19-20-401. Creditable service. (1) The creditable service of a member begins on the date of the member's employment in a capacity prescribed for eligibility in 19-20-302 and accumulates to the member's credit on the basis of the retirement board's policy governing creditable service.
     (2) Subject to 19-20-405, the creditable service of a member includes the following:
     (a) each year of service for which contributions to the retirement system were deducted from the member's compensation under the provisions of Chapter 87, Laws of 1937, Chapter 215, Laws of 1939, this chapter, and their subsequent amendments, except that credit may not be awarded for those years of service for which the contributions have been withdrawn and not replaced;
     (b) any creditable service awarded by the retirement board under 19-20-402 for out-of-state employment;
     (c) any creditable service awarded by the retirement board under 19-20-403 for employment while on leave;
     (d) any creditable service awarded by the retirement board under 19-20-404 for service in the military, the red cross, or the merchant marine;
     (e) any creditable service awarded by the retirement board under 19-20-408 for employment in private schools;
     (f) any creditable service awarded by the retirement board under 19-20-409 for service transferred after October 1, 1989, from the public employees' retirement system;
     (g) any creditable service awarded by the retirement board under 19-20-410 for extension service employment;
     (h) any creditable service awarded by the retirement board under 19-20-411 for absence because of employment-related injury; and
     (i) any creditable service awarded by the retirement board under 19-20-426 for service provided under the university system retirement program.
     (3) The retirement board's determination of creditable service under this section is final and conclusive for the purposes of the retirement system unless, at any time, the board discovers an error or fraud in the establishment of creditable service, in which case the board shall redetermine the creditable service.
     (4) For a member completing only part-time service during the qualifying period, the first full year's teaching salary used to calculate the cost to purchase creditable service is the salary that the member would have earned if the member's first year part-time salary had been full-time.
     (5) A member may not purchase creditable service under this part after retirement benefit payments to the member have started, even if the member returns to active member status.

     History: En. 75-6212 by Sec. 107, Ch. 5, L. 1971; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 507, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 8, Ch. 127, L. 1977; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 331, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 75-6212(2) thru (4); amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 551, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 38, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 79, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 56, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 690, L. 1989; Sec. 19-4-401, MCA 1991; redes. 19-20-401 by Code Commissioner, 1993; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 320, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 282, L. 2009; amd. Sec. 12, Ch. 210, L. 2015.