{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-11-11-50-111.3","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 11, § 11-50-111.3","heading":"Deferred option plans","body":"A. In lieu of terminating employment and accepting a service\n\nretirement pension pursuant to Section 50-114 of this title, any\n\nmember of the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System who has\n\nnot less than twenty (20) years of creditable service and who is\n\neligible to receive a service retirement pension may make an\n\nirrevocable election to participate in the Oklahoma Police Deferred\n\nOption Plan and defer the receipts of benefits in accordance with\n\nthe provisions of this section.\n\nB. For purposes of this section, creditable service shall\n\ninclude service credit reciprocally recognized pursuant to Section\n\n50-101 et seq. of this title but for eligibility purposes only.\n\nC. The duration of participation in the Oklahoma Police\n\nDeferred Option Plan for a member shall not exceed five (5) years.\n\nParticipation in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan must begin\n\nthe first day of a month and end on the last day of a month. At the\n\nconclusion of a member's participation in the Oklahoma Police\n\nDeferred Option Plan, the member shall terminate employment with all\n\nparticipating municipalities as an officer, and shall start\n\nreceiving the member's accrued monthly retirement benefit from the\n\nSystem. Such a member may receive in-service distributions of such\n\nmember's accrued monthly retirement benefit from the System if such\n\nmember is reemployed by a participating municipality only if such\n\nreemployment is as a police chief or in a position not covered under\n\nthe System.\n\nD. When a member begins participation in the Oklahoma Police\n\nDeferred Option Plan, the contribution of the employee shall cease.\n\nThe employer contributions shall continue to be paid in accordance\n\nwith Section 50-109 of this title. Municipal contributions for\n\nemployees who elect the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan shall\n\nbe credited equally to the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement\n\nSystem and to the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan. The monthly\n\nretirement benefits that would have been payable had the member\n\nelected to cease employment and receive a service retirement shall\n\nbe paid into the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan account.\n\nE. 1. A member who participates in this plan shall be eligible\n\nto receive cost of living increases.\n\n2. A member who participates in this plan shall earn interest\n\nat a rate of two percentage points below the rate of return of the\n\ninvestment portfolio of the System, but no less than the actuarial\n\nassumed interest rate as certified by the actuary in the yearly\n\nevaluation report of the actuary. The interest shall be credited to\n\nthe individual account balance of the member on an annual basis.\n\nF. A participant in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan\n\nshall receive, at the option of the participant:\n\n1. A lump sum payment from the account equal to the option\n\naccount balance of the participant, payable to the participant;\n\n2. A lump sum payment from the account equal to the option\n\naccount balance of the participant, payable to the annuity provider\n\nwhich shall be selected by the participant as a result of the\n\nresearch and investigation of the participant; or\n\n3. Any other method of payment if approved by the State Board.\n\nNotwithstanding any other provision contained herein to the\n\ncontrary, commencement of distributions under the Oklahoma Police\n\nDeferred Option Plan shall be no later than the time as set forth in\n\nsubsection C of Section 50-114 of this title.\n\nG. If the participant dies during the period of participation\n\nin the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan, a lump sum payment\n\nequal to the account balance of the participant shall be paid to the\n\nrecipients, which may include a trust, properly designated in\n\nwriting by the participant or, if none, to the surviving spouse who\n\nwas married to the participant for the thirty (30) continuous months\n\nimmediately preceding the death of the participant; provided, a\nin the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan, a lump sum payment\n\nequal to the account balance of the participant shall be paid to the\n\nrecipients, which may include a trust, properly designated in\n\nwriting by the participant or, if none, to the surviving spouse who\n\nwas married to the participant for the thirty (30) continuous months\n\nimmediately preceding the death of the participant; provided, a\n\nsurviving spouse of a participant who died in, and as a consequence\n\nof, the performance of the participant's duty for a participating\n\nmunicipality shall not be subject to the thirty-month marriage\n\nrequirement for survivor benefits or, if no surviving spouse, to the\n\nestate of the participant.\n\nH. In lieu of participating in the Oklahoma Police Deferred\n\nOption Plan pursuant to subsections A, B, C, D, E and F of this\n\nsection, a member may make an irrevocable election to participate in\n\nthe Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan pursuant to this subsection\n\nas follows:\n\n1. For purposes of this subsection, the following definitions\n\nshall apply:\n\na. \"back drop date\" means the date selected by the\n\nmember, which is up to five (5) years before the\n\nmember elects to participate in the Oklahoma Police\n\nDeferred Option Plan, but not before the date at which\n\nthe member completes twenty (20) years of credited\n\nservice,\n\nb. \"termination date\" means the date the member elects to\n\nparticipate in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option\n\nPlan pursuant to this subsection, and the date the\n\nmember terminates employment with all participating\n\nmunicipalities as an active police officer, such\n\ntermination has at all times included reemployment of\n\na member by a participating municipality only if such\n\nreemployment is as a police chief or in a position not\n\ncovered under the System,\n\nc. \"earlier attained credited service\" means the credited\n\nservice earned by a member as of the back drop date,\n\nand earlier attained credited service cannot be\n\nreduced to less than twenty (20) years of credited\n\nservice, and\n\nd. \"deferred benefit balance\" means all monthly\n\nretirement benefits that would have been payable had\n\nthe member elected to cease employment on the back\n\ndrop date and receive a service retirement from the\n\nback drop date to the termination date, all of the\n\nmember's contributions and one-half (1/2) of the\n\nemployer contributions from the back drop date to the\n\ntermination date, with interest based on how the\n\nbenefit would have accumulated as if the member had\n\nparticipated in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option\n\nPlan pursuant to subsections A, B, C, D and E of this\n\nsection from the back drop date to the termination\n\ndate;\n\n2. At the termination date, the monthly pension benefit shall\n\nbe determined based on earlier attained credited service and on the\n\nfinal average salary as of the back drop date. The member's\n\nindividual deferred option account shall be credited with an amount\n\nequal to the deferred benefit balance; the member shall terminate\n\nemployment with all participating municipalities as a police officer\n\nand shall start receiving the member's accrued monthly retirement\n\nbenefit from the System. The provisions of subsections B, C, E, F\n\nand G of this section shall apply to this subsection. A member\n\nshall not participate in the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan\n\npursuant to this subsection if the member has elected to participate\n\nin the Oklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan pursuant to subsections\n\nA, B, C, D, E and F of this section; and\n\n3. If a member who has not less than twenty (20) years of\n\ncreditable service and who is eligible to receive a service\n\nretirement pension dies prior to terminating employment, the\n\nsurviving spouse shall be eligible to elect to receive a benefit\n\ndetermined as if the member had elected to participate in the\n\nOklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan in accordance with this\n. Cities and Towns Page 636\n\n3. If a member who has not less than twenty (20) years of\n\ncreditable service and who is eligible to receive a service\n\nretirement pension dies prior to terminating employment, the\n\nsurviving spouse shall be eligible to elect to receive a benefit\n\ndetermined as if the member had elected to participate in the\n\nOklahoma Police Deferred Option Plan in accordance with this\n\nsubsection on the day immediately preceding the death. The\n\nsurviving spouse must have been married to the member for the thirty\n\n(30) continuous months preceding the member's death; provided, the\n\nsurviving spouse of a member who died while in, and as a consequence\n\nof, the performance of the member's duty for a participating\n\nmunicipality shall not be subject to the thirty-month marriage\n\nrequirement for this election.","path":["OK Code","Title 11"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os11.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"fb8dacfdda6e0a1314b9a19391359d0f4abc53d2e66b9ba2f8a79c4f00afc435","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-11-11-50-111.2a","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-11-11-50-111.4"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}