(a) Any active and contributing member of any one of the State of Alabama retirement systems who has been such a member for 10 consecutive years and has not previously purchased credit for military service with any one of the State of Alabama retirement systems may hereby claim and purchase credit in his or her respective retirement system for up to four years' creditable service for time which such member has served in the active full-time military service of the Armed Forces of the United States, exclusive of any summer, weekend, or other part-time active military service in any reserve or National Guard component of any branch of the armed forces, provided said member has not received credit toward retirement status in such retirement system for said military service, and further provided that such member shall receive no credit for military service if such member is receiving military service retirement benefits other than disability allowance or benefits from any branch of the United States Armed Forces or by reason of any such service in any branch of the armed forces; and provided further that such member received an honorable discharge for and including the claimed military service.
(b) Any member eligible to claim and purchase credit for service under subsection (a) of this section shall be awarded such credit under any such Retirement System of Alabama provided he or she shall pay into his or her respective retirement system or fund prior to said member's date of retirement and prior to October 1, 1986, a sum of money which is equal to a percentage of the member's current annual earnable compensation; the applicable percentage shall be the sum of the prevailing percentage rates of employer and member contributions as determined by the system's annual actuarial valuation for each year of purchased service.
(c) The provisions of this section to reopen the retirement system or fund for military service credit shall terminate October 1, 1986, and no one shall be eligible to utilize any of the options granted herein if not fully exercised and paid prior to October 1, 1986.
Last modified: May 3, 2021