§ 24-8-308 - Eligibility for benefits -- Twenty years of service.

24-8-308. Eligibility for benefits -- Twenty years of service.

(a) (1) Any judge of a municipal court to which this subchapter applies who shall have served at least twenty (20) years in office as municipal judge, irrespective of age, shall be eligible to receive retirement benefits provided by this subchapter.

(2) If incapacitating illness or disability should occur during the final term of qualifications under these provisions, then the judge so elected shall be eligible at one-half (1/2) pay as provided in subsection (b) of this section.

(3) On the death of a municipal judge leaving a surviving widow who had been married to and living with the judge for at least ten (10) years, the surviving widow shall be eligible to apply for and shall receive until her death or remarriage, benefits as authorized in this subdivision (a)(3) in an amount equal to one-half (1/2) the retirement benefits to which the deceased judge would have been entitled on the date of his death.

(b) If the judge resigns, retires from office, or is succeeded in office by another judge, then he shall receive retirement benefits for and during the remainder of his natural life in an amount equal to one-half (1/2) of the salary payable to him at the time of his resignation, retirement, or succession in office.