Riverside Sheriffs'assn. v. Bd. of Admin., Cal. Pub. Empl's'ret. Syst.

The Riverside Sheriffs’ Association (RSA), as representative of current and retired Riverside County deputy coroners, appeals from a judgment denying its petition for administrative mandate. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5.) The petition sought to overturn a decision of the Board of Administration of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (the Board) refusing to change the status of the deputy coroners from “miscellaneous” to “local safety members,” a classification that would have substantially enhanced their retirement benefits.

The central issue in this case is whether the principal duties and functions of the deputy coroners “clearly” fall within the scope of “active law enforcement” as that term is used in Government Code section 20436, subdivision (a) (hereafter section 20436(a)). Both the administrative law judge (ALJ) and the trial court found they did not. We agree and shall affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

This case comes to us on a set of undisputed facts. The ALJ received extensive evidence, upon which he rendered a comprehensive set of factual findings. Both parties and the trial court accepted these findings as true and acknowledge that the…