{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-161.600","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 161.600","heading":"Retirement conditions -- Consolidation of accounts -- Applications and","body":"forms -- Surviving spouse.\n(1) An individual who becomes a member of the retirement system prior to January 1,\n2022, may qualify for service retirement by meeting one (1 ) of the following\nrequirements:\n(a) Attainment of age sixty (60) years and completion of five (5) years of\nKentucky service;\n(b) 1. For an individual who becomes a member before July 1, 2008,\nattainment of age fifty -five (55) years and completion of a min imum of\nfive (5) years of Kentucky service with an actuarial reduction of the\nbasic allowance of five percent (5%) for each year the member's age is\nless than sixty (60) years or for each year the member's years of\nKentucky service credit is less than twen ty-seven (27), whichever is the\nlesser number; and\n2. For an individual who becomes a member on or after July 1, 2008,\nattainment of age fifty -five (55) years and completion of a minimum of\nten (10) years of Kentucky service with an actuarial reduction of the\nbasic retirement allowance of six percent (6%) for each year the\nmember's age is less than sixty (60) years or for each year the member's\nyears of Kentucky service credit is less than twenty -seven (27),\nwhichever is the lesser number;\n(c) Completion of  twenty-seven (27) years of Kentucky service. Out -of-state\nservice earned in accordance with the provisions of KRS 161.515(2) may be\nused to meet this requirement; or\n(d) Completion of the necessary years of service under provisions of KRS\n61.559(2)(c) if the member is retiring under the reciprocity provisions of KRS\n61.680. A member retiring under this paragraph who has not attained age\nfifty-five (55) shall incur an actuarial reduction of the basic allowance\ndetermined by the system's actuary for each yea r the member's service credit\nis less than twenty-seven (27).\n(2) An individual who becomes a member of the retirement system on or after January\n1, 2022, shall, except as adjusted by the board pursuant to KRS 161.633 or 161.634,\nas applicable, be eligible to retire upon attainment of:\n(a) Age sixty -five (65) and completion of a minimum of five (5) years of\nKentucky service;\n(b) Age sixty (60) and completion of a minimum of ten (10) years of Kentucky\nservice;\n(c) Age fifty -seven (57) and completion of a minimum of thirty (30) years of\nKentucky service; or\n(d) Age fifty -seven (57) and completion of a minimum of ten (10) years of\nKentucky service with an actuarial reduction of the basic retirement allowance\nof six percent (6%) for each year the member's age is less than sixty (60)\nyears or for each year the member's years of Kentucky service credit is less\nthan thirty (30), whichever is the lesser number.\n(3) Any person who has been a member in Kentucky for twenty -seven (27) years or\nmore and who withdraws from covered employment may continue to pay into the\nfund each year until the end of the fiscal year in which he or she reaches th e age of\nsixty-five (65) years, the current contribution rate based on the annual\ncompensation received during the member's last full year in covered employment,\nless any payment received for accrued sick leave or accrued leave from an\nemployer. The member  shall be entitled to receive a retirement allowance as\nprovided in KRS 161.620 at any time after withdrawing from covered employment\nand payment of contributions under this subsection. No member shall make\ncontributions as provided for in this subsection if the member is at the same time\nmaking contributions to another retirement system in Kentucky supported wholly or\nin part by public funds.\n(4) Service credit in the Kentucky Employees Retirement System, the State Police\nRetirement System, the Legislators ' Retirement Plan, the County Employees\nRetirement System, or the Judicial Retirement System may be used in meeting the\nservice requirements of subsections (1)(a) to (c) and (2) of this section, provided the\nservice is subsequent to July 1, 1956.\n(5) Upon death, disability, or service retirement, a member's accounts under all state\nsupported retirement systems shall be consolidated, as provided by this section and\nby KRS 61.680, for the purpose of determining eligibility and amount of benefits,\nwhich shall include medical benefits. Upon determination of benefits, each system\nshall pay the applicable percentage of total benefits. The effective date of retirement\nunder this subsection shall be determined by each retirement system for the portion\nof the payments that will be made.\n(6) No retirement annuity shall be effective until written application and option election\nforms are filed with the retirement office in accordance with administrative\nregulations of the board of trustees. A member may withdraw his or her retirement\napplication, postpone his or her effective retirement date, or change his or her\nretirement option if these elections are made no later than the fifteenth day of the\nmonth in which the member has made application for retirement. The deadline  for\nmaking these changes shall not be subject to the jurisdiction of any court or appeal\nprocess, nor shall it otherwise be tolled or waived.\n(7) The surviving spouse of an active contributing member, if named as beneficiary of\nthe member's account, may purchase retirement credit that the member was eligible\nto purchase prior to the member's death.","path":["KRS Chapter 161"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56065","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:11Z","sha256":"daa65730f588ee16b9afe5d26fe85209f37d42718f4754df9261cce6b6e9b308","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-161.597","next":"us-ky/krs-161.603"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}