A. After filing written demand with the director, a member is entitled to a refund of the total amount of the member's contributions plus interest at a rate set by the board, reduced by the sum of any disability benefits previously received by the member, if:

(1) the member terminates employment for reasons other than by retirement, disability or death;

(2) the member has exempted himself from the Educational Retirement Act; or

(3) the member was not reemployed following a period of disability during which he received disability benefits.

B. The director may, at the request of a member, make payment on behalf of the member for any or all of the refund to an individual retirement account or a qualified retirement plan that accepts rollovers.

C. If the amount of a deceased member's contribution or residual contribution does not exceed the sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) and no written claim is made to the board for it within one year from the date of the member's death, by his surviving beneficiary or the member's estate, payment thereof may be made to the named beneficiary or, if none is named, to the person the board determines to be entitled to the contribution under the laws of New Mexico. Any payment made by the board pursuant to this subsection shall be a bar to a claim by any other person.

D. The interest provided for in Subsection A of this section shall apply only to contributions paid to the fund after July l, 1971 and on deposit in the fund for a period of at least one fiscal year; provided that no such interest shall be allowed on refunds of contributions that were paid into the fund prior to July 1, 1971.

History: 1953 Comp., § 77-9-15, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 16, § 139; 1971, ch. 12, § 1; 1984, ch. 19, § 1; 1993, ch. 69, § 4; 2003, ch. 39, § 4.

Cross references. — For payment of benefits upon death during reemployment, see 22-11-26 NMSA 1978.

For retirement benefit options, see 22-11-29 NMSA 1978.

For disability benefits, see 22-11-35 to 22-11-40 NMSA 1978.

The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, substituted "set by the board" for "equal to seventy-five percent of the average rate earned by the fund during the five fiscal years preceding the fiscal year of refund" near the middle of Subsection A.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, added present Subsection B; redesignated former Subsections B and C as Subsections C and D; and made a minor stylistic change.