PURPOSE: This rule sets forth the method of qualification and limitations as provided in section 169.663, RSMo.

1. (1) A member claiming disability retirement must file a written application for retirement with the board of trustees on a form provided by the board. If a member, because of physical or mental disability, is unable to make application for disability retirement, the written application may be completed by a guardian or trustee designated by a court, and the completed application shall be accompanied by a certified copy of the court order designating the guardian or trustee. If a member indicates in his/her application for disability retirement (see 16 CSR 10-5.020) that s/he has applied for disability benefits provided by the Social Security Act, the Award Letter, or certified copy thereof, issued by the Social Security Administration, will serve as evidence that disability exists.
2. (2) If a member is not eligible for disability benefits, as provided by the Social Security Act, because of insufficient coverage, the board of trustees shall designate a medical adviser whose duty shall be to assign applicants for disability benefits to physicians for examinations and reports. The medical advisor shall report to the board on the findings of the examining physicians and the board of trustees shall act on these findings. The recipient of disability benefits may be required to submit to periodic examinations until age sixty (60) by physicians selected and paid by the board, provided there shall not be more than two (2) examinations in any year.
3. (3) The board of trustees shall pay the fees of the examiners and shall pay the medical adviser a fee for each application for which an evaluation is made.
4. (4) If disability shall cease to exist before the recipient of the disability benefits reaches age sixty (60), as evidenced by the cessation of benefits by the Social Security Administration or by examination by physicians selected and paid by the board of trustees, his/her disability benefits shall cease and his/her membership status as of the date of his/her disability retirement shall be restored. If the member is required to submit to a periodic examination and the member fails to submit to the examination or provide the board of trustees with a completed Certification of Disability Status form, the member’s disability benefit shall be suspended until such certification of the member’s continued disability is received by the board of trustees.
5. (5) The payment of the first disability benefits to a member shall be made not later than 16 CSR 10-6

the calendar month immediately following the month in which the claim is approved. The first payment after approval shall include any benefits which have accrued between the date of disability and the date of the first payment, provided, however, that payment shall not be made for such time as the member is receiving any salary from an employer, and provided that benefits shall not accrue for more than sixty (60) days prior to the date of filing application.

1. (6) Any person who is receiving a disability retirement allowance from the retirement system and who has attained age sixty (60) may be employed in any capacity for, and receive income of any amount from, any employer except a school district included in the retirement system. Notwithstanding any provision of section 169.660, RSMo, to the contrary, any such person may be employed in a district included in the retirement system on a parttime or temporary-substitute basis up to a total of five hundred fifty (550) hours in a school year without a discontinuance of the retirement allowance as set forth in section 169.660, RSMo, and 16 CSR 10-6.060(4).
2. (7) Any person who is receiving a disability retirement allowance from the retirement system and who has not attained age sixty (60) may not be employed in any capacity by a district included in the retirement system and continue to receive the retirement allowance. Any such person may not be employed in any capacity for any other employer, the compensation for which employment would constitute a livelihood, and continue to receive the retirement allowance. The executive director, and/or the board of trustees, shall determine what constitutes a livelihood in such instance.
3. (8) The surviving spouse, children of a deceased disability retiree, or both, shall have the same rights to benefits under section 169.670, RSMo, as does the surviving spouse, children, or both, of a member who dies while employed in a district included in the retirement system.

AUTHORITY: section 169.610, RSMo Supp. 2009.* Original rule filed Dec. 19, 1975, effective Jan. 1, 1976. Amended: Filed June 15, 1994, effective Nov. 30, 1994. Amended: Filed Oct. 15, 1997, effective April 30, 1998. Amended: Filed Jan. 4, 2010, effective July 1, 2010.

*Original authority: 169.610, RSMo 1965, amended 1977, 2005.