§ 5-10.3-7-5 — Military service credit

Indiana § 5-10.3-7-5

• Jurisdiction: Indiana
• Title 5: STATE AND LOCAL ADMINISTRATION
• Art. 10.3: THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT
• Ch. 7: Membership; Creditable Service; Contributions

Text

(a) A member who:
(1) enters the United States armed services;
(2) leaves the member's contributions in the fund;
(3) except as provided in subsection (c), resumes service with the
member's employer within one hundred twenty (120) days after
the member's unconditional discharge; and
(4) would be entitled to service credit for military service under
the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights
Act (38 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.) if the member had resumed service
with the member's employer within ninety (90) days after
discharge;
is entitled to service credit for the armed service.
(b) A state employee who left employment before January 1, 1946,
or an employee of a political subdivision who left employment before
the participation date, to enter the United States armed services is
entitled to service credit for the armed service if the member:
(1) except as provided in subsection (c), resumes service with the
employer within one hundred twenty (120) days after the
member's unconditional discharge; and
(2) would be entitled to service credit for military service under
the applicable requirements of federal law in effect at the time of
reemployment if the employee had resumed service with the
employee's employer within ninety (90) days after discharge.
(c) The board shall extend the one hundred twenty (120) day
reemployment requirement contained in subsection (a)(3) or (b)(1) if
the board determines that an illness, an injury, or a disability related to
the member's military service prevented the member from resuming
employment within one hundred twenty (120) days after the member's
discharge from military service. However, the board may not extend the
deadline beyond thirty (30) months after the member's discharge.
(d) If a member retires and the board subsequently determines that
the member is entitled to additional service credit due to the extension
of a deadline under subsection (c), the board shall recompute the
member's benefit. However, the additional service credit may be used
only in the computation of benefits to be paid after the date of the
board's determination, and the member is not entitled to a
recomputation of benefits received before the date of the board's
determination.
(e) Notwithstanding any provision of this section, a member is
entitled to service credit and benefits in the amount and to the extent
required by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment
Rights Act (38 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.).
(f) Subject to the provisions of this section, an active member may
purchase and claim not more than two (2) years of service credit for the
member's service on active duty in the armed services if the member
meets the following conditions:
(1) The member has at least one (1) year of credited service in the
fund.
(2) The member serves on active duty in the armed services of the
United States for at least six (6) months.
(3) The member receives a discharge from the armed services
under conditions other than conditions set forth in IC 10-17-12-7.5(2).
(4) Before the member retires, the member makes contributions
to the fund as follows:
(A) Contributions that are equal to the product of the following:
(i) The member's salary at the time the member actually
makes a contribution for the service credit.
(ii) A rate, determined by the actuary of the fund, that is
based on the age of the member at the time the member
actually makes a contribution for service credit and computed
to result in a contribution amount that approximates the
actuarial present value of the benefit attributable to the
service credit purchased.
(iii) The number of years of service credit the member
intends to purchase.
(B) Contributions for any accrued interest, at a rate determined
by the actuary of the fund, for the period from the member's
initial membership in the fund to the date payment is made by
the member.
However, a member is entitled to purchase service credit under this
subsection only to the extent that service credit is not granted for that
time under another provision of this section. At least ten (10) years of
service in Indiana is required before a member may receive a benefit
based on service credits purchased under this section. A member who
terminates employment before satisfying the eligibility requirements
necessary to receive a monthly allowance or receives a monthly
allowance for the same service from another tax supported public
employee retirement plan other than under the federal Social Security
Act may withdraw the purchase amount plus accumulated interest after
submitting a properly completed application for a refund to the fund.
(g) The following apply to the purchase of service credit under
subsection (f):
(1) The board may allow a member to make periodic payments of
the contributions required for the purchase of the service credit.
The board shall determine the length of the period during which
the payments must be made.
(2) The board may deny an application for the purchase of service
credit if the purchase would exceed the limitations under Section
415 of the Internal Revenue Code.
(3) A member may not claim the service credit for purposes of
determining eligibility or computing benefits unless the member
has made all payments required for the purchase of the service
credit.
As added by Acts 1977, P.L.53, SEC.3. Amended by
P.L.43-1991, SEC.5; P.L.5-1997, SEC.5; P.L.184-2001, SEC.8;
P.L.8-2015, SEC.6; P.L.238-2025, SEC.9.