Sec. 4.03. UNIFORMED SERVICE. (a) A member of the fund who enters any uniformed service of the United States may not:

(1) be required to make the monthly payments into the fund provided by this Act as long as the member is engaged in active service with the uniformed service; or

(2) lose any seniority rights or retirement benefits provided by this Act by virtue of that service.

(b) Not later than the 90th day after the date of the member's reinstatement to an active status in the fire or police department, the member must file with the secretary of the board a written statement of intent to pay into the fund an amount equal to what the member would have paid if the member had remained on active status in the department during the period of the member's absence in the uniformed service.

(c) The member must make the payment described by Subsection (b) of this section in full within an amount of time after the member's return that is equal to three times the amount of time the member was absent, except that the maximum period for payment may not exceed five years.

(d) Except as provided by Subsection (f) of this section, if the member does not comply with Subsections (b) and (c) of this section, the member shall lose all credit toward the member's retirement annuity for the length of time the member was engaged in active service in any uniformed service.

(e) The amount of credit purchased under this section may not exceed the length of the active service in a uniformed service required to be credited by law.

(f) If a person who became a member before October 1, 1997, does not make the payment required under Subsection (c) of this section within the required amount of time and the member would otherwise be eligible for credit under federal law, the member may receive credit for the uniformed service if the member also pays interest, compounded annually, on the then current rate of a member's contribution from the date the payment was required to the date the payment was made. The board shall set the rate of interest.

(g) Repealed by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 513, Sec. 10.

(h) A municipality to which this Act applies shall double-match payments made to the fund under this section.