Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
A. Members
may receive one month of service credit for any calendar month in which the
member becomes a member on or before the sixteenth day of that month, or for
any calendar month in which the member leaves office on or after the fifteenth
day of the month, provided that all other requirements for awarding service
credit are met.
B. Service credit
that was forfeited when a member left office and withdrew his or her
accumulated member contributions may be reinstated by repayment of withdrawn
member contributions, together with interest from the date of withdrawal to the
date of repayment at the rate or rates set by the board under the following
conditions.
(1) Service credit may be
reinstated in one-year increments, beginning with the most recently forfeited
service credit. A one-year increment is 12 consecutive, but not necessarily
continuous, months of service credit. For the purpose of eligibility to retire
only, less than one year of service credit may be purchased. After
reinstatement of all 12-month "years" as defined herein, any remaining service
credit that totals less than 12 months may be reinstated by payment in one lump
sum as provided herein.
(2) All
forfeited service credit may also be reinstated by repayment of the total
amount of all member contributions withdrawn from each period of service
together with interest from the date of withdrawal to the date of repayment at
the rate set by the board.
(3) The
rate or rates of interest for the purchase or reinstatement of service credit
shall be set annually by the board at a July meeting and shall be effective
beginning the next succeeding January 1.
(4) A former member who is employed by an
employer covered under the Educational Retirement Act must provide evidence of
current contributing membership in the educational retirement association; such
evidence shall be either certification by the employer, in the form prescribed
by the association, or certification by the educational retirement association
(ERA).
(5) Payment for reinstated
service credit must be received by the association prior to the member's
effective date of retirement.
(6)
Interest received to reinstate forfeited service credit under this subsection
shall not be refunded to the member. The purchase cost received to reinstate
forfeited service credit, which is determined to be unnecessary to provide the
maximum pension applicable to the member and which is purchased in reliance on
information provided by PERA shall be refunded to the member.
C. Service credit that a member
would have earned if the member had not elected to be excluded from membership
prior to July 1, 2014 may be purchased under the following conditions:
(1) the member first reinstates all
previously withdrawn JRA service credit;
(2) the member may purchase service credit in
increments of not less than one year except where the total excluded service
credit is less than one year;
(3)
the member pays the full cost as determined under Section 10-12B-5(F) NMSA
1978, within 60 days of the notification of that amount.
D. Military service credit is free in some
cases and may be purchased in other cases as provided by statute.
(1) Where a member wishes to claim service
credit pursuant to Section
10-12B-5
NMSA 1978, the association shall, upon the member's request, furnish that
member a form of affidavit for completion and certification of such service.
The affidavit shall be accompanied by documentary evidence of the member's
entry and discharge from service in a uniformed service of the United
States.
(2) The administrative
office of the courts shall certify in writing the date the member left office
to enter a uniformed service of the United States. This requirement may be
waived if PERA records contain sufficient documentation of the date of
termination.
(3) The administrative
office of the courts shall certify in writing to the association the member's
date of return to office within 30 days of reemployment. This requirement may
be waived if PERA records contain sufficient documentation of the date of
return, to office. Members who do not return, to office within 90 days
following termination of the period of intervening service but who nevertheless
claim reemployment rights under federal law shall provide to the association
written certification from the administrative office of the courts that the
member is entitled to reemployment rights under the Uniformed Services
Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, as amended.
(4) The affidavit, employer certifications,
and documentary evidence of uniformed service shall be presented to the
association for approval.
(5)
Service credit for periods of intervening service in the uniformed services
following voluntary enlistment, reenlistment or appointment shall be awarded
only upon compliance by the member and the administrative office of the courts
with the provisions of Section
10-12B-5
NMSA 1978, as amended, and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment
Rights Act of 1994, as amended, including but not limited to the payment to the
association of contributions required from the member and the
employer.
(6) JRA members who are
also members of the military service reserve components who are activated
pursuant to a federal call to duty, deployment or peacekeeping mission or other
declared national emergency may receive free credit service subject to the
conditions of this section. The member must provide a form DD 214 and other
documentation as required by PERA to support an award of free service
credit.
(7) Payment for military
service credit must be received by the association prior to the member's
effective date of retirement.
E. No installment payment contracts may be
used for the purchase of any service credit. A member may purchase a total of
five years of permissive service credit as allowed under the Judicial
Retirement Act in one lump-sum or in one-year increments.
F. A member may rollover funds from an
Internal Revenue Code Section 457, 403(b), 401(k), IRA or another 401(a)
qualified account to pay for forfeited or permissive service credit allowed by
the Judicial Retirement Act. The rollover of funds must be made by a
trustee-to-trustee transfer and the account from which the funds come must be
in the name of the member requesting the transfer.
