§ 45-21-16 - Retirement on service allowance.
SECTION 45-21-16
§ 45-21-16 Retirement on serviceallowance. – Retirement of a member on a service retirement allowance shall be made by theretirement board as follows:
(1) Any member may retire upon the member's writtenapplication to the retirement board as of the first day of the calendar monthin which the application was filed, provided the member was separated fromservice prior to the application, and provided, further, that if separationfrom service occurs during the month in which application is filed, theeffective date is the first day following the separation from service, providedthat the member at the time so specified for the member's retirement hasattained the applicable minimum retirement age and has completed at least ten(10) years of total service or who, regardless of age, completed thirty (30)years of total service, and notwithstanding that during the period ofnotification the member has separated from service. The minimum ages forservice retirement (except for employees completing thirty (30) years ofservice) is fifty-eight (58) years.
(2) Except as specifically provided in §§ 45-21-19through 45-21-22, no member is eligible for pension benefits under this chapterunless the member has been a contributing member of the employees' retirementsystem for at least ten (10) years.
(i) Provided, however, a person who has ten (10) yearsservice credit on or before June 16, 1991 is vested.
(ii) Furthermore, any past service credits purchased inaccordance with § 45-21-62 are counted towards vesting.
(iii) Any person who becomes a member of the employees'retirement system pursuant to § 45-21-4 shall be considered a contributingmember for the purpose of this chapter.
(iv) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no more thanfive (5) years of service credit may be purchased by a member of the System.The five (5)-year limit does not apply to any purchases made prior to theeffective date of this provision. A member who has purchased more than five (5)years of service credit maximum, before January 1, 1995, shall be permitted toapply the purchases towards the member's service retirement. However, nofurther purchase will be permitted. Repayment, in accordance with applicablelaw and regulation, of any contribution previously withdrawn from the System isnot deemed a purchase of service credit.
(3) No member of the municipal employees' retirement systemis permitted to purchase service credits for casual or seasonal employment, foremployment as a page in the general assembly, or for employment at any statecollege or university while the employee is a student or graduate assistant ofthe college or university.
(4) A member does not receive service credit in thisretirement system for any year or portion of a year, which counts as servicecredit in any other retirement system in which the member is vested or fromwhich the member is receiving a pension and/or any annual payment for life.This subsection does not apply to any payments received pursuant to the FederalSocial Security Act or to payments from a military pension earned prior toparticipation in state or municipal employment, or to military service creditsearned prior to participation in state or municipal employment.
(5) A member who seeks to purchase or receive service creditin this retirement system has the affirmative duty to disclose to theretirement board whether or not he or she is a vested member in any otherretirement system and/or is receiving a pension retirement allowance or anyannual payment for life. The retirement board has the right to investigatewhether or not the member has utilized the same time of service for credit inany other retirement system. The member has an affirmative duty to cooperatewith the retirement board including, by way of illustration and not by way oflimitation, the duty to furnish or have furnished to the retirement board anyrelevant information which is protected by any privacy act.
(6) A member who fails to cooperate with the retirement boardshall not have the time of service counted toward total service credit until atime that the member cooperates with the retirement board and until a time thatthe retirement board determines the validity of the service credit.
(7) A member who knowingly makes a false statement to theretirement board regarding service time or credit is not entitled to aretirement allowance and is entitled only to the return of his or hercontributions without interest.