(a) From and after March 28, 1976, members and employees of boards, commissions, committees, councils, and the like, by whatever name known, whose duties are performed intermittently or periodically for the purpose of fixing rates, issuance of permits or licenses, regulating trades or professions, or serve in an advisory, study, or planning capacity, and the like, shall not be eligible for membership in the Tennessee consolidated retirement system based on such service, where such service does not provide the person's primary livelihood or such position qualify under the Constitution of Tennessee as a lucrative office; provided, that:

(1) In instances where persons who fall into the above classifications have heretofore been granted membership in the Tennessee consolidated retirement system, such persons who, together with their employer, shall make petition, may withdraw from membership and shall be entitled to a refund of any contributions heretofor made; and

(2) If the assets are insufficient to provide a full refund of the member's accumulated contributions, or the reserve credited from employee contributions are insufficient to provide the retirement allowance for retired members, the employer shall be assessed in a lump sum the amount necessary to refund the employee's accumulated contributions, and assessed a periodic amount to provide the retirement allowances to retired members each as determined by the board of trustees.

(b) In all cases of doubt as to whether the employee falls in the above classification, the board of trustees shall determine from objective test whether a person is within the specified category by considering, among other things, the amount of compensation earned as compared to compensation from other employment or sources, the nature of service performed, and the time required in performing such services.

(c)

(1) Members or former members of the state election commission with a minimum of five (5) years of service on such commission shall be eligible for membership in the Tennessee consolidated retirement system; except that the retirement benefits of such members shall be based on the Group 1 benefit formula as defined by § 8-36-206(1)(A) and not on the minimum retirement allowance provided for in § 8-36-209. This service shall be independent of all other creditable service for the purpose of calculation of the average final compensation. It is further provided that such benefits are subject to the limitations of § 8-36-102.

(2) Notwithstanding this subsection (c) to the contrary, any member of the state election commission with a minimum of five (5) years of service on such commission and who is also a member of the Tennessee consolidated retirement system as a teacher in a public school system shall be eligible to have the compensation for service on the election commission included in the computation of average final compensation, if applicable; provided, that such creditable service as a member of the election commission is concurrent with a portion of the creditable service as a teacher.

(3) Any current member or former member of the election commission may claim prior service with such commission pursuant to this subsection (c) as prior service for retirement credit upon proper documentation; provided, that the member makes a lump sum payment equal to the sum such person would have paid had such person been a member of the system during the period claimed, together with interest as provided by § 8-37-214.