{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-161.470","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 161.470","heading":"Membership -- Forfeiture of service credit -- Termination of membership -","body":"- Forfeiture of benefits -- Reinstatement -- Payment of accumulated account\nbalance.\n(1) The membership of the retirement system shall consist of all new members, all\npresent teachers, and all persons participating under the retirement system as of\nJune 30, 1986, except as provided in Acts 1938 (1st Ex. Sess.), Ch. 1, paragraph 29.\nThe board of trustees of the Teachers' Retirement System shall be responsible for\nfinal d etermination of membership eligibility and may direct employers to take\nwhatever action that may be necessary to correct any error relating to membership.\n(2) Service credit shall be forfeited upon withdrawal. If a member again enters service\nit shall be as a new member, except that any teacher who withdraws by claiming his\nor her deposits may repay the system the amount withdrawn plus interest and\nreestablish his or her service credit as provided in subsection (3) of this section.\n(3) Effective July 1, 198 8, and thereafter, an active contributing member of the\nretirement system with contributing service equal to one (1) year may regain service\ncredit by depositing in the teachers' savings fund the amount withdrawn with\ninterest at the rate to be set by the board of trustees, and computed from the first of\nthe month of withdrawal and including the month of redeposit.\n(4) Effective July 1, 1974, any active contributing member with at least two (2) years\nof contributing service credit who declined membership as  provided in Acts 1938\n(1st Ex. Sess.), Ch. 1, paragraph 29, may secure service credit for prior service, and\nfor any subsequent service prior to date of membership, by depositing in the\nteachers' savings fund contributions for each year of subsequent serv ice prior to\ndate of membership, with interest at the rate of eight percent (8%) compounded\nannually to the date of deposit.\n(5) Membership in the retirement system shall be terminated:\n(a) By retirement for service;\n(b) By death;\n(c) By withdrawal of the member's accumulated account balance;\n(d) When a member, having less than five (5) years of Kentucky service is absent\nfrom service for more than three (3) consecutive years; or\n(e) For persons whose membership begins on or after August 1, 2000, when a\nmember is convicted, in any state or federal court of competent jurisdiction, of\na felony related to his or her employment as provided in subparagraphs 1. and\n2. of this paragraph.\n1. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a person whose\nmembership begins on or after August 1, 2000, who is convicted, in any\nstate or federal court of competent jurisdiction, of a felony related to his\nor her employment shall forfeit rights and benefits earned under the\nretirement system, except for the return of his or her accumulated\ncontributions and interest credited on those contributions through the\ndate of conviction.\n2. The payment of retirement benefits ordered forfeited shall be sta yed\npending any appeal of the conviction. If the conviction is reversed on\nfinal judgment, no retirement benefits shall be forfeited.\nExcept for paragraph (e) of this subsection, upon termination of member accounts\nunder this subsection, funds in the acco unt shall be transferred to the guarantee\nfund. Inactive members may apply for refunds of these funds at any time. The\nterminated service shall be reinstated, if not withdrawn by the member, in the event\nthat the member returns to active contributing service.\n(6) In case of withdrawal from service prior to eligibility for retirement, the board of\ntrustees shall on request of the member return all of his or her accumulated account\nbalance, including any payments made by the member to the state accumulation\nfund, but the member shall have no claim on any contributions made by the state or\nemployer with a view to his or her retirement, except as provided by KRS 161.635\nand 161.636, or to contributions made to the medical insurance fund. A member\nwho is withdrawing from service prior to retirement eligibility shall be entitled to a\nrefund following sixty (60) days after his or her last day of employment. If the\nmember is eligible for an immediate service retirement allowance as provided in\nKRS 161.600, no withdra wal and refund shall be permitted, unless the allowance\nwould prohibit the member from qualifying for Social Security benefits or the\nmember elects to withdraw part or all of his or her service for the purpose of\nobtaining service credit in another retirem ent plan. Requests for refund of\ncontributions by the member must be filed on forms prescribed by the Teachers'\nRetirement System and the employer shall be financially responsible for all\ninformation that is certified on the prescribed form. A member may n ot withdraw\nany part of his or her accumulated account balance in the retirement system except\nas provided by this subsection.\n(7) Except as provided in KRS 161.520 and 161.525, in case of death prior to\nretirement, the board of trustees shall pay to the e state of the deceased member,\nunless a beneficiary was otherwise applicably designated by the deceased member,\nthen to the beneficiary, all of his or her accumulated account balance, including any\npayments made by the member to the state accumulation fund,  but the estate or\nbeneficiary shall have no claim on any contributions made by the state or employer\nwith a view to the retirement of the member, except as provided by KRS 161.635\nand 161.636, or to contributions made to the medical insurance fund.\n(8) Any active contributing member of the Kentucky Employees Retirement System,\nthe County Employees Retirement System, the State Police Retirement System, or\nthe Judicial Retirement System may use service, under that retirement system for\nthe purpose of meeting  the service requirement of subsections (3) and (4) of this\nsection.","path":["KRS Chapter 161"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56063","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:10Z","sha256":"c73e34a06714130286f3c5eb2923b4ba886b001ab9794fa5808a152b8d09c5e2","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-161.460","next":"us-ky/krs-161.480"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}