(a) Any member of the State Police who has served as such for a period of 20 years may retire, or any member who has reached the age of 55 years shall be retired; in either event, the retired member shall thereupon receive monthly, from the Fund, an amount equal to 1/2 of the monthly salary received by such member at the time of retirement; provided, however, that members of the State Police retired prior to January 1, 1972, shall as of that date receive an amount equal to one half of the monthly salary provided under this chapter for an active-duty officer of equivalent rank. Thereafter, pensions of retired State Police shall not be recomputed based on the salaries of active-duty State Police; provided further, however, that as of July 1, 1974, the monthly amount payable to retirees shall increase on July 1 of each year by any cumulative percentage increase in the national consumer price index average of the previous calendar year, plus the aggregated cumulative percentage change in the national consumer price index average of the previous consecutive years in which an increase was not granted. A cumulative percentage decrease in any calendar year shall not result in any reduction in the pension rates.
(b) Any former or present member of the State Highway Police, State Police, or any successor or substitute therefor, who shall have been a member of the County Police of New Castle County, shall receive full credit for the time served in such County Police in computing the number of years' service required to receive pension benefits provided in subsection (a) of this section.
(c) An individual shall not receive a pension under this subchapter for any month which the individual is an employee, as defined in § 8301 of this title or § 5501 of Title 29, unless the individual is:
(1) An official elected by popular vote at a regular or special election; or
(2) An official appointed by the Governor; or
(3) A registration or election official or a juror; or
(4) Receiving an ordinary service, disability or survivor's pension.
The employment, except employment as an elected official, may not be used for further retirement benefits.
(d) Nothing in this section shall prevent the employment by the State as a registration or election official or as a juror of any person receiving a state pension. Persons so employed may receive the compensation provided by law without deduction from their state pension.
(e) Any former or present member of the State Highway Police, State Police, or any successor or substitute therefor, who shall have been a member of the Delaware Memorial Bridge Police before the establishment of the Delaware River and Bay Authority, shall receive full credit for the time served in such Delaware Memorial Bridge Police in computing the number of years' service required to receive pension benefits provided in subsection (a) of this section.
(f) Nothing in this section shall prevent the employment by the State as a registration or election official or as a juror any person receiving a state pension. Persons so employed may receive the compensation provided by law without deduction from their state pension.
(g) Nothing in this section shall prevent the employment by the Superior Court, Court of Chancery, Court of Common Pleas or Family Court in or of any county of any person receiving a State Police pension. Persons so employed may receive compensation for such services without deduction from their State Police pension.
(h) No retired member of the Uniformed Division, State Police, entitled to receive a pension under subsection (a) of this section, shall receive a monthly pension less than any retiree on the retired rolls from the immediately prior retiring class, and of the same active-duty rank, if such difference is solely the result of a cost-of-living increase granted to such retiree.
(i) A member of the State Police hired prior to July 1, 1980, and who has 20 years of credited service shall have a vested right to a service pension as provided for in this subsection at a rate not less than the pension payment due upon completing 20 years of credited service; payments of said pension benefit shall increase pursuant to this section based upon increased annual salary adjustments and/or promotional increases that may occur subsequent to the twentieth year of credited service. A member's vested pension under this subsection shall be payable upon the effective date of termination of employment as a member of the State Police.
(j) Any reduction in a member's salary, mandated as part of the FY 2010 Annual Appropriations Act [77 Del. Laws, c. 84] and implemented during FY 2010, shall not be used when computing a member's final monthly salary. Rather, the member's base salary as of June 30, 2009, shall be used in calculating the member's monthly salary as defined in subsection (a) of this section.