A. In lieu of terminating employment and accepting a service retirement pension pursuant to Section 50-114 of this title, any member of the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System who has not less than twenty (20) years of creditable service and who is eligible to receive a service retirement pension may make an irrevocable election to participate in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan and defer the receipts of benefits in accordance with the provisions of this section. B. For purposes of this section, creditable service shall include service credit reciprocally recognized pursuant to Section 50-101 et seq. of this title but for eligibility purposes only. C. The duration of participation in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan for a member shall not exceed five (5) years. Participation in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan must begin the first day of a month and end on the last day of a month. At the conclusion of a member's participation in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan, the member shall terminate employment with all participating municipalities as an officer, and shall start receiving the member's accrued monthly retirement benefit from the System. Such a member may receive in-service distributions of such member's accrued monthly retirement benefit from the System if such member is reemployed by a participating municipality only if such reemployment is as a police chief or in a position not covered under the System. D. When a member begins participation in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan, the contribution of the employee shall cease. The employer contributions shall continue to be paid in accordance with Section 50-109 of this title. Municipal contributions for employees who elect the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan shall be credited equally to the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System and to the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan. The monthly retirement benefits that would have been payable had the member elected to cease employment and receive a service retirement shall be paid into the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan account. E. 1. A member who participates in this plan shall be eligible to receive cost of living increases. 2. A member who participates in this plan shall earn interest at a rate of two percentage points below the rate of return of the investment portfolio of the System, but no less than the actuarial assumed interest rate as certified by the actuary in the yearly evaluation report of the actuary. The interest shall be credited to the individual account balance of the member on an annual basis. F. A participant in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan shall receive, at the option of the participant: 1. A lump sum payment from the account equal to the option account balance of the participant, payable to the participant; 2. A lump sum payment from the account equal to the option account balance of the participant, payable to the annuity provider which shall be selected by the participant as a result of the research and investigation of the participant; or 3. Any other method of payment if approved by the State Board. Notwithstanding any other provision contained herein to the contrary, commencement of distributions under the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan shall be no later than the time as set forth in subsection C of Section 50-114 of this title. G. If the participant dies during the period of participation in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan, a lump sum payment equal to the account balance of the participant shall be paid to the recipients, which may include a trust, properly designated in writing by the participant or, if none, to the surviving spouse who was married to the participant for the thirty (30) continuous months immediately preceding the death of the participant; provided, a surviving spouse of a participant who died in, and as a consequence of, the performance of the participant's duty for a participating municipality shall not be subject to the thirty-month marriage requirement for survivor benefits or, if no surviving spouse, to the estate of the participant. H. In lieu of participating in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan pursuant to subsections A, B, C, D, E and F of this section, a member may make an irrevocable election to participate in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan pursuant to this subsection as follows: 1. For purposes of this subsection, the following definitions shall apply: a. "back drop date" means the date selected by the member, which is up to five (5) years before the member elects to participate in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan, but not before the date at which the member completes twenty (20) years of credited service, b. "termination date" means the date the member elects to participate in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan pursuant to this subsection, and the date the member terminates employment with all participating municipalities as an active police officer, such termination has at all times included reemployment of a member by a participating municipality only if such reemployment is as a police chief or in a position not covered under the System, c. "earlier attained credited service" means the credited service earned by a member as of the back drop date, and earlier attained credited service cannot be reduced to less than twenty (20) years of credited service, and d. "deferred benefit balance" means all monthly retirement benefits that would have been payable had the member elected to cease employment on the back drop date and receive a service retirement from the back drop date to the termination date, all of the member's contributions and one-half (1/2) of the employer contributions from the back drop date to the termination date, with interest based on how the benefit would have accumulated as if the member had participated in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan pursuant to subsections A, B, C, D and E of this section from the back drop date to the termination date; 2. At the termination date, the monthly pension benefit shall be determined based on earlier attained credited service and on the final average salary as of the back drop date. The member's individual deferred option account shall be credited with an amount equal to the deferred benefit balance; the member shall terminate employment with all participating municipalities as a police officer and shall start receiving the member's accrued monthly retirement benefit from the System. The provisions of subsections B, C, E, F and G of this section shall apply to this subsection. A member shall not participate in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan pursuant to this subsection if the member has elected to participate in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan pursuant to subsections A, B, C, D, E and F of this section; and 3. If a member who has not less than twenty (20) years of creditable service and who is eligible to receive a service retirement pension dies prior to terminating employment, the surviving spouse shall be eligible to elect to receive a benefit determined as if the member had elected to participate in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan in accordance with this subsection on the day immediately preceding the death. The surviving spouse must have been married to the member for the thirty (30) continuous months preceding the member's death; provided, the surviving spouse of a member who died while in, and as a consequence of, the performance of the member's duty for a participating municipality shall not be subject to the thirty-month marriage requirement for this election. Added by Laws 1990, c. 111, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1990. Amended by Laws 1990, c. 340, § 10, eff. July 1, 1990; Laws 1990, c. 334, § 2, operative July 1, 1990; Laws 1993, c. 352, § 4, eff. July 1, 1993; Laws 2003, c. 137, § 3, emerg. eff. April 25, 2003; Laws 2003, c. 343, § 1, eff. July 1, 2003; Laws 2004, c. 551, § 4, emerg. eff. June 9, 2004; Laws 2008, c. 177, § 4, eff. July 1, 2008; Laws 2010, c. 437, § 2, emerg. eff. June 9, 2010; Laws 2019, c. 346, § 3, eff. July 1, 2019; Laws 2021, c. 329, § 2, eff. July 1, 2021.
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