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Article 5. Credit For Public Service of California Government Code >> Division 5. >> Title 2. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 11. >> Article 5.

"Public service" for purposes of this article means the following:
  (a) The period of time an employee served the state, a school employer, or a contracting agency prior to becoming a member, when the service was rendered in a position in which the employee was excluded provided one of the following conditions is met:
  (1) The position has since become subject to compulsory membership in this system.
  (2) The employee was excluded because the employee was serving on a part-time basis.
  (3) The employee was excluded because the employee failed to exercise the right to elect membership under this part.
  (b) Employment in the State Emergency Relief Administration or the State Relief Administration, regardless of the source of the compensation paid for that employment.
  (c) Employment as an academic employee of the University of California prior to October 1, 1963.
  (d) Employment by the state in which the person was not eligible for membership in this system if the ineligibility was solely because his or her compensation was paid from other than state-controlled funds. However, time spent in work as a work relief recipient under programs such as, but not limited to, the Works Progress Administration, the Civil Works Administration, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the National Youth Administration, and the Civilian Conservation Corps, shall not constitute public service.
  (e) Employment in a function formerly performed by a public agency other than a contracting agency and assumed by a contracting agency where the employees who performed those functions are or were transferred to or employed by the contracting agency without change in occupation or position.
  (f) Civilian service as an employee or officer of an agency of the government of the United States that performed functions the same as or substantially similar to those performed by this state prior to January 1, 1942, and that were transferred from the state to that agency, including military service in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States performed by an individual on military leave of absence from that federal employment, if all the following conditions exist:
  (1) Prior to performing that federal service he or she was employed by the state.
  (2) He or she was laid off from state service or would have been laid off if he or she had not been absent in military service because of the transfer of the functions of the state to an agency of the United States government.
  (3) Subsequent to his or her layoff from state service he or she was employed by the United States government in an agency performing functions the same as or substantially similar to those of the state agency from which he or she was laid off.
  (4) After his or her separation from federal service, he or she was employed by a state agency.
  (5) In lieu of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), the United States government pays to the state or an agency of the state, funds equal to contributions that would have been made by the state had the member been in state service for the period of his or her public service with respect to members who were not employed by the state prior to entering that federal employment or whose state service prior to entering that federal employment was terminated for reasons other than the transfer of the function.
  (g) Employment in a district, prior to the time the district became a subsidiary district of a city, of a person who was employed by the city following the reorganization to render service to the district and who became a member in that employment.
(a) "Public service" also means time, on or after October 14, 1991, during which a person was employed under the California Senate Fellows, the Assembly Fellowship, or the Executive Fellowship programs, and time, on or after January 1, 2003, during which a person was employed under the Judicial Administration Fellowship program.
  (b) A member may elect at any time prior to retirement to receive service credit for that public service by making the contributions as specified in Sections 21050 and 21052.
  (c) This section shall not apply to any contracting agency nor to the employees of any contracting agency until the agency elects to be subject to this section by contract or by amendment to its contract made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts.
"Public service" for the employee of a student body organization, that is not a contracting agency, of a community college, means the period of employment prior to becoming a member of the permanent classified service of the district pursuant to Section 76060 or 88020 of the Education Code. The county superintendent of schools or superintendent of schools of an independently contracting community college district shall draw a requisition against the funds of the community college district for an amount equal to the total employer contribution that would have been requisitioned under Section 20617 had that service been rendered in the employ of the community college district and the employer rate and member compensation on the date of transfer had been in effect throughout the period of service credited. The governing board may, at its discretion, establish a method of recovering a portion of, or the total liability for, the amount so requisitioned.
"Public service," with respect to a local member who is a full-time employee, also means any time on or after January 1, 1981, but not to exceed 12 months, during which the local member is laid off. In the event the member becomes subject to membership through employment in another member classification during the layoff period, any service credit accumulated through and contributions associated with the intervening employment shall be revoked upon election by the member to purchase public service credit as provided by this section. The service credit provided by this section shall not exceed one year for each layoff period and shall be provided to any person who: (1) returns within 12 months of the date of layoff to full-time employment under the procedures of the employer for returning laid-off employees to work; (2) elects to purchase the public service credit within three years of return to work or the effective date of the contract amendment to become subject to this section; and (3) redeposits any contributions which had been withdrawn at the commencement of, or during, the period of the layoff. This section shall not apply to any contracting agency nor to the employees of a contracting agency until the agency elects to be subject to this section by contract or by amendment to its contract made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts.
(a) "Public service" with respect to a state member, other than a university member, also means the following:
  (1) Time during which the member was a prisoner of war involving the United States, plus the time, if any, during which a member was hospitalized following his or her release from captivity for a disabling wound, injury, or disease directly attributable to that captivity but not to include hospitalization after the member's honorable and permanent medical separation from the armed forces.
  (2) Time between the onset of the member's disabling wound, injury, or disease, directly attributable to service in combat with the armed forces during a war involving the United States, and the date of the member's honorable and permanent medical separation from the armed forces due to the disabling condition, if the member has a permanent disability rating in excess of 50 percent, that percentage having been determined under applicable federal law.
  (b) For the purposes of this section, a war involving the United States exists in any of the following circumstances:
  (1) Whenever Congress has declared war and peace has not been formally restored.
  (2) Whenever the United States is engaged in active military operations against any foreign power, whether or not a war has been formally declared.
  (3) Whenever the United States is assisting the United Nations, in actions involving the use of the armed forces, to maintain or restore international peace and security.
  (c) A member electing to receive credit for public service under this section shall pay the contributions and interest required pursuant to Section 21033.
  (d) This section shall apply to a member only if the member elects to receive credit while he or she is a state member, other than a university member, and he or she is credited with at least 10 years of service as a state member, other than a university member, on the date of the election.
  (e) The maximum public service credit that may be received pursuant to this section is five years.
  (f) This section shall not apply to any member receiving military retirement pay as described in Section 20896 or disability retirement pay as described in Section 20897.
  (g) Except as provided in subdivision (f), this section shall apply to a state member, other than a university member, who leaves or has left employment with the state, subsequently meets or has subsequently met the conditions specified in subdivisions (a) and (b), and thereafter returns or thereafter has returned to service as a state member, other than a university member, is not entitled to receive the service credit pursuant to Section 20991 or 20997.
(a) "Public service" for purposes of this article also means time served, not to exceed three years, as a volunteer in the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America), or AmeriCorps.
  (b) This section shall not apply to any contracting agency nor to the employees of any contracting agency until the agency elects to be subject to this section by contract or by amendment to its contract made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts.
  (c) Any member electing to receive credit for service under this section shall make the contributions as specified in Sections 21050 and 21052. This section applies to past and future service in the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America), or AmeriCorps.
(a) "Public service" with respect to a local member, other than a school member, also means active service with the Armed Forces or the Merchant Marine of the United States, including time during any period of rehabilitation afforded by the United States government other than a period of rehabilitation for purely educational purposes, and for six months thereafter prior to the member's first employment by the employer under this section in which he or she was a member.
  (b) Any member electing to receive credit for that public service shall make the contributions as specified in Sections 21050 and 21052. However, any eligible member who requests costing of service credit between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2003, may, instead of making those contributions, make the payment calculated under this article as it read on December 31, 2000, which payment shall be made in the manner described in Section 21050.
  (c) The public service under this section shall not include military service (1) in any period for which credit is otherwise given under this article or Article 4 (commencing with Section 20990) or (2) to the extent that total credit under this section would exceed four years.
  (d) Notwithstanding Section 21034, a member may select which of two or more periods of service entitles him or her to receive public service under this section.
  (e) This section shall apply to a member only if he or she elects to receive credit while he or she is in state service in the employment of one employer on or after the date of the employer's election to be subject to this section.
  (f) This section shall not apply to any contracting agency nor to the employees of any contracting agency until the agency elects to be subject to this section by amendment to its contract made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts or in the case of contracts made after this section takes effect, by express provision in the contract making the contracting agency subject to this section. The amendments to this section made during the second year of the 1999-2000 Regular Session shall apply to contracts subject to this section on January 1, 2001.
(a) "Public service" with respect to a member who is a local firefighter also means time served, before becoming a member, as a permanent career civilian federal firefighter or permanent career state firefighter in a position whose principal duties consist of active fire suppression or law enforcement and that service was terminated as a direct consequence of the closure, downsizing, or realignment of a federal military installation.
  (b) This section shall not apply to any contracting agency nor to the employees of any contracting agency until the agency elects to be subject to this section by contract or by amendment to its contract made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts.
"Public service" with respect to a local member also means service rendered to a public agency if that agency or a function of that agency is assumed by a contracting agency or a public agency that thereafter becomes a contracting agency. This section shall not apply to any contracting agency nor to the employees of any contracting agency until the agency elects to be subject to this section by contract or by amendment to its contract made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts.
(a) "Public service" with respect to a school member or a retired school member also means service rendered on or after June 30, 1977, and prior to June 30, 1982, to an independent data processing center formed pursuant to former Article 2 (commencing with Section 10550) of Chapter 6 of Part 7 of Title 1 of the Education Code, as it read on December 31, 1990, if all of the following conditions are met:
  (1) The member was a school member prior to employment with the independent data processing center.
  (2) The member returned to school employment following termination of his or her employment with the independent data processing center.
  (3) The member received a refund of the contributions he or she made to the system during his or her employment with the independent data processing center.
  (b) A retirement allowance of a retired school member who elects to receive service credit for public service pursuant to this section shall be increased only with respect to the allowance payable on and after the first day of the month following the date the election is received.
  (c) A member may elect to receive credit for public service pursuant to this section at any time.
  (d) Any member electing to receive credit for service under this section shall make the contributions as specified in Sections 21050 and 21052.
"Public service" with respect to a local member also means service rendered to any California nonprofit corporation whose function is to serve firefighters employed by state and local agencies. This section shall not apply to any contracting agency nor to the employees of any contracting agency until the agency elects to be subject to this section by contract or by amendment to its contract made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts.
(a) "Public service" with respect to a local member who retired pursuant to this part before the effective date of the election of his or her employer to be subject to Section 21024 also means active service with the Armed Forces or the Merchant Marine of the United States, including time during any period of rehabilitation afforded by the United States government other than a period of rehabilitation for purely educational purposes, and for six months thereafter prior to the person's first employment by the employer under this section in which he or she was a member.
  (b) Any retired person electing to receive credit for that public service shall make the contributions as specified in Sections 21050 and 21052. However, any eligible member who requests costing of service credit between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2003, may, instead of making those contributions, make the payment calculated under this article as it read on December 31, 2000, which payment shall be made in the manner described in Section 21050.
  (c) The public service shall not include military service (1) in any period for which credit is otherwise given under this article or Article 4 (commencing with Section 20990) or (2) to the extent that total credit under this section would exceed four years.
  (d) Notwithstanding Section 21034, a retired person may select which of two or more periods of service entitles him or her to receive public service under this section.
  (e) This section shall apply to a retired person only if he or she retired immediately following service as a local member, pursuant to this part, and before the effective date of the election by his or her employer to be subject to Section 21024.
  (f) The retirement allowance of a retired person who elects to receive service credit pursuant to this section shall be increased only with respect to the allowance payable on and after the effective date of the election.
  (g) This section shall not apply to any contracting agency nor to the employees of any contracting agency until the agency has elected to be subject to Section 21024 and elects to be subject to this section by amendment to its contract made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts or, in the case of contacts made after January 1, 1988, by express provision in the contract making the contracting agency subject to both Section 21024 and this section. The amendments to this section made during the second year of the 1999-2000 Regular Session shall apply to contracts subject to this section on January 1, 2001.
"Public service" also means service in temporary, seasonal, limited term, on call, emergency, intermittent, substitute, or other irregular employment in which a person is excluded from membership.
(a) "Public service" with respect to a state member or a school member or with respect to a retired former state employee or a retired former school employee, who retired on or after December 31, 1981, also means active service, prior to entering this system as a state member or as a school member, of not less than one year in the Armed Forces of the United States, or, active service, prior to entering this system as a state or school member, of not less than one year in the Merchant Marine of the United States prior to January 1, 1950. Public service credit shall not be granted if the service described above terminated with a discharge under dishonorable conditions. The public service credit to be granted for that service shall be on the basis of one year of credit for each year of credited state service, but shall not exceed a total of four years of public service credit regardless of the number of years of either that service or subsequent state service. A state member or a school member or a retired former state employee or a retired former school employee electing to receive a credit for that public service shall have been credited with at least one year of state service on the date of election or the date of retirement.
  (b) An election by a state member or a school member with respect to public service under this section may be made only while the member is in state, university, or school employment, and a retired former employee shall have retired immediately following service as a state member or as a school member. The retirement allowance of a retired former state employee or a retired former school employee, who elects to receive public service credit pursuant to this section shall be increased only with respect to the allowance payable on and after the date of election. For the purposes of this section, a member as described in subdivision (d) of Section 20776, shall also mean a former state employee or a former school employee, who retired on or after December 31, 1981.
  (c) A member or retired former employee who elects to become subject to this section shall make the contributions as specified in Sections 21050 and 21052.
  (d) The board has no duty to locate or notify any eligible former member who is currently retired or to provide the name or address of any such retired person, agency, or entity for the purpose of notifying those persons.
(a) "Public service" with respect to a state member also means all periods of service rendered as an officer, warrant officer, or a person in the enlisted ranks of the California National Guard prior to electing membership in this system pursuant to Section 20326. "Public service" also means an officer, warrant officer, or a person in the enlisted ranks of the California National Guard rendering service authorized by Title 10 of the United States Code. Public service may not be granted if the service described in this section was terminated by a discharge under other than honorable conditions.
  (b) A member who elects to purchase service credit for public service under this section shall pay the contributions described in Sections 21050 and 21052.
(a) "Public service" for purposes of this article also means employment under a program sponsored by, and financed at least in part by, the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973, as amended.
  (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a member electing to receive credit for public service under this section shall make the contributions as specified in Sections 21050 and 21052. However, any eligible member who requests costing of service credit between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2003, may, instead of making those contributions, make the payment calculated under this article as it read on December 31, 2000, which payment shall be made in the manner described in Section 21050.
  (c) Benefits arising from service credited to a member under this section shall become a liability of the employer for which the service was rendered.
(a) "Public service" also means employment by a contracting agency before the effective date of its contract with the board, and is limited to that portion of the service that the agency does not provide in its contract for inclusion as prior service.
  (b) A member electing to receive credit for that public service shall make the contributions as specified in Sections 21050 and 21051. The election may be made at any time prior to retirement.
  (c) If the contracting agency subsequently amends its contract to include a greater percentage of final compensation as prior service, the electing member shall be refunded that portion of his or her contributions made under this section as represents the additional prior service percentage contracted for by the agency plus interest at the crediting rate.
  (d) If the agency pays all or a portion of the normal contributions required to be paid by a member, the contributions required under this section shall be based upon the normal contribution rate that would be applicable to that member if the agency were not paying any normal contributions under Section 20690 or 20691.
  (e) This section shall not apply to any contracting agency until the agency elects to be subject to the provision of this section by amendment to its contract made in the manner prescribed for approval of contracts, except an election among the employees is not required, or, in the case of contracts made after March 1, 1982, by express provision in the contract making the contracting agency subject to the provisions of this section. The amendments to this section made during the second year of the 1999-2000 Regular Session shall apply to contracts subject to this section on January 1, 2001.
A member may elect at any time prior to retirement, in accordance with regulations of the board, to receive credit for public service, under any of the definitions in this article, in addition to his or her current and prior service credit. An election shall be effective only if accompanied by a lump-sum payment of the contributions and interest required for the credit or by authorization for immediate institution of payroll deduction of installment payment of the contributions and interest. The right of election is subject to Sections 20894 and 20961, and shall be ineffective with respect to any time or employment for which the member subsequently becomes entitled to or eligible to elect to receive service credit in another system supported in whole or in part from public funds, in which case accumulated contributions on deposit for the period of service credit shall be paid to the member.
A member electing to receive credit for public service shall contribute in a lump sum or by installment payments over that period and subject to minimum payments as may be prescribed by regulations of the board an amount equal to (a) the contributions he or she would have made to this system for the period for which current service credit is granted, assuming that the rate of contribution under his or her employer's formula at the rate age applicable to him or her at the beginning of his or her first subsequent period of service in membership and his or her compensation earnable on that date had applied to him or her during the period for which credit is granted, plus (b) the added contribution that may be specially required under this article as a condition for crediting particular public service, plus (c) the interest which would have accrued to those contributions if they had been deposited at the beginning date of his or her first subsequent period of service in membership, from that date until the date of completion of payments, and (d) if he or she elects to contribute in other than one sum, interest on the unpaid balance of the amount payable to the retirement fund, beginning on the date of the election to receive credit. The beginning date of the first subsequent period of service for purposes of computation of contribution and interest shall be deemed to be the end of the period of service credited for a member who has no subsequent return to service. For a member who is subject to Section 21076 or 21076.5, and Section 21077, the service and contribution rate to be used for purposes of computation shall be deemed to be the service and contribution rate that would have been used had the member not been subject to Section 21076 or 21076.5, and Section 21077.
Public service may be credited as current or prior service, or both, as it would be credited if the member had been in state service during his or her public service. Credit shall not be granted for public service which would be credited as prior service unless the member has contributed for all other "public service" for which he or she is entitled to elect to receive credit as current service with the employer where the prior service is to be credited. Benefits based on credited public service shall be computed according to the formula determining the member's contribution for that service credit. "Public service," as defined in subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) of Section 21020 to a member who at membership became subject to a reduced or modified retirement allowance formula because of coordination with the federal system shall be subject to that modified formula to the extent that the service was rendered to any contracting agency in which that modified formula applies after the effective date of coverage under the federal system of members in the employ of that agency.
Benefits based on service credited under this article in excess of the portion paid from member contributions shall be paid from the contributions of the employer in whose employment the service was rendered or the right to receive the service credit for an employment constituting public service was acquired, whichever the case may be.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the following shall apply:
  (a) A member who has elected to receive credit for service by contributing in installments and who retires for disability on or after January 1, 2004, when the election for service credit does not increase the member's allowance payable, may elect to cancel the installments prospectively. The member's election may be received by the system no more than 30 days after the date on which the member's retirement for disability is approved. The effective date of the member's election shall be the effective date of the member's retirement for disability. No refund of contributions paid in installments prior to the effective date of the member's election may be payable to a member or retired member as a result of an election made by a member pursuant to this section.
  (b) A member's election pursuant to this section shall be void, and installment payments shall resume, upon a member's reinstatement from retirement for disability. The remaining balance due shall be recalculated to include interest during the disability retirement period.
  (c) On or after January 1, 2004, the survivor of a member who elected to receive credit for service by contributing in installments, when the survivor is eligible to receive an allowance subject to Section 21541, may elect to cancel the installments prospectively when the election for service credit does not increase the survivor's allowance payable. The survivor's election shall be received by the system no more than 30 days after the member's date of death. The effective date of the survivor's election shall be the member's date of death. No refund of contributions paid in installments prior to the member's date of death may be payable as a result of an election made by a survivor pursuant to this section.
  (d) A survivor's election pursuant to this section shall be void, and installment payments shall resume, upon a determination that the death was not industrial, following payment of a temporary special death benefit allowance, provided that the survivor is then entitled to a monthly allowance under Section 21546, 21547, 21547.7, or 21548. The remaining balance due shall be recalculated to include interest during the temporary special death benefit period.
  (e) A member who retired for disability prior to January 1, 2004, or the survivor of a deceased disability retiree who began receiving a postretirement death benefit allowance prior to January 1, 2004, or the survivor of a member who began receiving an allowance subject to Section 21541 prior to January 1, 2004, may elect to cancel installments prospectively when the election for service credit does not increase the allowance payable. The effective date of the election shall be the date that the election is received by this system. No refund of contributions paid in installments prior to the effective date of the election may be payable pursuant to this section.
All contributions of a member under this article shall be considered to be and shall be administered as normal contributions.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a safety member, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 20371, who has elected to receive credit for service by making contributions in installment payments and who retires or has retired due to industrial disability while making those payments, may elect to cancel the payments prospectively if the election to receive credit for service does not increase the member's allowance payable. The effective date of the member's election to cancel payments shall be the first day of the month following receipt of the election by the system. No refund of contributions paid in installments prior to the effective date of the member's election to cancel the payments shall be payable to a member or retired member as a result of an election made by a member pursuant to this section.
  (b) A member's election pursuant to this section shall be void, and the installment payments shall resume, upon a member's reinstatement from retirement for industrial disability. The remaining balance due shall be recalculated to include interest during the industrial disability retirement period.
  (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit any right or benefit granted pursuant to Section 20776 or 21037, as amended by Senate Bill 268 of the 2003-04 Regular Session.