19-20-403. Creditable service for employment while on leave. (1) (a) Subject to 19-20-405, a member who is eligible under subsection (1)(b) and who contributes to the retirement system as provided in subsection (2) may receive up to 2 years of creditable service for employment while on leave.
     (b) To be eligible to purchase service under this section, a member must be vested in the retirement system, must have been a member prior to the leave, and must have completed 1 year of active membership in the retirement system subsequent to the member's leave.
     (2) (a) For each year of service to be credited, a member who became a member before July 1, 1989, shall contribute for each year of service to be purchased an amount equal to the combined employer and employee contributions for the member's first full year's salary earned in a position reportable to the retirement system after the member's return from leave, plus interest.
     (b) For each year of service to be credited under this section, a member who became a member on or after July 1, 1989, shall contribute the actuarial cost of the service based on the most recent actuarial valuation of the system.
     (3) The interest on contributions required under subsection (2)(a) must be paid:
     (a) if a written application to purchase service was signed prior to July 1, 2012, at the rate that the contributions would have earned had the contributions been in the member's account from the date the member was eligible to purchase the service; or
     (b) if a written application to purchase service is signed on or after July 1, 2012, at the actuarially assumed interest rate in effect on the date the written application is signed.
     (4) The contributions and interest may be made in a lump-sum payment or in installments as agreed between the member and the retirement board.

     History: En. 75-6213 by Sec. 108, Ch. 5, L. 1971; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 57, L. 1971; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 507, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 26, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 9, Ch. 127, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 75-6213(2); amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 113, L. 1989; amd. Secs. 2, 5, Ch. 357, L. 1989; Sec. 19-4-403, MCA 1991; redes. 19-20-403 by Code Commissioner, 1993; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 136, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 45, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 151, L. 2011; amd. Sec. 14, Ch. 210, L. 2015.