has completed the orientation\nprogram;\n(b) Annual required training for trustees on the administration, benefits,\nfinancing, and investing of the retirement system. If a trustee fails to complete\nthe annual required training during the calend ar or fiscal year, the retirement\nsystem shall withhold payment of the per diem and travel expenses due to the\nboard member under KRS 161.290 until the board member has met the annual\ntraining requirements; and\n(c) The retirement system shall incorporate b y reference in an administrative\nregulation, pursuant to KRS 13A.2251, the trustee education program.\n(4) In order to improve public transparency regarding the administration of the system,\nthe board of trustees shall adopt a best practices model by postin g the following\ninformation to the retirement system's website and shall make available to the\npublic:\n(a) Meeting notices and agendas for all meetings of the board. Notices and\nagendas shall be posted to the retirement system's website at least seventy-two\n(72) hours in advance of the board or committee meetings, except in the case\nof special or emergency meetings as provided by KRS 61.823;\n(b) The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report with the information as follows:\n1. A general overview and update on th e retirement system by the\nexecutive secretary;\n2. A listing of the board of trustees;\n3. A listing of key staff;\n4. An organizational chart;\n5. Financial information, including a statement of plan net assets, a\nstatement of changes in plan net assets, an actuarial value of assets, a\nschedule of investments, a statement of funded status and funding\nprogress, and other supporting data;\n6. Investment information, including a general overview, a list of the\nretirement system's professional consultants, a total net return on\nretirement system investments over a historical period, an investment\nsummary, contracted investment management expenses, transact ion\ncommissions, and a schedule of investments;\n7. The annual actuarial valuation report on the pension benefit and the\nmedical insurance benefit; and\n8. A general statistical section, including information on contributions,\nbenefit payouts, and retirement system demographic data;\n(c) All external audits;\n(d) All board minutes or other materials that require adoption or ratification by\nthe board of trustees. The items listed in this paragraph shall be posted within\nseventy-two (72) hours of adoption or ratification of the board;\n(e) All bylaws, policies, or procedures adopted or ratified by the board of\ntrustees;\n(f) The retirement system's summary plan description;\n(g) The retirement system's law book;\n(h) A listing of the members of the board of trustees a nd membership on each\ncommittee established by the board, including any investment committees;\n(i) All investment holdings in aggregate, fees, and commissions for each fund\nadministered by the board, which shall be updated on a quarterly basis for\nfiscal years beginning on or after July 1, 2017. The system shall request from\nall managers, partnerships, and any other available sources all information\nregarding fees and commissions and shall, based on the requested information\nreceived:\n1. Disclose the dollar value of fees or commissions paid to each individual\nmanager or partnership;\n2. Disclose the dollar value of any profit sharing, carried interest, or any\nother partnership incentive arrangements, partnership agreements, or\nany other partnership expenses r eceived by or paid to each manager or\npartnership; and\n3. As applicable, report each fee or commission by manager or partnership\nconsistent with standards established by the Institutional Limited\nPartners Association (ILPA).\nIn addition to the requirement s of this paragraph, the system shall also\ndisclose the name and address of all individual underlying managers or\npartners in any fund of funds in which system assets are invested;\n(j) An update of net of fees investment returns, asset allocations, and the\nperformance of the funds against benchmarks adopted by the board for each\nfund, for each asset class administered by the board, and for each manager.\nThe update shall be posted on a quarterly basis for fiscal years beginning on\nor after July 1, 2017;\n(k) All contracts or offering documents for services, goods, or property purchased\nor utilized by the system;\n(l) A searchable database of the system's expenditures and a listing of each\nindividual employed by the system along with the employee's salary or wages.\nIn lieu of posting the information required by this paragraph to the system's\nwebsite, the system may provide the information through a website\nestablished by the executive branch to inform the public about executive\nbranch agency expenditures and public employee salaries and wages; and\n(m) All proxy vote reports as provided by KRS 161.430(8).\n(5) Notwithstanding the requirements of subsection (4) of this section, the retirement\nsystem shall not be required to furnish information that is protected under  KRS\n161.585, exempt under KRS 61.878, or that, if disclosed, would compromise the\nretirement system's ability to competitively invest in real estate or other asset\nclasses, except that no provision of this section or KRS 61.878 shall exclude\ndisclosure and review of all contracts, including investment contracts, by the board,\nthe Auditor of Public Accounts, and the Government Contract Review Committee\nestablished pursuant to KRS 45A.705 or the disclosure of investment fees and\ncommissions as provided by th is section. If any public record contains material\nwhich is not excepted under this section, the system shall separate the excepted\nmaterial by removal, segregation, or redaction, and make the nonexcepted material\navailable for examination.\n(6) For any ben efit improvements the General Assembly has authorized the board of\ntrustees to establish under KRS 161.220 to 161.716 and that require formal\nadoption by the board, the board shall establish the benefits by promulgation of\nadministrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A.","path":["KRS Chapter 161"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56060","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:10Z","sha256":"18c00d1769f77dec76b0c4686ff8fbdbdd9c886901e7d9265d60fdeef2ca17d4","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-161.240","next":"us-ky/krs-161.260"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}