Effective 28 Aug 2015

86.1500. Military service, effect on creditable service — election to purchase creditable service, when — service credit for military service, when. — 1. Whenever a member is given a leave of absence for military service and returns to employment after discharge from the service, such member shall be entitled to creditable service for the years of employment prior to the leave of absence.

2. Except as provided in subsection 3 of this section, a member who served on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States and who became a member, or returned to membership, after discharge under honorable conditions, may elect prior to retirement to purchase creditable service equivalent to such service in the Armed Forces, not to exceed two years, provided the member is not receiving and is not eligible to receive retirement credits or benefits from any other public or private retirement plan for the service to be purchased, other than a United States military service retirement system or United States Social Security benefits attributable to such military service, and an affidavit so stating is filed by the member with the retirement system. A member electing to make such purchase shall pay to the retirement system an amount equal to the actuarial cost of the additional benefits attributable to the additional service credit to be purchased, as of the date the member elects to make such purchase. Payment in full of the amount due from a member electing to purchase creditable service under this subsection shall be made over a period not to exceed five years, measured from the date of election, or prior to the commencement date for payment of benefits to the member from the retirement system, whichever is earlier, including interest on unpaid balances compounded annually at the interest rate assumed from time to time for actuarial valuations of the retirement system. If payment in full including interest is not made within the prescribed period, any partial payments made by the member shall be refunded, and no creditable service attributable to such election, or as a result of any such partial payments, shall be allowed; provided that if a benefit commencement date occurs because of the death or disability of a member who has made an election under this subsection and if the member is current in payments under an approved installment plan at the time of the death or disability, such election shall be valid if the member, the surviving spouse or other person entitled to benefit payments pays the entire balance of the remaining amount due, including interest to the date of such payment, within sixty days after the member's death or disability. The time of a disability shall be deemed to be the time when such member is determined by the retirement board to be totally and permanently disabled as provided in section 86.1560.

3. Notwithstanding any other provision of sections 86.1310 to 86.1640, on or after August 28, 2015, a member who returns to service from a leave of absence for active duty military service and who becomes entitled to reemployment rights and other employment benefits under Title 38, Chapter 43 of the U.S. Code, relating to employment and reemployment rights of members of the uniformed services by meeting the requirements for such rights and benefits under Section 4312 of said chapter, or the corresponding provisions of any subsequent applicable federal statute, shall be entitled to service credit for the time spent in such military service for all purposes of sections 86.1310 to 86.1640 only to the extent such member pays any required member contributions for such time. The amount of required member contributions shall be calculated on the base compensation the member would have received during such leave period. The total amount of service credit that will be granted at the member contribution rate is limited to a maximum of five years. The retirement board may waive the required contributions for military leave of absence, not to exceed three years of creditable service, if the member provides duty orders under Title 10 or Title 32 U.S.C. and discharge from active duty documentation in the form of a DD214 or NGB23.

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(L. 2005 H.B. 323, A.L. 2006 H.B. 1138 merged with S.B. 830, A.L. 2011 H.B. 183 merged with H.B. 282, A.L. 2013 H.B. 116 merged with H.B. 418, A.L. 2015 H.B. 515)