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A.(1)  Any person who became a member prior to July 1, 1999, may retire upon written application to the board of trustees, if at the time of application the member:

(a)  Has attained the age of sixty years; and

(b)  Has credit for five years of accredited service or has twenty years or more of creditable teaching service regardless of age.

(2)(a)  Any person who became a member on or after July 1, 1999, may retire upon written request to the board of trustees, if the member:

(i)  Has attained the age of sixty years and has credit for five years of accredited service; or

(ii)  Has attained the age of fifty-five years and has credit for twenty-five or more years of accredited service; or

(iii)  At any age with thirty or more years of accredited service.

(b)  The accredited service referenced in Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph shall not include unused accumulated sick leave and unused accumulated annual leave.

(3)  Any person whose first employment making him eligible for membership in one of the state systems occurred on or after January 1, 2011, and on or before June 30, 2015, may retire upon written application to the board of trustees, if at the time of application the member:

(a)  Has attained the age of sixty years and has credit for five years of accredited service.

(b)  Has twenty years of service credit at any age, exclusive of unused annual and sick leave and military service other than qualified military service as provided in 26 U.S.C. § 414(u) earned on or after December 12, 1994, but any person retiring under this Subparagraph shall have his benefit, inclusive of military service credit and allowable unused annual and sick leave, actuarially reduced from the earliest age that he would normally become eligible for a regular retirement benefit under Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph if he had continued in service to that age.  Any member who elects to retire under the provisions of this Subparagraph shall not be eligible to participate in the Deferred Retirement Option Plan provided by La. Rev. Stat. 11:786 or the Initial Lump-Sum Benefit option provided by La. Rev. Stat. 11:783.

(4)  Any person whose first employment making him eligible for membership in one of the state systems occurred on or after July 1, 2015, may retire upon written application to the board of trustees, if at the time of application the member:

(a)  Has attained the age of sixty-two years and has credit for five years of accredited service.

(b)  Has twenty years of service credit at any age, exclusive of unused annual and sick leave and military service other than qualified military service as provided in 26 U.S.C. § 414(u) earned on or after December 12, 1994, but any person retiring under this Subparagraph shall have his benefit, inclusive of military service credit and allowable unused annual and sick leave, actuarially reduced from the earliest age that he would normally become eligible for a regular retirement benefit under Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph if he had continued in service to that age.  Any member who elects to retire under the provisions of this Subparagraph shall not be eligible to participate in the Deferred Retirement Option Plan provided by La. Rev. Stat. 11:786 or the Initial Lump-Sum Benefit option provided by La. Rev. Stat. 11:783.

(5)(a)  A properly executed application for retirement shall be considered as officially filed when received by the board of trustees of this system.  Retirement benefits shall become effective as of the date a properly executed application for retirement is received by the board of trustees of this system or the day after the member terminates from teaching service, whichever is later.

(b)  A member may cancel his application for retirement only prior to negotiating, cashing, or depositing any benefit check including an estimated benefit check.

B.  Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A of this Section, in the event a member of this system files a properly executed application for regular retirement with his employer which is a reporting agency and thereafter terminates his employment with said employer and through error the application is not promptly sent to this retirement system, upon receipt of the application by this system the board of trustees is hereby authorized upon satisfactory proof to it, to pay the retirement benefit based on an effective date of retirement not more than ninety days prior to the actual receipt of the application for retirement in the office of the system, but in no event prior to the date of termination of employment.

Amended by Acts 1956, No. 5, §1; Acts 1962, No. 186, §1; Acts 1965, No. 6, §1; Acts 1970, No. 28, §2; Acts 1970, No. 505, §1; Acts 1971, No. 5, §3; Acts 1978, No. 648, §3, eff. July 13, 1978; Acts 1980, No. 636, §1, eff. July 24, 1980; Acts 1986, No. 273, §1; Acts 1987, No. 47, §1; Redesignated from La. Rev. Stat. 17:631 by Acts 1991, No. 74, §3, eff. June 25, 1991; Acts 1997, No. 981, §1, eff. July 1, 1997; Acts 2001, No. 1055, §1, eff. July 1, 2001; Acts 2001, No. 1174, §1, eff. July 1, 2001; Acts 2010, No. 992, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2011; Acts 2012, No. 510, §1, eff. July 1, 2012; Acts 2014, No. 226, §1, eff. June 30, 2014.