A. A member who leaves the employ of an affiliated public employer to enter a uniformed service of the United States shall be given service credit for periods of service in the uniformed services subject to the following conditions:

(1) the member is reemployed by an affiliated public employer within ninety days following termination of the period of intervening service in the uniformed service or the affiliated employer certifies in writing to the association that the member is entitled to reemployment rights under the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994;

(2) the member retains membership in the association during the period of service in the uniformed services;

(3) free service credit shall not be given for periods of intervening service in the uniformed services following voluntary reenlistment. Service credit for such periods shall be given only after the member pays the association the sum of the contributions that the person would have been required to contribute had the person remained continuously employed throughout the period of intervening service following voluntary reenlistment, which payment shall be made during the period beginning with the date of reemployment and whose duration is three times the period of the person's intervening service in the uniformed services following voluntary reenlistment, not to exceed five years;

(4) service credit shall not be given for periods of intervening service in the uniformed services that are used to obtain or increase a benefit from another state system or the retirement program provided under the Educational Retirement Act [Chapter 22, Article 11 NMSA 1978];

(5) the member must not have received a discharge or separation from uniformed service under other than honorable conditions; and

(6) notwithstanding any provision of this plan to the contrary, contributions, benefits and service credit with respect to qualified military service will be provided in accordance with Section 414(u) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

B. For a member who is subsequently employed by the government of the United States within thirty days of leaving the employ of an affiliated public employer:

(1) that member may continue membership in the association subject to the following conditions:

(a) the member has fifteen or more years of service credit;

(b) employment by the government of the United States commences within ninety days of termination of employment with the last affiliated public employer;

(c) the member files with the association a written application for continued membership within ninety days of termination of employment with the last affiliated public employer; and

(d) the member remits to the association, at the times and in the manner prescribed by the association, the member contributions and the employer contributions that would have been made had the member continued in the employ of the last affiliated public employer;

(2) the contributions required by Paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be based on a salary equal to the member's monthly salary at time of termination of employment with the last affiliated public employer;

(3) service credit will be determined as if the employment by the government of the United States was rendered the last affiliated public employer;

(4) the employer contributions remitted by the member shall be credited to the employer's accumulation fund and shall not be paid out of the association in the event of subsequent cessation of membership; and

(5) a member receiving service credit under this subsection who enrolls in the retiree health care authority shall make contributions pursuant to Subsection C of Section 10-7C-15 NMSA 1978.

History: Laws 1987, ch. 253, § 6; 1997, ch. 189, § 4; 2009, ch. 288, § 4.

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 1987, Chapter 253 repealed former 10-11-6 NMSA 1978, as amended by Laws 1970, ch. 81, § 1, relating to types of investment, and enacted a new section, effective July 1, 1987.

Cross references. — For the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, see 38 U.S.C.S. § 4301 et seq.

For Section 414(u) of the federal Internal Revenue Code, see 26 U.S.C.S. § 414(u).

The 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2009, added Subsection B(5).

The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, in Subsection A, in the introductory language, substituted "a uniformed" for "an armed", substituted "service credit" for "credited service", and substituted "service in the uniformed services" for "active duty", substituted the language beginning "intervening serving" for "active duty" in Paragraph (1), substituted the language beginning "retains membership" for "reinstates any forfeited credited service" in Paragraph (2), rewrote Paragraphs (3) and (4), and added Paragraph (5).

Ninety-day application period in Subsection A(1). — Subsection A(1) must be interpreted in a manner consistent with the federal and state laws on veteran reemployment rights. If the veteran otherwise qualifies for reemployment and applies within 90 days of the termination of his active duty period, he still may acquire service credit for retirement purposes even though the employer does not actually rehire him until after the ninetieth day. 1988 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 88-24.