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A.  Immediately after the establishment of the system the board of trustees shall request all information regarding service for which credit is claimed by members.  Upon verification of the statements of service the board shall issue a prior service certificate certifying to each member the length of prior service for which credit shall have been allowed on the basis of these certified statements of service.  So long as membership continues a prior service certificate shall be final and conclusive for retirement purposes as to such service, provided that any member may within one year from the date of issuance or modification of such certificate, request the board of trustees to modify or correct his prior service certificate.

B.  When membership ceases, such prior service certificate shall become null and void.  Should the employee again become a member of the system, he shall enter the system as an employee not entitled to prior service credit, unless he is granted a disability allowance and returns to employment upon recovery.  In such case he shall be given credit for all previous service including the time he draws disability benefits.

C.  Creditable service at retirement on which the retirement allowance of a member shall be based shall consist of the membership service rendered by him since he last became a member, and, also, if he has a prior service certificate which is in full force and effect, the amount of service certified on his prior service certificate.

D.  Repealed by Acts 1982, No. 769, §3.

E.(1)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any person who is a member of this system as police chief of Morgan City on August 1, 1974, and who rendered service as a police instructor on the staff of Louisiana State University during the period of July 1, 1956 through January 31, 1962, shall be eligible to obtain credit in this system for all service rendered as a police instructor on the staff of Louisiana State University during the period of July 1, 1956 through January 31, 1962.  In order to obtain such credit, the member shall, prior to the date of the member’s application for retirement, make application to the board of trustees for such credit and shall furnish a detailed statement of all service for which credit is claimed in such form as the board may require.  In addition, each such person shall pay into the system members employee contributions which would have been paid to the Municipal Police Employees Retirement System during the period for which credit is claimed, had such system been applicable to such person’s employment for which credit is claimed, plus regular interest.  Such contributions may be paid in one lump sum or in such installments as shall be agreed upon between the member and the board of trustees.

(2)  The board of trustees shall fix and determine by appropriate rules and regulations the amount of service in any year which shall be equivalent to one year of service, but in no case shall more than one year of service be credited for all service rendered in any one fiscal year.  Subject to these restrictions and any other pertinent rules or regulations adopted by it, the board shall verify the statement of service therein claimed as soon as practicable after the statement of service is filed.

F.(1)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any person who is a member of this system as a radio operator on the staff of the Department of Public Safety, Division of State Police, during the period from August 16, 1954, through June 15, 1964, and who rendered service as a radio operator on the staff of the Department of Public Safety, Division of State Police, during the period from August 16, 1954, through June 15, 1964, shall be eligible to obtain credit in this system for all service rendered as a radio operator on the staff of the Department of Public Safety, Division of State Police, during the period from August 16, 1954, through June 15, 1964.  In order to obtain such credit, the member shall, prior to the date of the member’s application for retirement, make application to the board of trustees for such credit and shall furnish a detailed statement of all service for which credit is claimed in such form as the board may require.  In addition, each such person shall pay into the system seven percent of the salary he earned during the period claimed which would have been paid to the Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System during the period for which credit is claimed, had such system been applicable to such person’s employment for which credit is claimed.  Such contributions may be paid in one lump sum or in such installments as shall be agreed upon between the member and the board of trustees.

(2)  The board of trustees shall fix and determine by appropriate rules and regulations the amount of service in any year which shall be equivalent to one year of service, but in no case shall more than one year of service be credited for all service rendered in any one fiscal year.  Subject to these restrictions and any other pertinent rules or regulations adopted by it, the board shall verify the statement of service therein claimed as soon as practical after the statement of service is filed.

G.  Any member who has terminated membership in the system and withdrawn his contributions and who later becomes a member of this system shall, after eighteen months of additional service and membership, be eligible to obtain credit for his previous service in the system, provided that he pays back into the system the amount of contributions which was refunded to him plus compound interest from date of refund until date paid.  The compound interest rate to be used in computing the amount the member must pay back into the system shall be the board-approved actuarial valuation rate in effect at the time of the repayment, but shall not be less than five percent compounded annually.

H.(1)  Any active contributing member shall be entitled to receive credit for service as an employee, as the term “employee” is defined in La. Rev. Stat. 11:2213 for which the member has not received credit.  Such service may be purchased by the member by paying the employee and employer contributions, at the current rate, based on the member’s salary at the time the service was performed, plus six percent compound interest per year from date of service until paid.  No credit shall be given until and unless both the employee and employer portions, plus interest are paid in full.

(2)  Any active contributing member shall be entitled to receive credit for service as a law enforcement officer or as a police cadet, provided that at the time that he served as a police cadet he was between the ages of seventeen and nineteen years inclusively, and successfully met all of the requirements for the position of police officer, other than age, and upon reaching the minimum age requirement for police officer, and after continuous employment will be automatically promoted to the rank of police officer with no additional testing being required for said promotion, for which the member has not received credit in any system.  Such service may be purchased by the member by paying an amount which, on an actuarial basis, totally offsets the increase in accrued liability of the system resulting from the receipt of the credit by the member.  The amount payable shall be calculated by use of the actuarial funding method, assumptions, and tables in use by the system at the time of the member’s application for credit.

I.  Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Section or of any other law to the contrary, for the purpose of determining eligibility for retirement benefits for those members who transferred into the Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System, any such member may, with the approval and consent of his employing municipality, be entitled to have all his accumulated service credit, benefits, and funds transferred to the Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System on or before June 30, 1983, and such transferred service credit shall be combined in determining eligibility for retirement.  The system from which such member transferred shall transfer to the Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System an amount of funds for each transferred member equal to the amount of employee and employer contributions which would have been paid into the Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System had all of the member’s service originally been credited under the provisions of the Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System plus interest at the rate of six percent per annum compounded annually from each year of such transferred service until paid.

J.(1)(a)  The provisions of this Subsection are limited in scope and shall only apply to members of this system whose employing municipality irrevocably elects such coverage.  The board of trustees shall cause to be promulgated all regulations necessary to govern the procedures for municipalities to irrevocably elect coverage under the provisions of this Subsection.

(b)  All unused earned annual and sick leave which has been accrued and accumulated by an employee, except as hereinafter provided, and for which payment cannot be made in accordance with law at the time of retirement, shall be credited at the time of retirement to the member on the following basis:

Days

Percentage

of a Year

1- 26

10

27- 52

20

53- 78

30

79-104

40

105-130

50

131-156

60

157-182

70

183-208

80

209-234

90

235-260

100

(2)  There shall be no limit on the amount of unused earned sick and annual leave that a member may convert to retirement credit on the basis of the above formula.  No member, survivor, or beneficiary shall use any unused earned sick and annual leave to attain eligibility for any benefits provided by this Chapter.

(3)  At the time the member retires, the employer shall submit to the board a report of unused earned sick and annual leave, computed in days only, plus unreported earnings and contributions.

(4)  When extending credit for unused earned leave, fractional days of one-half or more shall be granted as one day and less than one-half day shall be disregarded.  Any member who terminates his employment for any period of time but who later becomes reemployed as an active contributing member in this system shall contribute to the system for not less than eighteen months subsequent to his reemployment date before using converted unused earned sick and annual leave for purposes of benefit computation.  Additional membership service obtained by conversion of unused earned sick and annual leave shall not be used in computation of average final compensation.

(5)  The annual actuarial cost of providing the conversion authorized by this Subsection shall be borne solely by the municipality that employed the member and funds from the insurance Premium Tax Fund shall not be used to pay such cost in whole or in part.

Added by Acts 1973, No. 189, §1.  Amended by Acts 1974, No. 111, §1; Acts 1974, No. 389, §1; Acts 1975, No. 377, §1; Acts 1975, No. 690, §1; Acts 1976, No. 603, §3; Acts 1977, No. 601, §1; Acts 1981, No. 670, §2; Acts 1982, No. 175, §1; Acts 1982, No. 176, §1; Acts 1986, No. 265, §1; Acts 1986, No. 413, §1; Redesignated from La. Rev. Stat. 33:2374 by Acts 1991, No. 74, §3, eff. June 25, 1991; Acts 1992, No. 215, §1, eff. July 1, 1992; Acts 1999, No. 189, §1; Acts 1999, No. 1140, §1, eff. July 9, 1999; Acts 2013, No. 220, §3, eff. June 11, 2013.