19-20-414. Payment methods for purchase of service credit. (1) An active or vested member who is eligible to purchase service under this chapter may at any time before retirement apply to purchase the service credit by making payment as provided in this section.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), service credit may be purchased by one or a combination of the following methods:

(a) a lump-sum payment;

(b) installment payments;

(c) direct rollover of eligible distributions from a retirement plan in section 402(c)(8)(B)(iii) or 402(c)(8)(B)(iv) of the Internal Revenue Code;

(d) rollover of a distribution from an individual retirement account or annuity described in section 408(a) or 408(b) of the Internal Revenue Code that is eligible to be rolled over and would otherwise be included in gross income;

(e) a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer from a governmental 457(b) deferred compensation plan or a 403(b) tax-sheltered annuity for permissive service credit, as defined in section 415(n) of the Internal Revenue Code.

(3) (a) The total amount transferred or rolled over to the retirement system pursuant to subsection (2) may not exceed the amount due to purchase the service.

(b) If, in the case of a transfer, the transferred account includes both tax-deferred and taxed amounts, the transferring agency shall identify the member's tax-deferred and taxed amounts at the time the transfer is made.

(4) To the extent permitted by section 401(a)(31) of the Internal Revenue Code and as limited by this section, the board shall accept a direct rollover of eligible distributions from another eligible retirement plan.

(5) If the member dies before having completed the payment required to purchase the service that the member had applied to purchase, the member's surviving spouse may, subject to the rules and regulations of the Internal Revenue Code, apply to complete the member's service purchase as provided in this section. The surviving spouse must apply to complete the payments and pay the balance due to the system prior to the distribution of benefits.