(40 ILCS 5/8-244) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 8-244)

Sec. 8-244. Annuities, etc., exempt.

(a) All annuities, refunds, pensions, and disability benefits granted under this Article, shall be exempt from attachment or garnishment process and shall not be seized, taken, subjected to, detained, or levied upon by virtue of any judgment, or any process or proceeding whatsoever issued out of or by any court in this State, for the payment and satisfaction in whole or in part of any debt, damage, claim, demand, or judgment against any annuitant, pensioner, participant, refund applicant, or other beneficiary hereunder.

(b) No annuitant, pensioner, refund applicant, or other beneficiary shall have any right to transfer or assign his annuity, refund, or disability benefit or any part thereof by way of mortgage or otherwise, except that:

(1) an annuitant or pensioner who elects or has elected to participate in a hospital care plan or medical surgical plan may with the approval of the board and in conformity with its regulations authorize the board to withhold from the pension or annuity the current premium for such coverage and pay such premium to the organization underwriting such plan;

(2) in the case of refunds, a participant may pledge by assignment, power of attorney, or otherwise, as security for a loan from a legally operating credit union making loans only to participants in certain public employee pension funds described in the Illinois Pension Code, all or part of any refund which may become payable to him in the event of his separation from service; and

(3) the board, in its discretion, may pay to the wife of any annuitant, pensioner, refund applicant, or disability beneficiary, such an amount out of her husband's annuity pension, refund, or disability benefit as any court of competent jurisdiction may order, or such an amount as the board may consider necessary for the support of his wife or children, or both in the event of his disappearance or unexplained absence or of his failure to support such wife or children.

(c) The board may retain out of any future annuity, pension, refund or disability benefit payments, such amount, or amounts, as it may require for the repayment of any moneys paid to any annuitant, pensioner, refund applicant, or disability beneficiary through misrepresentation, fraud or error. Any such action of the board shall relieve and release the board and the fund from any liability for any moneys so withheld.

(d) Whenever an annuity or disability benefit is payable to a minor or to a person certified by a medical doctor to be under legal disability, the board, in its discretion and when it is in the best interest of the person concerned, may waive guardianship proceedings and pay the annuity or benefit to the person providing or caring for the minor or person under legal disability.

In the event that a person certified by a medical doctor to be under legal disability (i) has no spouse, blood relative, or other person providing or caring for him or her, (ii) has no guardian of his or her estate, and (iii) is confined to a Medicare approved, State certified nursing home or to a publicly owned and operated nursing home, hospital, or mental institution, the Board may pay any benefit due that person to the nursing home, hospital, or mental institution, to be used for the sole benefit of the person under legal disability.

Payment in accordance with this subsection to a person, nursing home, hospital, or mental institution for the benefit of a minor or person under legal disability shall be an absolute discharge of the Fund's liability with respect to the amount so paid. Any person, nursing home, hospital, or mental institution accepting payment under this subsection shall notify the Fund of the death or any other relevant change in the status of the minor or person under legal disability.

(Source: P.A. 100-23, eff. 7-6-17.)