(a) Upon the written request of a member who ceases to be an employee, a lump sum amount shall be paid to such person equal to the total amount credited to such member's account at the time the member ceases to be an employee. If no such request is made, the member's account shall continue to accrue earnings in the same manner as any member's account.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section, if any member who ceases to be an employee has less than such minimum amount as determined by the board, but not more than $5,000.00, credited to such member's account, the board may, at its option, require such member to withdraw all such moneys and the member's account shall be closed; provided, however, that the board's option to require withdrawal of small account balances shall be applied in a consistent manner; provided, further, that if the board provides for mandatory distributions of account balances greater than $1,000.00 and if a member does not elect to have such distribution paid directly to an eligible retirement plan specified by the member in a direct rollover or to receive the distribution directly, the plan shall pay the distribution in a direct rollover to an individual retirement plan designated by the board in accordance with Section 401(a)(31)(B) of the federal Internal Revenue Code.

(c) Except as otherwise provided in Article 2 of Chapter 1 of this title, a member's account balance in the plan shall at all times be 100 percent vested and nonforfeitable.