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OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION
2019-1
The Honorable J. Ryan Perkins January 7, 2018
Oklahoma Police Pension & Retirement System
1001 NW 63rd Street, Suite 305
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73116
Dear Chairman Perkins:
This office has received your letter requesting an official Attorney General Opinion in which you
ask, in effect, the following questions:
1. Under 11 O.S.2011, § 50-124, may the surviving spouse or child of a deceased
alternate payee, who is entitled to a portion of a related member's retirement
benefits pursuant to a valid qualified domestic order, receive payments as the
beneficiary of the deceased alternate payee?
2. Does the definition of beneficiary under 11 O.S.2011, § 50-101(13) include a
surviving spouse or child of a deceased alternate payee?
I.
BACKGROUND
As its name suggests, the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System (OPPRS) is the
state retirement system of Oklahoma police officers.' Steelman v. Okla. Police Pens. and Ret.
Sys., 2005 OK CIV APP 91, 11, 128 P.3d 1090, 1094; see also 11 O.S.2011, § 50-112 (setting
forth eligibility criteria for participation in OPPRS). Created by statute, OPPRS is a body
corporate and an instrumentality of this state, the assets of which are held in trust for the
exclusive purpose of providing benefits for the members and beneficiaries of the System. 11
O.S.2011, § 50-102.1. Further to this purpose, the permissible uses of OPPRS funds are limited by
I OPPRS is generally described as a defined benefit plan [that] qualifies under Section 40 1(a) of the Internal
Revenue Code. See OKLAHOMA POLICE PENSION AND RETIREMENT SYSTEM, MISSION STATEMENT (available at
https://www.ok.gov/opprsi, last visited Nov. 19, 2018). A defined benefit plan provides an employee who retires
from the plan a fixed periodic payment based upon a formula. In other words, it provides a pension. Stevens v. Fox,
2016 OK 106, 2, 383 P.3d 269, 270 (citation omitted). The plan assets are kept in a pool of assets rather than
individual dedicated accounts for employees. The employer bears the entire investment risk and underfunding may
result in a myriad of ways including a shortfall in the plan's investments, insufficient contributions or inaccurate
actuarial assumptions. Id.
313 N.E. 21s-; STREET - OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73105 - (405) 521-3921 - FAX: (405) 521-6246
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