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A.  There is created an optional retirement plan for certain state employees who would otherwise be eligible to become members of the Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System.  Those eligible employees who select this optional benefit shall not be considered eligible for any benefits provided by the defined benefit plan and cannot maintain any service credit in the defined benefit plan once this option is elected.

B.(1)  Notwithstanding Subsection A of this Section, anyone who elected to participate in the optional retirement plan in lieu of the defined benefit plan before December 31, 2007, may regain membership in the defined benefit plan by complying with the provisions of this Subsection.

(2)(a)  Any optional retirement plan member electing to return to the defined benefit plan in accordance with the provisions of this Subsection shall transfer all credit in the optional retirement plan to the defined benefit plan and shall not have credit in both systems.

(b)  All monies contributed to the optional retirement plan by or on behalf of the member together with any earnings attributable thereto shall be transferred to the defined benefit plan and applied to the payments required by this Subsection.  Any deficiency in the amounts due shall be paid by the member, and no service shall be credited to the member until the system has received the total amount due.

(3)  If the member transferred any monies from the defined benefit plan into the optional retirement plan in accordance with La. Rev. Stat. 11:502.2, he may reestablish that credit in the defined benefit plan by complying with the provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 11:537(D), except that the repayment may be made at any time before retirement or entry into the Deferred Retirement Option Plan.

(4)  The member shall receive credit for service for the time he participated in the optional retirement plan by paying to the system an amount, calculated in accordance with the provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 11:158, sufficient to totally offset any increase in liability of the system caused by the member receiving such credit.

Acts 1999, No. 1320, §1, eff. July 12, 1999; Acts 2001, No. 454, §1, eff. July 1, 2001; Acts 2004, No. 923, §1, eff. July 1, 2004; Acts 2012, No. 718, §1, eff. Aug. 31, 2012.

NOTE:  See Acts 1999, No. 1320, §2(B), relative to termination of the optional retirement plan.  Also see Acts 2001, No. 454, §2 which amends these provisions.

NOTE:  Also see Acts, 2001, No. 454, §3 (an exception to Acts 1999, No. 1320, §2(B)) relative to enrollment of Executive Career Service members in the Optimal Retirement Plan.