RS 1921 - Membership
A. The membership of this system shall be composed of all employees not specifically excluded by the provisions of this Part, as follows:
(1) Effective upon the revision date all employees shall become members of this system and shall be placed in the applicable plan as outlined below:
(a) Those participating in both the regular plan and the supplemental plan or only in the supplemental plan shall become members of Plan A.
(b) Membership shall be optional for those employees who are members of the supplemental plan only prior to the revision date.
(c) Those participating only in the regular plan shall become members of Plan B.
(2) All individuals who become employees after the revision date shall become members of Plan A, Plan B, or Plan C as determined by the plan in effect for each employer.
(3)(a)(i) Membership for elected officials of the parish, who are not eligible for membership in any other public retirement system in this state, shall be optional, and they shall have one year after taking the oath of office to elect to become members, provided they are otherwise eligible. No credit shall be given for any prior elected service.
(ii) A justice of the peace in Assumption Parish who did not exercise his option to become a member of the system within one year of taking his oath of office may elect to become a member on or before December 31, 2008. A justice of the peace who elects to become a system member pursuant to this Item may receive credit for past service by paying to the system on or before December 31, 2008, an amount calculated pursuant to R.S. 11:158. The payment for such service credit may be paid in whole or in part by the official's employer, as defined in R.S. 11:1902.
(b)(i) Membership for members of school boards, who are not eligible for membership in any other public retirement system in this state, shall be optional, and they shall have one year after taking the oath of office to elect to become members, provided they are otherwise eligible. No credit shall be given for any prior school board service.
(ii) From August 15, 1997, to January 15, 1998, any public school board member who is a member of this system shall have the option of terminating membership in this system. This option shall not be available after January 15, 1998. Each member who elects to terminate membership in this system shall provide thirty days written notice to the system of that election. Each person who elects to withdraw from this system shall receive a refund of the contributions paid by that member.
(iii) Each school board member who makes such an election and who remains in-service and who receives a refund of contributions upon termination of employment shall receive interest on such refunded funds for the period of time that the funds were maintained by the system after the election, equal to the overall portfolio earnings rate, reduced by one-half of one percent. Each school board member not eligible for retirement benefits who terminates employment at the time of the election shall be eligible to receive a refund of accumulated contributions, without interest.
(4) Any coroner and his assistants and employees shall be eligible for membership in this system for their entire salaries and may enter the system at any time on a current basis. No credit shall be given for any coroner's assistants' or employees' prior service; however, any coroner shall have the option of purchasing prior service credit as a coroner on an actuarial basis and subject to the provisions of R.S. 11:158.
(5) Those employees who were participating members of the system on December 31, 1979, shall be continued as members subsequent to that date, provided they are employees as defined herein, even though they do not work the number of hours per week required by the definition of employee as set forth herein and provided that all employee and employer contributions, plus five percent interest compounded annually from date of service if such contributions are delinquent, are paid to the system for all periods of employment since December 31, 1979. This Paragraph shall not apply to those employees who on December 31, 1979, worked at least the number of hours required by the definition of employee as set forth herein.
(6)(a) Membership shall be optional for unclassified employees of the parish of Caddo. As used in this Paragraph, the term "unclassified employee" means an employee who is not a part of the classified service of Caddo Parish as provided under the home rule charter of the parish of Caddo.
(b)(i) Each unclassified employee of Caddo Parish who is otherwise eligible for membership in this system, whose initial date of employment is on or after August 15, 1999, shall be eligible to irrevocably elect not to be a member of this system, provided such election is made either within sixty days commencing from the employee's initial date of employment or from the earliest date he becomes eligible for participation in any retirement plan sponsored by Caddo Parish.
(ii) Any unclassified employee who fails to make the election provided in this Subparagraph shall be considered to have made an election to become a member of this system.
(c) The provisions of this Paragraph are interpretative and intended to clarify and confirm the law in existence prior to August 15, 1999, whereby all unclassified employees of Caddo Parish whose initial date of employment was prior to August 15, 1999, and who have previously made a valid election not to participate in the system, pursuant to the law in effect at the time the election was made, shall be considered never to have been members of this system; and, for that reason, neither the unclassified employees of Caddo Parish who previously have elected not to participate in this system nor the governing authority of Caddo Parish itself shall be liable for the payment of employee or employer contributions relating to compensation earned prior to August 15, 1999, and no credit shall be granted to those employees for service rendered prior to that date.
(d) The provisions of this Paragraph shall be deemed to have no effect if and when the United States Internal Revenue Service issues any revenue ruling to the effect that permitting employees to exercise the option that is authorized by this Paragraph will result in the revocation of the qualified plan status of the Parochial Employees' Retirement System. In such a case, all employees who exercised such option shall be enrolled in the Parochial Employees' Retirement System and shall not receive credit therein for any prior service, unless such credit is purchased pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 11:158.
B. The agreement shall be the determining factor for purposes of placing members into the appropriate plan.
C. Membership shall be optional for those persons entering employment on or after October 1, 1996, who are fifty-five years of age or older who have credit for at least forty quarters in the Social Security system. Such election shall be made within ninety days of employment or within ninety days after July 1, 1997, whichever occurs later. This shall not apply to rehired retirees.
Acts 1979, No. 765, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1980. Amended by Acts 1981, No. 353, §1; Acts 1985, No. 956, §1, eff. July 23, 1985; Acts 1991, No. 686, §1, eff. Dec. 31, 1991; Redesignated from R.S. 33:6121 by Acts 1991, No. 74, §3, eff. June 25, 1991; Acts 1995, No. 667, §1; Acts 1995, No. 1112, §1; Acts 1997, No. 341, §1; Acts 1997, No. 867, §1, eff. July 1, 1997; Acts 1997, No. 902, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1214, §1, eff. July 1, 1997; Acts 1997, No. 1480, §1; Acts 1999, No. 680, §1; Acts 2008, No. 425, §1, eff. July 1, 2008; Acts 2011, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 15, §1, eff. June 12, 2011.