Part 10. Arkansas Teacher Retirement System Rules

24 CAR § 10-507. Purchasable service credit — Overseas service. (a) A member may purchase service credit for service in an overseas school if: (1) The member: (A) Has at least five (5) years of service in a position covered by the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System; and (B) Perfo…

24 CAR § 10-508. Purchasable service credit — General Assembly. (a) A member of the Senate or House of Representatives of the General Assembly who is a member of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System shall receive credited service and salary in the system for his or her full con…

24 CAR § 10-509. Purchasable service credit — Advanced degree service. (a) A member who is a public school teacher or administrator and takes a leave of absence from a school in order to obtain an advanced degree at an institution of higher learning or to fulfill the requirements…

24 CAR § 10-510. Purchasable service credit — Private school service. (a) Employment with a Head Start program shall be considered private school service. (b)(1) A member may purchase up to fifteen (15) years of private school service to be credited as certified service if: (A) T…

24 CAR § 10-511. Purchasable service credit — Federal retirement service. (a) An active member may purchase up to ten (10) years of federal retirement service that shall be credited if the: (1) Federal retirement service being purchased is limited to service for which the federal…

24 CAR § 10-512. Purchasable service credit — Gap period service. (a) A member may purchase permissive service credit for one (1) or more consecutive or nonconsecutive gap periods if the member: (1) Has five (5) years of actual service in the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System; (…

24 CAR § 10-513. Purchasable service credit — Contract buyouts, settlements, and court-ordered payments. (a)(1) A member shall only earn service credit for actual, on-site work performed for a covered employer for the period specified in a contract buyout, settlement, or court-or…

24 CAR § 10-514. Cost of purchased service. (a) A member shall purchase service using forms approved by the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System. (b)(1) A member who purchases service shall receive credit for the purchased service if the actuarial equivalent of both the employee an…

24 CAR § 10-515. Purchase accounts. (a) Purchase account payments shall be applied to the member’s account on the date the payment is received by the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System. (b)(1) The system shall accept participant rollover contributions and direct rollovers for the…

24 CAR § 10-516. Purchase of refunded service. (a) A member shall not purchase refunded service unless he or she purchases the total credited service forfeited by a refund. (b)(1) A repayment of refunded contributions shall be made in inverse order if the member has received more…

24 CAR § 10-601. Definitions. As used in this subpart: (1) "Act 808 employee" means an employee of a state agency who: (A) On April 8, 1987, was an active member of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System; (B) Qualified to retire before January 1, 1988, under the Early Retirement …

24 CAR § 10-602. State employee transfers to the Arkansas Public Employees’ Retirement System. (a) An Act 808 employee shall make the election to transfer to the Arkansas Public Employees’ Retirement System on a form approved by the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System. (b) The tra…

24 CAR § 10-603. Retirement eligibility. To be eligible for age and service retirement or disability retirement under the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, a member shall: (1) Satisfy the credited service requirements under one (1) of the retirement statutes, Arkansas Code §§ 2…

24 CAR § 10-604. Age and service retirement — Effective retirement date. (a) For a member who is inactive, vested, and immediately eligible to retire, retirement benefits shall be payable the month after the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System receives the member’s application for…

24 CAR § 10-605. Age and service retirement — Application. (a) A copy of the age and service retirement application may be downloaded from the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System’s website or requested from the system. (b)(1) If eligible, an active or inactive member who attains a…

24 CAR § 10-606. Age and service retirement — Additional documents. (a) Unless an extension is granted by the Executive Director of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, in addition to a completed application for retirement, a member shall submit the following additional docume…

24 CAR § 10-607. Disability retirement — Application. (a)(1) A member shall submit a completed application for disability retirement and all accompanying documentation required by the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System by the end of the sixth full calendar month immediately follo…

24 CAR § 10-608. Disability retirement — Disability review. (a) A deadline imposed by this subpart may be extended as provided by this section and Arkansas Code § 24-7-704. (b)(1) A retiree shall submit to the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System a Social Security Administration de…

24 CAR § 10-609. Disability retirement — Employment after disability retirement. (a) A member’s disability retirement is effective from the date the member files a disability retirement application with the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System and terminates employment with each of…

24 CAR § 10-610. Benefit formula and compound cost of living adjustment. (a) The annuity formula for computing disability retirement benefits shall be the same annuity formula used to compute age and service retirement benefits. (b)(1) The retirement benefits payable to a retiree…

24 CAR § 10-611. Final average salary — Salary limitations. (a) The Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System may adopt rules to modify the definition of salary for the purpose of calculating retirement benefits available under the Arkansas Teacher Retirement Sy…

24 CAR § 10-612. Final average salary — Service years. (a) If a member dies during active service on or after July 1, 2013, the member’s paid or unpaid accrued, unused sick leave, shall be credited as service in the fiscal year of the member’s death for the purpose of determining…

24 CAR § 10-613. Annuity options. (a) Before the date the first benefit payment of an annuity becomes due, a member retiring with age or service may elect one (1) of the following annuity options: (1) Option 1 – straight life annuity, which is a straight life annuity payable mont…

24 CAR § 10-614. Change of marital status. (a)(1) If the marital status of a retiree changes due to the death of the retiree’s spouse or a marriage dissolution, the retiree may choose to: (A) Cancel his or her designation of the former spouse as a beneficiary; or (B) Designate a …

24 CAR § 10-615. Final benefit check. (a)(1)(A) In the case of a retiree, benefits are payable through the month in which the retiree's death occurs. (B) If a final benefit payment is not delivered in the normal course of business, the benefit payment shall be sent in the followi…

24 CAR § 10-616. Correction of errors and collection of overpayments. (a)(1) If a change or error in the records of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System is discovered during the look-back period and results in either an overpayment or underpayment to the system, the Board of Tr…

24 CAR § 10-701. Definitions. As used in this subpart: (1) “CBA” means cash balance account; (2) "Fiscal year" means the operating year for the State of Arkansas that begins on July 1 of each calendar year and ends on June 30 of the next calendar year; (3) “Plan deposit” means a …

24 CAR § 10-702. Return to service. (a) Unless otherwise provided by the Office of Personnel Management’s Policy No. 65, effective July 1, 2009, a retiree who terminates employment under Arkansas Code § 24-7-502 or reaches the normal retirement age may: (1) Accept employment with…

24 CAR § 10-703. Teacher Deferred Retirement Option Plan — Participation. (a) In lieu of terminating employment and voluntarily retiring: (1) An active member with at least thirty (30) years of service credit may elect to participate in T-DROP and continue to work for a covered e…

24 CAR § 10-704. Teacher Deferred Retirement Option Plan — Benefits. (a)(1) A plan participant shall elect an annuity option provided in Arkansas Code § 24-7-706 at the time the plan participant separates from service and either: (A) Applies for retirement upon reaching the norma…

24 CAR § 10-705. Teacher Deferred Retirement Option Plan — Plan deposits. (a)(1) During participation in T-DROP, the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System shall credit a plan participant’s T-DROP account with plan deposits and plan interest. (2) A plan participant’s T-DROP plan depo…

24 CAR § 10-706. Teacher Deferred Retirement Option Plan — Plan interest. (a)(1) A plan participant who has not retired shall receive plan interest at the end of each fiscal year. (2) The plan interest rate shall be based on a: (A) Fixed interest rate that is adopted by the Board…

24 CAR § 10-707. Teacher Deferred Retirement Option Plan — Suspension or cessation of plan deposits and plan interest. (a) Monthly plan deposits to a plan participant’s T-DROP account shall stop if the plan participant: (1) Separates from service with a covered employer and is gr…

24 CAR § 10-708. Teacher Deferred Retirement Option Plan — Uniformed services of the United States. (a) A plan participant shall be treated as not having incurred a break in service with a covered employer if the plan participant leaves covered employment to voluntarily or involu…

24 CAR § 10-709. Teacher Deferred Retirement Option Plan — Internal Revenue Code. (a) The operation of T-DROP shall comply with Section 415 and other applicable sections of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. (b) Any provision concerning the operation of T-DR…

24 CAR § 10-710. Teacher Deferred Retirement Option Plan — Distribution election. A member may cancel his or her original T-DROP distribution election and elect another distribution option if the member: (1) Did not elect to receive all or a part of his or her T-DROP account bala…

24 CAR § 10-711. Teacher Deferred Retirement Option Plan — Rollover of account balance. (a) A lump-sum distribution of a plan participant’s T-DROP account balance may be rolled over into the plan participant’s qualifying retirement plan. (b) The Arkansas Teacher Retirement System…

24 CAR § 10-712. T-DROP Cash Balance Account Program — Internal Revenue Code. (a)(1) In lieu of electing a lump-sum distribution of his or her T-DROP account balance, a plan participant may elect to transfer all or a part of his or her T-DROP account balance into a CBA. (2) If a …

24 CAR § 10-801. Definitions. As used in this subpart: (1) "Alternate payee" means a spouse, former spouse, child, or other dependent of a member under Arkansas law; (2) “Application”, for the purpose of retirement eligibility, means an application form and any other documents re…

24 CAR § 10-802. Survivors. (a) The law in effect on the date of a qualifying member’s death shall determine the: (1) Eligibility of a qualifying member’s spouse or child to receive survivor annuity benefits; (2) Amount of the survivor annuity benefits to be received by an eligib…

24 CAR § 10-803. Survivors — Qualifying members. (a) A member shall be considered active for the purpose of an eligible survivor qualifying for survivor annuity benefits under Arkansas Code § 24-7-710 if: (1) The member has at least: (A) Ten (10) days of service credit in each pr…

24 CAR § 10-804. Survivors — Surviving spouse. (a) An eligible survivor of a qualifying member may receive survivor annuity benefits after the death of the qualifying member. (b) Unless a qualifying member designates one (1) or more alternative residue beneficiaries by written fo…

24 CAR § 10-805. Survivors — Alternative residue beneficiary. (a) A member may change his or her alternative residue beneficiary designation and designate his or her spouse as a residue beneficiary under Arkansas Code § 24-7-710 by documenting the change on a form provided and ap…

24 CAR § 10-806. Survivors — T-DROP plan participant. (a)(1) A participant in the Teacher Deferred Retirement Option Plan may designate one (1) or more alternative residue beneficiaries to receive a lump-sum payment of his or her T-DROP benefits in lieu of his or her surviving sp…

24 CAR § 10-807. Survivors — Dependent children. (a)(1) A child of a qualifying member is eligible to receive a survivor annuity benefit under Arkansas Code § 24-7-710 if the child qualifies as a dependent child. (2) A qualifying member’s child shall be eligible to qualify as a d…

24 CAR § 10-810. Survivors — Dependent children — Incapacitated child. A qualifying member’s child who qualifies as a dependent child because he or she has been adjudged physically or mentally incapacitated by a court of competent jurisdiction and for whom a guardian has been app…

24 CAR § 10-811. Survivors — Dependent children — Return to work and disability retirees. (a) A dependent child annuity shall be payable to a surviving child of a disability retiree or a retiree who dies after returning to work if the child: (1) Qualifies as a dependent child and…

24 CAR § 10-812. Survivors — Dependent children — Calculation and payment of survivor annuity. (a) The amount of the survivor annuity benefit payable to a dependent child shall be the amount provided in Arkansas Code § 24-7-710. (b) The highest of the following shall be used to c…