# Title 71 — Retirement Board

## Article 71-05 — Highway Patrol Retirement System

## Chapter 71-05-02 — Disability

Retirement Benefit
### § 71-05-02-01. Disability retirement eligibility.

A member of the highway patrol retirement system, who has completed at least one hundred eighty
days of employment, is eligible for disability retirement benefits if the member became permanently and
totally disabled during the period of covered employment and otherwise complies with section
### § 71-05-02-02. A member eligible for normal retirement date shall receive the normal retirement benefit if

it exceeds the disability retirement benefit.
History: Effective November 1, 1990; amended effective July 1, 2006.
General Authority: NDCC 39-03.1-06, 39-03.1-11
Law Implemented: NDCC 39-03.1-11
### § 71-05-02-01.1. Conditions for changing to a disability retirement benefit from an early

reduced retirement benefit.
A member may elect to start receiving an early reduced retirement benefit, should the member be
eligible to do so, pending a disability determination or appeal. During this period, the member's account
will be handled in the same manner as all early reduced retirement benefits. Upon receiving a disability
determination, interest accrual on the member's account shall resume beginning the first of the month
following notice of the determination, continuing to accrue on the annuitant's accumulated contribution
until the annuitant reaches the annuitant's normal retirement date. The disability benefit will be
calculated and a differential payment made retroactive to the first day of the month following the
member's termination from covered employment.
History: Effective May 1, 2004; amended effective July 1, 2006.
General Authority: NDCC 39-03.1-06, 39-03.1-11
Law Implemented: NDCC 39-03.1-11
### § 71-05-02-02. Determination of disability - Procedures.

1. Application.
a. Application for disability benefits must be made within one year from the last date of
covered employment on the form provided by the plan administrator.
b. If the member is unable or unwilling to file an application, the member's employer or legal
representative may file the member's disability application.
c. The application must explain the cause of the disability, the limitations caused by the
disability, the treatment being followed, and the effect of the disability on the individual's
ability to be engaged in any gainful occupation for which the person is, or could become,
reasonably fitted by education, training, or experience.
2. Medical examination.

a. The applicant for disability retirement must provide the plan administrator with medical
examination reports.
b. An initial medical examination should be completed by the member's attending or family
physician on the medical examination form provided by the plan administrator. If deemed
necessary by the board's medical consultant, an additional examination must be
completed by a specialist in the disability involved. Available medical or hospital reports
may be accepted in lieu of a medical examination report if deemed acceptable by the
medical consultant.
c. The member is liable for any costs incurred by the member in undergoing medical
examinations and completing and submitting the necessary medical examination reports,
medical reports, and hospital reports.
3. Medical consultant.
a. The board will retain a medical doctor to act as its consultant on disability retirement
applications.
b. The medical consultant shall review all medical information provided by the applicant.
c. The medical consultant will be responsible to advise the plan administrator of the medical
diagnosis and whether the condition is a permanent and total disability.
4. Decision and appeal.
a. The plan administrator shall consider applications for disability benefits and shall make a
written decision whether an applicant is entitled to benefits. The decision must be mailed
to the applicant's address of record.
b. The applicant may appeal an adverse determination to the board by providing a written
notice of appeal within thirty days of the date that the plan administrator mailed the
decision.
c. The board shall consider all appeals at regularly scheduled board meetings. The
applicant must be notified of the time and date of the meeting and may attend and be
represented by legal counsel. The executive director shall provide to the board for its
consideration a case history brief that includes membership history, medical examination
summary, and the plan administrator's conclusions and recommendations. The board
shall make the determination for eligibility at the meeting unless additional evidence or
information is needed. The discussion concerning disability applications must be
confidential and closed to the general public.
d. If the applicant has terminated employment, the plan administrator shall notify the
applicant in writing of the decision. If the applicant is determined not to be eligible for
disability benefits, the plan administrator shall advise the applicant of the appeal
procedure. If the applicant is determined eligible for disability benefits, benefits must be
paid pursuant to subsection 5.
e. If the applicant has not terminated employment, the applicant must be provided with a
preliminary notification of the decision in writing. The preliminary notification remains in
effect for a period not to exceed two hundred seventy days. If an applicant does not
terminate employment within two hundred seventy days of the date of termination
provided on the disability application, the application must be considered to be vacated
but the applicant may reapply as provided in subsection 1.

f. If the initial board decision is adverse to the applicant, after exhausting the administrative
procedure under subdivisions b and c, the applicant may file a request for a formal
hearing to be conducted under North Dakota Century Code chapter 28-32. The request
for a formal hearing must be filed within thirty days after notice of the initial decision has
been mailed or delivered. If an appeal is not filed within the thirty-day period the initial
decision of the board is final. If a request for a formal hearing is timely filed, notice of the
hearing must be served at least thirty days prior to the date set for the hearing. The
board shall request appointment of an administrative law judge from the office of
administrative hearings to conduct the hearing and make recommended findings of fact,
conclusions of law, and order or adopt its own findings of fact, conclusions of law and
order. The applicant may under North Dakota Century Code section 28-32-15 appeal the
final decision resulting from this procedure to the district court.
5. Payment of annuity. If awarded, the disability annuity is payable on, or retroactive to, the first
day of the month following the member's termination from covered employment, minus any
early retirement benefits that have been paid.
6. Redetermination and recertification.
a. A disabled annuitant's eligibility must be recertified eighteen months after the date the
first check is issued and thereafter as specified by the medical consultant. The plan
administrator may waive the necessity for a recertification based on the recommendation
of the medical consultant.
b. The plan administrator will send a recertification form and request for a statement of
annual earnings by certified mail with return receipt to the disabled annuitant to be
completed and sent back to the office. If completed recertification has not been received
by the recertification date set in the recertification request, benefits will be suspended
effective the first of the month following that date. Benefits will be reinstated the first of
the month following recertification by the medical consultant. The regular accrued
disability benefits will commence with a lump sum equal to the amount of missed
payments, without interest, retroactive to the first of the month that benefits were
suspended, unless otherwise approved by the North Dakota public employees retirement
system board.
c. The medical consultant may require the disabled annuitant to be reexamined by a doctor.
The submission of medical reports by the annuitant, and the review of those reports by
the board's medical consultant, may satisfy the reexamination requirement. Upon
recertification, the disabled annuitant must be reimbursed up to four hundred dollars for
the cost of the required reexamination if deemed necessary by the medical consultant
and the plan administrator.
d. The medical consultant will make the recertification decision. The executive director may
require additional recertifications. The decision may be appealed to the board within
ninety days of receiving the written recertification decision.
e. Benefit payments must be suspended immediately upon notice received from the
medical consultant that the annuitant does not meet recertification requirements. The
plan administrator shall notify the annuitant of the suspension of benefits by certified mail
and shall reinstate benefits back to the date of suspension if the annuitant is
subsequently found to meet recertification requirements.
f. If it is determined that the disability annuitant was not eligible for benefits during any time
period when benefits were provided, the executive director may do all things necessary
to recover the erroneously paid benefits.

History: Effective November 1, 1990; amended effective June 1, 1992; June 1, 1996; May 1, 2004.
General Authority: NDCC 39-03.1-06, 39-03.1-11
Law Implemented: NDCC 39-03.1-11
### § 71-05-02-03. Aggrieved parties' rights.

Repealed effective June 1, 1996.
### § 71-05-02-04. Optional benefits.

An individual deemed eligible for a disability benefit may elect, as provided in this section, to
receive one of the following optional benefits in lieu of the regular disability benefit.
1. One hundred percent joint and survivor benefit. A member shall receive an actuarially
reduced disability retirement benefit as long as the member remains eligible for benefits under
subdivision d of subsection 3 of North Dakota Century Code section 39-03.1-11 and after the
member's death the same amount will be continued to the member's surviving spouse during
the spouse's lifetime. The designated beneficiary is limited to the member's spouse. Payments
of benefits to a member's surviving spouse must be made on the first day of each month
commencing on the first day of the month following the member's death, provided the
beneficiary supplies a marriage certificate and death certificate and is still living. Benefits must
terminate in the month in which the death of the beneficiary occurs. If the designated
beneficiary predeceases the member or, in the event of divorce, the member's benefit must be
returned to the normal retirement amount. Payment of the normal retirement amount must
commence on the first day of the month following the spouse's death if written notification of
death, provided a death certificate has been submitted or, in the event of divorce, a photocopy
of the divorce decree.
2. Twenty-year or ten-year certain option. A member may receive the actuarial equivalent of
the member's normal, early, or deferred vested retirement pension payable for life with a
twenty-year or ten-year certain feature, as designated by the member.
History: Effective July 1, 1998; amended effective May 1, 2004; July 1, 2006; April 1, 2008; April 1,
2012.
General Authority: NDCC 39-03.1-06, 39-03.1-11
Law Implemented: NDCC 39-03.1-11.4(d)
### § 71-05-02-05. Interest accrued on accumulated contributions for disabled annuitants.

Effective January 1, 1998, interest shall accrue on accumulated contributions as defined in article
71-01 until the disabled annuitant reaches normal retirement age, cancels the benefit in accordance
with section 71-05-02-06, the account is closed, or until benefit payments commence to the member's
beneficiary.
History: Effective July 1, 1998; amended effective July 1, 2010.
General Authority: NDCC 39-03.1-06, 39-03.1-11
Law Implemented: NDCC 39-03.1-11.4(d)
### § 71-05-02-06. Cancellation of disability benefit.

When a member receiving a disability benefit attains the member's normal retirement date, that
member may elect to terminate that member's disability benefit and draw retirement benefits as
specified in North Dakota Century Code section 39-03.1-11. Upon receipt of normal retirement benefits,
interest accrual on the member account must end and benefit option factors must be based upon the
actuarial retirement factors on the date of disability to normal conversion.

History: Effective May 1, 2004; amended effective July 1, 2006; January 1, 2025.
General Authority: NDCC 39-03.1-06, 39-03.1-11
Law Implemented: NDCC 39-03.1-11
