§47-2-300.

§47-2-300.
   
   As used in this act:
   
   1. "System" means the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System;
   
   2. "Act" means Sections 2-300 through 2-313 of this title;
   
   3. "Board" means the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement Board of the
   System;
   
   4. "Executive Director" means the managing officer of the System
   employed by the Board;
   
   5. "Fund" means the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement Fund;
   
   6. "Member" means all law enforcement officers of the Oklahoma Highway
   Patrol and the State Capitol Division of the Department of Public
   Safety and all commissioned officers in the Gunsmith/Ammunition
   Reloader Division of the Department of Public Safety who have obtained
   certification from the Council on Law Enforcement Education and
   Training, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Oklahoma
   State Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control and the and
   prevention of crime and the enforcement Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage
   Control Board designated to perform duties in the investigation of the
   criminal laws of this state, and members of the Communications
   Division to include radio technicians, tower technicians and
   commissioned officers of the Lake Patrol Division of the Oklahoma
   Department of Public Safety, park rangers of the Oklahoma Tourism and
   Recreation Department and inspectors of the Oklahoma State Board of
   Pharmacy, and any park manager or park supervisor of the Oklahoma
   Tourism and Recreation Department who was employed in such a position
   prior to July 1, 1985, and who elects on or before September 1, 1996,
   to participate in the System. A member does not include a "leased
   employee" or independent contractor, including a leased employee, as
   defined under Section 414(n)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
   as amended. Any individual who contracts with the Board for services
   to be performed as a leased employee or an independent contractor
   shall not be a member regardless of any classification as a common-law
   employee by the Internal Revenue Service or any other governmental
   agency, or any court of competent jurisdiction, provided that all
   persons who shall be offered a position of a law enforcement officer
   shall participate in the System upon the person meeting the requisite
   post-offer-pre-employment physical examination standards which shall
   be subject to the following requirements:
   
   a. all such persons shall be of good moral character, free from
   deformities, mental or physical conditions, or disease and alcohol or
   drug addiction which would prohibit the person from performing the
   duties of a law enforcement officer,
   
   b. said physical-medical examination shall pertain to age, sight,
   hearing, agility and other conditions the requirements of which shall
   be established by the Board,
   
   c. the person shall be required to meet the conditions of this
   subsection prior to the beginning of actual employment but after an
   offer of employment has been tendered by a participating employer,
   
   d. the Board shall have authority to deny or revoke membership of any
   person submitting false information in such person's membership
   application,
   
   e. the Board shall have final authority in determining eligibility for
   membership in the System, pursuant to the provisions of this
   subsection;
   
   7. "Normal retirement date" means the date at which the member is
   eligible to receive the unreduced payments of the member's accrued
   retirement benefit. Such date shall be the first day of the month
   coinciding with or following the date the member:
   
   a. completes twenty (20) years of vesting service; or
   
   b. attains sixty-two (62) years of age with ten (10) years of vesting
   service; or
   
   c. attains sixty-two (62) years of age, if:
   
   (1) the member has been transferred to this System from the Oklahoma
   Public Employees Retirement System on or after July 1, 1981; and
   
   (2) the member would have been vested had the member continued to be a
   member of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System;
   
   Effective July 1, 1989, notwithstanding any other provision contained
   herein to the contrary, in no event shall commencement of distribution
   of the accrued retirement benefit of a member be delayed beyond April
   1 of the calendar year following the later of:
   
   1. The calendar year in which the member reaches seventy and one-half
   (70 1/2) years of age; or
   
   2. The actual retirement date of the member. The preceding sentence
   does not allow deferral of benefit commencement beyond the age of
   sixty-five (65).
   
   A member who was required to join the System effective July 1, 1980,
   because of the transfer of the employing agency from the Oklahoma
   Public Employees Retirement System to the System, and was not a member
   of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System on the date of such
   transfer shall be allowed to receive credit for prior law enforcement
   service rendered to this state, if the member is not receiving or
   eligible to receive retirement credit or benefits for such service in
   any other public retirement system, upon payment to the System of the
   employee contribution the member would have been subject to had the
   member been a member of the System at the time, plus five percent (5%)
   interest. Service credit received pursuant to this paragraph shall be
   used in determining the member's retirement benefit, and shall be used
   in determining years of service for retirement or vesting purposes;
   
   8. "Actual paid base salary" means the salary received by a member,
   excluding payment for any accumulated leave or uniform allowance.
   Salary shall include any amount of nonelective salary reduction under
   Section 414(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
   
   9. "Final average salary" means the average of the highest thirty (30)
   consecutive complete months of actual paid gross salary. Gross salary
   shall include any amount of elective salary reduction under Section
   457 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and any amount of nonelective
   salary reduction under Section 414(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of
   1986. Only salary on which required contributions have been made may
   be used in computing the final average salary.
   
   In addition to other applicable limitations, and notwithstanding any
   other provision to the contrary, for plan years beginning on or after
   July 1, 1996, the annual gross salary of each "Noneligible Member"
   taken into account under the System shall not exceed the Omnibus
   Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (OBRA '93) annual salary limit. The
   OBRA '93 annual salary limit is One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars
   ($150,000.00), as adjusted by the Commissioner for increases in the
   cost of living in accordance with Section 401(a)(17)(B) of the
   Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The annual salary limit in
   effect for a calendar year applies to any period, not exceeding twelve
   (12) months, over which salary is determined ("determination period")
   beginning in such calendar year. If a determination period consists of
   fewer than twelve (12) months, the OBRA '93 salary limit will be
   multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of
   months in the determination period, and the denominator of which is
   twelve (12). For purposes of this section, a "Noneligible Member" is
   any member who first became a member during a plan year commencing on
   or after July 1, 1996.
   
   For plan years beginning on or after July 1, 1996, any reference in
   the System to the annual salary limit under Section 401(a)(17) of the
   Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, shall mean the OBRA '93
   salary limit set forth in this provision.
   
   If gross salary for any prior determination period is taken into
   account in determining a Noneligible Member's benefits accruing in the
   current plan year, the gross salary for that prior determination
   period is subject to the OBRA '93 annual salary limit in effect for
   that prior determination period. For this purpose, for determination
   periods beginning before the first day of the first plan year
   beginning on or after July 1, 1996, the OBRA '93 annual salary limit
   is One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000.00).
   
   Effective July 1, 1989, through June 30, 1997, in determining the
   gross salary of a member for purposes of this limitation, the rules of
   Section 414(q)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended,
   shall apply, except in applying such rules, the term "family" shall
   include only the spouse of the member and any lineal descendants of
   the member who have not attained age nineteen (19) before the close of
   the year. If, as a result of the application of such rules, the
   adjusted annual salary limitation is exceeded, then the limitation
   shall be prorated among the affected individuals in proportion to each
   such individual's gross salary as determined under this section prior
   to the application of this limitation.
   
   The family member aggregation rules set forth in the preceding
   paragraph shall apply only to plan years beginning prior to July 1,
   1997;
   
   10. "Credited service" means the period of service used to determine
   the amount of benefits payable to a member. Credited service shall
   consist of the period during which the member participated in the
   System or the predecessor Plan as an active employee in an eligible
   membership classification, plus any service prior to the establishment
   of the predecessor Plan which was credited under the predecessor Plan
   and for officers of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and the
   Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control who
   became members of the System on July 1, 1980, any service credited
   under the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System as of June 30,
   1980, and for members of the Communications and Lake Patrol Divisions
   of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, who became members of the
   System on July 1, 1981, any service credited under the predecessor
   Plan or the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System as of June 30,
   1981, and for law enforcement officers of the Oklahoma Alcoholic
   Beverage Control Board who became members of the System on July 1,
   1982, any service credited under the Oklahoma Public Employees
   Retirement System as of June 30, 1982, and for park rangers of the
   Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department who became members of the
   System on July 1, 1985, any service credited under the Oklahoma Public
   Employees Retirement System as of June 30, 1985, and for inspectors of
   the Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy who became members of the System
   on July 1, 1986, any service credited under the Oklahoma Public
   Employees Retirement System as of June 30, 1986, for law enforcement
   officers of the State Capitol Division of the Department of Public
   Safety who became members of the System effective July 1, 1993, any
   service credited under the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System
   as of June 30, 1993, and for all commissioned officers in the
   Gunsmith/Ammunition Reloader Division of the Department of Public
   Safety who became members of the System effective July 1, 1994, any
   service credited under the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System
   as of June 30, 1994, and for the park managers or park supervisors of
   the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department who were employed in
   such a position prior to July 1, 1985, and who elect to become members
   of the System effective September 1, 1996, any service transferred
   pursuant to subsection C of Section 2-309.6 of this title. Effective
   August 5, 1993, an authorized leave of absence shall include a period
   of absence pursuant to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993;
   
   11. "Disability" means a physical or mental condition which, in the
   judgment of the Board, totally and presumably permanently prevents the
   member from engaging in the usual and customary duties of the
   occupation of the member and thereafter prevents the member from
   performing the duties of any occupation or service for which the
   member is qualified by reason of training, education or experience. A
   person is not under a disability when capable of performing a service
   to the employer, regardless of occupation, providing the salary of the
   employee is not diminished thereby; and
   
   12. "Limitation year" means the year used in applying the limitations
   of Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, which year shall
   be the calendar year.