Warner

This appeal turns on a matter of first impression, a question of statutory interpretation regarding the Judges’ Retirement System II Law (JRS II) (Gov. Code, § 75500 et seq.), which establishes the system providing retirement benefits to California judges first elected or appointed to judicial office on or after November 9, 1994. Plaintiff and appellant Christopher J. Warner (Judge Warner) contends that under JRS II he is entitled to receive both a disability retirement allowance and payment of the monetary credits he accrued during his service. Defendant and respondent California’s Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), the agency that administers JRS II, ruled JRS II entitles Judge Warner only to the disability retirement allowance. The trial court denied Judge Warner’s petition for writ of mandate, which sought to reverse the agency’s ruling. We affirm.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Judge Warner served as a municipal and then superior court judge from July 1996 until his retirement in October 2010. In November 2010, he applied for a disability retirement benefit under JRS II. CalPERS granted his application, and he was awarded a monthly retirement…