(a) The Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System is directed to include within the membership of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System, as created by this chapter, all employees of the War Memorial Stadium Commission who are not members of, or eligible for membership in, some other state-supported retirement system other than Social Security.

(b)

(1) The effective date of membership of the employees in the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System shall be July 1, 1969. All the employees enrolled in the system shall be subject to the rights, privileges, and limitations prescribed in this chapter.

(2) Every such employee shall become a member of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System as a condition of continuing or obtaining employment with the commission.

(c) Any employee included within the membership of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System pursuant to this section shall be given credit for service rendered prior to July 1, 1957, as an employee of a public employer, as defined in § 24-4-101, or as an employee of the commission, if the employee was so employed on July 1, 1957, and on July 1, 1969.

(d) (1) (A) Any employee included within the membership of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System by this section who was an employee of the commission on July 1, 1969, may apply for and receive current service credit for service rendered to the commission from July 1, 1957, to July 1, 1969.

(B) The employee shall receive credit only if the employee pays or causes to be paid to the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System Fund all necessary contributions, at the rate of four percent (4%) for the employee and four percent (4%) for the employer from July 1, 1957, to July 1, 1967, and at the rate of four percent (4%) for the employee and five percent (5%) for the employer from July 1, 1967, to July 1, 1969, that would have been paid had the employee been a member of the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System during that time.

(2) Interest at the rate of four percent (4%) per annum compounded annually from July 1, 1957, shall be paid on all contributions, which shall be paid in full on or before July 1, 1970.

(e) The Department of Parks and Tourism on behalf of the commission shall pay into the fund such sums of money as are necessary to match the contributions of its employees in the same form and manner as other public employers and shall be subject to all the provisions of this chapter, to the same extent as other public employers.

(f)

(1) The payments received by the Arkansas Public Employees' Retirement System under subsection (e) of this section shall be credited to the applicable employers' accumulation account.

(2) The employee payments shall be credited to the member's individual account in the members' deposit account.