Sec. 11. INVESTMENTS OF THE RETIREMENT BOARD.    (a)  The retirement board shall be the trustee of the funds of the retirement system and shall have full power in its sole discretion to invest and reinvest, alter, and change the form of investment of the funds.  The retirement board shall invest the funds in whatever instrument or investments the retirement board considers prudent.  In making investments for the funds, the retirement board shall discharge its duties:
(1) for the exclusive purposes of:
(A) providing benefits to members and their beneficiaries;  and
(B) defraying reasonable expenses of administering the funds;
(2) with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in a like capacity and familiar with such matters would use in the conduct of an enterprise of a like character and with like aims;
(3) by diversifying the investments of the funds to minimize the risk of large losses, unless under the circumstances it is clearly prudent not to do so;  and
(4) in accordance with the laws, documents, and instruments governing the funds.
(b) A member of the retirement board is not liable for any losses incurred in the investment of the fund in accordance with this section.
(c) No member of the retirement board and no employee of the retirement board, except as herein provided, shall have any interest, directly or indirectly, in the funds or receive any pay or emolument for his or her services.  No member of the retirement board or employee thereof shall, directly or indirectly, for himself or herself or as an agent, in any manner use the funds or deposits of the retirement system except to make such current and necessary payments as are authorized by the retirement board, nor shall any member or employee of the retirement board become an endorser or surety or in any manner an obligor for money loaned by or borrowed from the retirement system.
(d) Subject to the exceptions provided by this subsection, the funds or money mentioned in this Act are not assignable and are not subject to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, the operation of bankruptcy or insolvency law, or any other process of law whatsoever.  This subsection does not apply to a qualified domestic relations order.  The retirement board shall establish written procedures to determine the qualified status of domestic relations orders and to administer distributions under those orders.  To the extent necessary to authorize distributions pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order, a former spouse of a member will be treated as the spouse or surviving spouse of the member.
(e) Subject to the exceptions provided by this subsection, the right of a member to a pension, an annuity, a disability retirement allowance, or a retirement allowance, to the return of accumulated deposits, the pension, annuity, or retirement allowance itself, any optional benefit or death benefits, or any other right accrued or accruing to any person under the provisions of this Act is unassignable and is not subject to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, the operation of bankruptcy or insolvency law, or any other process of law whatsoever.  This subsection does not apply to a qualified domestic relations order.
(f) If the retirement board makes an election to have Subchapters A and C of Chapter 804, Government Code, and their subsequent amendments, apply to the system, the death of an alternate payee, as defined by Section 804.001, Government Code, and its subsequent amendments, or the death of a member's spouse terminates any interest of the alternate payee or spouse that would otherwise exist under this Act, except an interest accrued by that person as a member.
Sec. 12. MISCELLANEOUS.    (a)  A person who with intent to deceive makes any statement or report required under this Act which is untrue or falsifies or knowingly permits to be falsified any record or records of the retirement system shall forfeit any office or rights held by the person under the system, and such deception, falsification, or acquiescence in falsification is deemed a Class B misdemeanor.
(b) If any change or error in the records of the retirement system is discovered or results in any member, surviving spouse, or beneficiary receiving from the retirement system more or less than the member, surviving spouse, or beneficiary would have been entitled to receive had the records been correct, the retirement board shall have the power to correct such error.  Except as provided by Section 802.1024, Government Code, the retirement system shall, as far as possible, adjust the payments in such a manner that the actuarial equivalent of the benefits to which the member, surviving spouse, or beneficiary was correctly entitled shall be paid.
(c) On the full or partial termination of the retirement and pensioning system, or on the complete discontinuance of contributions by all employers under this Act, the retirement allowance of each affected member who is employed by an employer on the date of termination is determined by reference to the member's average final compensation and creditable service determined as of the date of termination or partial termination of the system or the date of discontinuance of deposits as if the member had attained normal retirement age on that date, and such amount shall become nonforfeitable to the extent then funded.  This subsection does not accelerate the date on which the payment of that benefit would otherwise begin.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision in this Act to the contrary, the municipality or its governing body may not deny or abridge a vested right of any member or a right or privilege of the retirement system, and the retirement system shall continue to be authorized by and administer this Act without regard to any action taken by the municipality or its governing body.
(d-1)  Members of the retirement system that are enrolled in Group A shall have the rights and be entitled to the benefits provided under this Act for members of Group A.  Members of the retirement system that are enrolled in Group B shall have the rights and be entitled to the benefits provided under this Act for members of Group B.  A member may not be a member of both Group A and Group B.
(e)  Notwithstanding any provision of this Act to the contrary that would otherwise limit a distributee's election, a distributee may elect, at the time and in the manner prescribed by the retirement board, to have any portion of an eligible rollover distribution paid directly to an eligible retirement plan specified by the distributee in a direct rollover.  For purposes of this subsection:
(1)  An eligible rollover distribution is any distribution of all or any portion of the balance to the credit of the distributee, except that an eligible rollover distribution does not include:
(A)  any distribution that is one of a series of substantially equal periodic payments (not less frequently than annually) made over the life (or life expectancy) of the distributee or the joint lives (or joint life expectancies) of the distributee and the distributee's designated beneficiary;
(B)  any series of payments for a specified period of ten years or more;
(C)  any distribution to the extent such distribution is required under Section 401(a)(9) of the code; or
(D)  the portion of any distribution that is not includable in gross income unless the distributee directs that the eligible rollover distribution be transferred directly to a qualified trust that is part of a defined contribution plan that agrees to separately account for the portion that is includable in gross income and the portion that is not, or to an individual retirement account or individual annuity.
(2)  An "eligible retirement plan" is an individual retirement account described in Section 408(a) of the code, an individual retirement annuity described in Section 408(b) of the code, an annuity plan described in Section 403(a) of the code, a qualified trust described in Section 401(a) of the code, an eligible deferred compensation plan described in Section 457(b) of the code which is maintained by an eligible employer described in Section 457(e)(1)(A) of the code, or an annuity contract described in Section 403(b) of the code, that accepts the distributee's eligible rollover distribution.  However, in the case of an eligible rollover distribution to a designated beneficiary who is not the surviving spouse, or the spouse or former spouse under a qualified domestic relations order, an eligible retirement plan is an individual retirement account or individual retirement annuity only.
(3)  A "distributee" includes an employee or former employee.  In addition, the employee's or former employee's surviving spouse or designated beneficiary and the employee's or former employee's spouse or former spouse who is the alternate payee under a qualified domestic relations order, as defined in Section 414(p) of the code, are distributees with regard to the interest of the spouse or the former spouse.
(4)  A "direct rollover" is a payment by the retirement system to the eligible retirement plan specified by the distributee.
(f) Repealed by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 64, Sec. 5.
Sec. 13. CONFIDENTIALITY.    (a)  Information contained in records that are in the custody of the retirement board or the system concerning an individual member, retiree, annuitant, beneficiary, or alternate payee is confidential under this section and may not be disclosed in a form identifiable with a specific individual unless:
(1) the information is disclosed to:
(A) the individual or the individual's attorney, guardian, executor, administrator, conservator, or other person who the pension director determines is acting in the interest of the individual or the individual's estate;
(B) a spouse or former spouse of the individual if the pension director determines that the information is relevant to the spouse's or former spouse's interest in member accounts, benefits, or other amounts payable by the retirement system;
(C) a governmental official or employee if the pension director determines that disclosure of the information requested is reasonably necessary to the performance of the duties of the official or employee;
(D) the individual's employer as defined in this Act;  or
(E) a person authorized by the individual in writing to receive the information;  or
(2) the information is disclosed pursuant to a subpoena and the pension director determines that the individual will have a reasonable opportunity to contest the subpoena.
(b) This section does not prevent the disclosure of the status or identity of an individual as a member, former member, retiree, deceased member or retiree, beneficiary, or alternate payee of the retirement system.
(c) The pension director may designate other employees of the retirement system to make the necessary determinations under Subsection (a) of this section.
(d) A determination and disclosure under Subsection (a) of this section may be made without notice to the individual member, retiree, annuitant, beneficiary, or alternate payee.