38-715. Director; powers and duties

A. The board shall appoint a director. The director shall serve at the pleasure of the board.

B. The director shall appoint a deputy director and assistant directors with the approval of the board.

C. The director, under the supervision of the board, shall:

1. Administer this article.

2. Be responsible for the recruitment, hiring and day-to-day management of employees.

3. Prescribe procedures to be followed by members and their beneficiaries in filing applications for benefits.

4. Prescribe procedures to be followed by employers for remitting data and monies to ASRS and for receiving data and monies from ASRS.

5. Be responsible for:

(a) Income and the collection of income and the accuracy of all expenditures.

(b) Maintaining books and maintaining and processing records of ASRS.

(c) Providing continuing education programs for the board to keep the board members informed of current issues and information needed to carry out their duties.

6. Perform additional powers and duties as may be prescribed by the board and delegated to the director.

D. The director, under the supervision and approval of the board, may:

1. Delegate duties and responsibilities to such state departments as the director deems feasible and desirable to administer this article.

2. Appoint a custodian for the safekeeping of all investments owned by ASRS and register stocks, bonds and other investments in the name of a nominee.

3. Establish one or more reserve holding accounts, into which the board shall close periodically the account balances of inactive accounts.  If any person files a claim and furnishes proof of ownership of any amounts in any inactive account, the claim shall be paid from the reserve holding account on the same basis as if no action had been taken under this paragraph.  Interest and supplemental credits shall be allocated to each reserve holding account on June 30 of each year, as determined by the board. For the purposes of this paragraph, "inactive account" means an account to which contributions have not been paid for six months or more.

4. Make retirement under this article effective retroactively to on or after the day following the date employment is terminated if the member was unable to apply before the retroactive effective date through no fault of the member.

E. For current or prospective employees of ASRS, the director, under the supervision of the board, may:

1. Conduct criminal records checks. The director may require a current or prospective employee to submit a full set of fingerprints to the department of public safety for the purpose of obtaining a state and federal criminal records check pursuant to section 41-1750 and Public Law 92-544.  The department of public safety may exchange this fingerprint data with the federal bureau of investigation.

2. Conduct credit checks for accounting, investment and other finance-related positions. The director shall establish a policy for conducting credit checks on a current employee that includes the method for determining when a credit check may be conducted, retaining records relating to the reason for the credit check and notifying an employee of the credit check and the result of the credit check.

F. The director and all persons employed by the director are subject to section 38-611 and title 41, chapter 4, article 4.

G. In consultation with the director of the department of administration, the board may enter into employment agreements and establish the terms of those agreements with persons holding any of the following ASRS positions:

1. Director.

2. Deputy director.

3. Chief investment officer.

4. Fiduciary or investment counsel.