§ 24-4-507 - Eligibility for benefits -- Credited service. - Arkansas Statutes

24-4-507. Eligibility for benefits -- Credited service.

(a) (1) The Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System shall determine, by appropriate rules and regulations consistent with the provisions of this chapter, the amount of service to be credited any member for any fiscal year.

(2) (A) For periods of time prior to July 1, 1991, in no case shall less than ten (10) days of service rendered by a member in any calendar month be credited as a month of service, nor shall less than eleven (11) months of service rendered by a member in any fiscal year be credited as a year of service unless the member is employed by the state blind and deaf schools, the state colleges and universities, or the public schools of the state, in which case nine (9) months would constitute a year of credited service.

(B) For periods of time prior to July 1, 1991, in no case can less than nine (9) months of service rendered in any fiscal year be credited as a full year of service.

(3) (A) Beginning July 1, 1992, and thereafter, service rendered by a member in any calendar month shall be credited as service based upon the member's number of hours of service in that month and in accordance with the following schedule:

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(B) Beginning July 1, 1991, in no case shall less than eleven (11) months of service rendered by a member in any fiscal year be credited as a full year of service, except that the minimum shall be lowered to nine (9) months for a member whose covered employment is employment with the state blind and deaf schools, the state colleges and universities, or the public schools.

(C) Any member who retires on or after July 1, 1999, shall receive six (6) months of service credit for each full semester of service rendered in any fiscal year for covered employment with the state blind and deaf schools, the state colleges and universities, or the public schools of the state.

(4) Prior service credits shall not be granted to any member who did not become a member of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System on the date his or her public employer became a participating public employer, nor shall current service credit be granted any member for any period of time not covered by accumulated contributions standing to his or her credit in the members' deposit account, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.

(b) (1) A member's credited service shall include periods of time, not to exceed a total of five (5) years, during which the member's employment with a public employer was, or is, interrupted due to service rendered by him or her in the armed forces of the United States during a national emergency, but only if:

(A) The person was, or is, an employee of a public employer at the time he or she entered, or enters the armed services;

(B) The person was, or is, reemployed by a public employer within six (6) years from and after the termination of the armed service required of him or her; and

(C) The person returns to the members' deposit account the amounts withdrawn by him or her, together with regular interest from the date of withdrawal to the date of repayment.

(2) In any case of doubt as to the period to be so credited any member, the board shall have the final power to determine the period.

(3) During the period of a member's armed service and until his or her return to the employ of a public employer, a member's contributions to the system shall be suspended.

(4) In no case shall the period of armed service be included in computing a member's average compensation.