A Brief History

The Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System was created
by Act 177 of 1957. The System originally provided only for the retirement of State employees but through the years has added county employees (Act 42 of 1959), municipal employees (Act 64
of 1961), college and university employees (Act 149 of 1963), non-teaching public school employees (Act 63 of 1965), and other non-state employees (various Acts). Effective July 1, 1989 (Act 653 of 1989) all newly hired public school employees are enrolled in the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System.

From 1957 through 1977, all APERS members participated in a contributory plan whereby employers and employees made contributions to the System. However, Act 793 of 1977 created a non-contributory retirement plan where only employers contribute. Anyone first enrolled in the System after January 1, 1978 is automatically placed in the non-contributory plan.