§ 135-56. Creditable service.
§ 135‑56. Creditableservice.
(a) Subject to suchrules and regulations as the Board of Trustees shall adopt with regard to theverification of a judge's prior service, the prior service of a judge shallconsist of his service rendered prior to January 1, 1974, as a justice of theSupreme Court, judge of the Court of Appeals, judge of the superior court,judge of the district court division of the General Court of Justice, asadministrative officer of the courts, or as a solicitor or district attorney.
(b) When membershipceases as a result of a member's withdrawal of his accumulated contributions,the prior service and previous membership service of the member shall no longerbe considered to be creditable service; provided, however, that if a memberwhose creditable service has been cancelled in accordance with this subsectionsubsequently returns to membership for a period of five years, he maythereafter repay in a lump sum the amount withdrawn plus regular interestthereon from the date of withdrawal through the date of repayment and therebyincrease his creditable service by the amount of creditable service lost whenhe withdrew his accumulated contributions.
(c) On and afterJanuary 1, 1984, the creditable service of a member who was a member of the formerUniform Solicitorial or Uniform Clerks of Superior Court Retirement Systems atthe time of merger of those Systems into this Consolidated Judicial RetirementSystem and whose accumulated contributions are transferred from those Systemsto this System, includes service that was creditable in the UniformSolicitorial and Uniform Clerks of Superior Court Retirement Systems; andmembership service with those Retirement Systems is membership service withthis Retirement System.
(d) Any member maypurchase creditable service for service as a judge, district attorney, or clerkof superior court, when not otherwise provided for in this section, and as ajudge of any lawfully constituted court of this State inferior to the superiorcourt, not to include service as a magistrate, justice of the peace or mayor'scourt judge. The member, after the transfer of any accumulated contributionsfrom the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System or Local GovernmentalEmployees' Retirement System, shall pay an amount equal to the full cost of theservice credits calculated on the basis of the assumptions used for purposes ofthe actuarial valuation of the System's liabilities, taking into account theadditional retirement allowance arising on account of the additional servicecredit commencing at the earliest age at which the member could retire with anunreduced retirement allowance as determined by the Board of Trustees upon theadvice of the consulting actuary. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions ofthis subsection that provide for the purchase of service credits, the terms"full cost", "full liability", and "full actuarialcost" include assumed annual post‑retirement allowance increases, asdetermined by the Board of Trustees, from the earliest age at which a membercould retire on an unreduced service allowance.
(e) Any member maypurchase creditable service for service as a member of the General Assembly nototherwise creditable under this section, provided the service is not creditedin the Legislative Retirement Fund nor the Legislative Retirement System, andfurther provided the member pays a lump sum amount equal to the full cost ofthe additional service credits calculated on the basis of the assumptions usedfor the purposes of the actuarial valuation of the System's liabilities, takinginto account the additional retirement allowance arising on account of theadditional service credits commencing at the earliest age at which a membercould retire on an unreduced retirement allowance as determined by the Board ofTrustees upon the advice of the consulting actuary, plus an administrative feeto be set by the Board of Trustees. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions ofthis subsection that provide for the purchase of service credits, the terms"full cost", "full liability", and "full actuarialcost" include assumed annual post‑retirement allowance increases, asdetermined by the Board of Trustees, from the earliest age at which a membercould retire on an unreduced service allowance.
(f) The creditableservice of a member who was a member of the Local Governmental Employees'Retirement System, the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System, or theLegislative Retirement System and whose accumulated contributions and reservesare transferred from that System to this System, includes service that wascreditable in the Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System, theTeachers' and State Employees' Retirement System, or the Legislative RetirementSystem, and membership service with those Retirement Systems is membershipservice with this Retirement System.
(g) If a member who hasnot vested in this System on July 1, 2007, is convicted of an offense listed inG.S. 135‑75.1 for acts committed after July 1, 2007, then that membershall forfeit all benefits under this System. If a member who has vested inthis System on July 1, 2007, is convicted of an offense listed in G.S. 135‑75.1for acts committed after July 1, 2007, then that member is not entitled to anycreditable service that accrued after July 1, 2007. No member shall forfeit anybenefit or creditable service earned from a position not as a justice, judge,district attorney, or clerk of superior court.
(h) On and after July1, 2007, the creditable service of a member who was a public defender and a memberof the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System at the time of transferof membership from the previous system to this System shall include service asa public defender that was creditable in the previous system immediately priorto July 1, 2007. The accumulated contributions, creditable service, andreserves, if any, of a member as a public defender shall be transferred fromthe previous system to this System in the same manner as prescribed under G.S.135‑28.1 as it pertained to judges of the district court division of theGeneral Court of Justice.
(i) On and after July1, 2008, the creditable service of a member who is the Director of IndigentDefense Services and a member of the Teachers' and State Employees' RetirementSystem at the time of transfer of membership from the previous system to thisSystem shall include service as the Director of Indigent Defense Servicesbeginning July 1, 2004, that was creditable in the previous system immediatelyprior to July 1, 2008. The accumulated contributions, creditable service, andreserves, if any, of a member as the Director of Indigent Defense Servicesbeginning July 1, 2004, shall be transferred from the previous system to thisSystem in the same manner as prescribed under G.S. 135‑28.1 as it pertainedto judges of the district court division of the General Court of Justice. (1973, c. 640, s. 1; 1977,c. 936; 1983 (Reg. Sess., 1984), c. 1031, ss. 14, 15; 1985, c. 649, s. 1; 1989,c. 255, s. 21(a); 1999‑237, s. 28.24(c); 2003‑284, s. 30.18(f);2007‑179, s. 4(b); 2007‑323, s. 28.21B(h); 2008‑107, s.26.24(h).)