19-13-403. Election to qualify previous military service. (1) A member with 15 years or more service credit may, at any time prior to retirement, make a written election with the board to qualify all or any portion of the member's active duty service in the armed forces of the United States for the purpose of calculating retirement benefits, up to a maximum of 5 years, if the member is not otherwise eligible to receive credit for this service under 19-2-705. To qualify this service the member shall contribute to the pension trust fund the actuarial cost of granting the service to be determined by the board based on the most recent actuarial valuation of the system. A member may not qualify more of the member's military service than the member has service credit in excess of 15 years. Military service purchased under this section may not be used in determining the member's eligibility for a service retirement.
     (2) If a member has retired from active duty in the armed forces of the United States with military retirement benefits, the member may not qualify military service under subsection (1). However, a member who is serving or has served in the military reserves with the expectation of receiving a military service pension may qualify the member's active duty military service under subsection (1) if the active duty in the armed forces of the United States is not more than 25% of the total of all the member's years of military service, including reserve and active duty time.

     History: En. Sec. 21, Ch. 566, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 220, Ch. 265, L. 1993.