(40 ILCS 5/13-403) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 13-403)

Sec. 13-403. Military service.

(a) Any employee who, after commencement of service with the Employer, enlisted, was inducted or was otherwise ordered to serve in the military forces of the United States pursuant to any law, shall receive full service credit for the various purposes of this Article as though the employee were in the active service of the Employer during the period of military service provided that:

(1) such service credit shall be granted for military service for which the employee volunteers or is inducted or called into military service pursuant to a call of a duly constituted authority or a law of the United States declaring a national emergency;

(2) the employee returns to the employ of the Employer within 90 days after the termination of the national emergency; and

(3) the total service credit for such military service shall not exceed 5 years except that any employee who on July 1, 1963 had accrued more than 5 years of such credit shall be entitled to the total amount thereof.

(b) For a ten-year period following July 24, 2003, a contributing employee or commissioner meeting the minimum service requirements provided under this subsection may establish additional service credit for a period of up to 2 years of active military service in the United States Armed Forces for which he or she does not qualify for credit under subsection (a), provided that (1) the person was not dishonorably discharged from the military service, and (2) the amount of service credit established by the person under this subsection (b), when added to the amount of any military service credit granted to the person under subsection (a), shall not exceed 5 years.

The minimum service requirement for a contributing employee is 10 years of service credit as provided in Sections 13-401 and 13-402 of this Article and exclusive of Article 20. The minimum service requirement for a contributing commissioner is 5 years of service credit as provided in Sections 13-401 and 13-402 of this Article and exclusive of Article 20.

In order to establish military service credit under this subsection (b), the applicant must submit a written application to the Fund, including the applicant's discharge papers from military service, and pay to the Fund (i) employee contributions at the rates provided in this Article, based upon the person's salary on the last date as a participating employee prior to the military service or on the first date as a participating employee after the military service, whichever is greater, plus (ii) the current amount determined by the board to be equal to the employer's normal cost of the benefits accrued for such military service, plus (iii) regular interest of 3% compounded annually on items (i) and (ii) from the date of entry or re-entry as a participating employee following the military service to the date of payment. Contributions must be paid in full before the credit is granted. Credit established under this subsection may be used for pension purposes only.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, a person may not establish creditable service under this Section for any period for which the person receives credit under any other public employee retirement system, unless the credit under that other retirement system has been irrevocably relinquished.

(Source: P.A. 93-334, eff. 7-24-03; 94-621, eff. 8-18-05.)