A. A member shall be eligible for disability benefits if the member has acquired ten years or more of earned service credit and if the board certifies the member to be totally disabled to continue the member's employment and unable to obtain and retain other gainful employment commensurate with the member's background, education and experience.

B. Prior to any certification of disability by the board, the board shall require each applicant for disability benefits to submit medical records as required by the board in support of the applicant's disability claim.

History: 1953 Comp., § 77-9-35, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 16, § 158; 2017, ch. 21, § 15.

The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, removed the provision that required applicants for disability benefits to submit to a medical examination by a doctor approved by the educational retirement board, and required applicants for disability benefits to submit his or her medical records in support of the applicant's disability claim; in Subsection A, substituted "the member" for "he" or "his" throughout the subsection, and after "earned", changed "service-credit" to "service credit"; and in Subsection B, after "submit", deleted "himself to a medical examination by the medical authority" and added "medical records as required by the board in support of the applicant's disability claim".

Scope of board's authority. — The legislature, through this section has granted the board the authority to award disability benefits if certain requirements are met. If the board certifies the eligible member to be totally disabled, the board must award benefits. Once the determination of total disability is made, it is the duty of the board to certify the member as disabled. There is nothing in this grant of authority which authorizes the board to refuse to accept an application for disability if the applicant continues to hold a property interest in a bus contract. Gonzales v. N.M. Educ. Retirement Bd., 1990-NMSC-024, 109 N.M. 592, 788 P.2d 348, cert. denied, 498 U.S. 818, 111 S. Ct. 61, 112 L. Ed. 2d 36 (1990).