§2214. Membership

A. The membership of the retirement system shall be composed as follows:

(1) All persons who are members on September 7, 1977, shall remain members as a condition of their employment.

(2)(a) Except as provided further in this Paragraph, any person who becomes an employee as defined in R.S. 11:2213 on and after September 9, 1977, shall become a member as a condition of his employment, provided he is under fifty years of age at the date of employment.

(b)(i) The mandatory membership provisions of this Paragraph shall be inapplicable with respect to the municipalities of Houma and Baton Rouge, subject to the provisions of Item (ii) of this Subparagraph.

(ii) Subject to the provisions of R.S. 11:2225(A)(11)(a)(ii), the mandatory membership provisions of this Paragraph shall apply to the municipality of Baton Rouge with respect to all law enforcement employees meeting the definition of "employee" under the provisions of this Chapter after the boards of trustees of this retirement system and of the Baton Rouge City Parish Employees' Retirement System enter into an agreement to merge any members of the latter system who qualify as employees under the provisions of this Chapter into this system. However, any such agreement shall only be effective upon ratification by ordinance of the Metropolitan Council of the city of Baton Rouge and the parish of East Baton Rouge, with the approval of the mayor-president, and subsequent approval by the Joint Legislative Committee on Retirement.

(c) Except as otherwise provided in this Section, the mandatory membership provisions of this Paragraph shall be inapplicable with respect to any municipality, which on or before January 1, 1978, enacts an ordinance exempting the municipality from the provisions of this Paragraph, which ordinance is hereby authorized.

(d)(i) To be eligible for membership in the system, an employee hired on or after July 1, 2003, shall complete a physical examination to be paid for by the employing municipality. If the current physical or mental condition or medical history of an employee, as reflected on the physical examination form, does not conform to the guidelines established by the State Medical Disability Board physician, the employee shall be required to execute a waiver for any condition or history that does not conform to such guidelines, releasing any claim for disability retirement based thereon.

(ii) The submission to a physical examination and the execution of any waivers of preexisting conditions or history shall be completed and all documentation related thereto received by the system within six months after the date of employment. The employee is then a member of the system from the date of employment. If the documentation is not received by the system within the allotted time period, the employee shall be a member for purposes of receiving regular benefits from the date of employment but shall not be eligible for disability benefits until the documentation has been received by the system except as provided in Item (iii) of this Subparagraph.

(iii) The employing municipality shall ensure that the physical examination is timely completed and any waiver associated therewith is received by the system or shall provide the system with notification of noncompliance by the employee. Should any employee for whom the required documentation has not been submitted apply for disability benefits, that employee shall be required to prove that the disabling condition was not preexisting.

(e) Any person who is receiving or has received a disability retirement benefit from any law enforcement or police retirement plan or pension and relief fund for policemen, except disability retirees of this system, shall not be eligible for membership in the Municipal Police Employees' Retirement System if he ceases to have a disability and returns to service in the same municipality or becomes employed as a policeman or law enforcement officer while receiving a disability benefit.

(3) Any person who is an employee as defined in R.S. 11:2213, and who, prior to September 9, 1977, was eligible for membership, but which membership was not mandatory, may become a member of this system at his option, provided he is under fifty years of age at the time of application for membership.

(4) Any person who has retired from service under any retirement system or pension fund maintained basically for public officers and employees of the state, its agencies or political subdivisions, and who is receiving retirement benefits therefrom shall be eligible to become a member of this system, provided he not be given credit for any service for which he is entitled to retirement benefits under another system, and further provided that he is otherwise eligible for membership.

B. Should any member, after becoming a member, be absent from service for more than five years, and not be entitled to a deferred annuity as provided in this Chapter, or should he withdraw his accumulated contributions, or should he become a beneficiary or die, he shall thereupon cease to be a member.

Added by Acts 1973, No. 189, §1. Amended by Acts 1974, No. 352, §1; Acts 1974, No. 389, §1; Acts 1975, No. 377, §1; Acts 1976, No. 603, §2; Acts 1977, No. 601, §1; Redesignated from R.S. 33:2373 by Acts 1991, No. 74, §3, eff. June 25, 1991; Acts 1998, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 15, §1, eff. April 24, 1998; Acts 1999, No. 1320, §1, eff. July 12, 1999; Acts 2003, No. 572, §1, eff. July 1, 2003; Acts 2014, No. 811, §4, eff. June 23, 2014.

NOTE: Acts 2014, No. 811 changed terminology referring to persons with disabilities throughout the La. Revised Statutes and codes of law, and included a listing of terms that were deleted and their respective successor terms (See Acts 2014, No. 811, §36). The Act provides that it is not the intent of the legislature that changes in terminology effected therein alter or affect in any way the substance, interpretation, or application of any law or administrative rule; further provides that nothing in the Act shall be construed to expand or diminish any right of or benefit for any person provided by any law or administrative rule (See Acts 2014, No. 811, §35(C) and (D)).