Title 70, Title 70 — Schools

Any person who directly or indirectly promises or offers to give, or causes to be promised, offered or given, any money, books, bribe, present or reward or any valuable thing whatsoever to any member of the State Board of Education, the State Textbook Committee, or a local textbo…

Any member of the State Board of Education and any member of the State Textbook Committee who directly or indirectly solicits, receives or agrees to receive any money, goods, bribe, present, reward or any valuable thing whatsoever with the intent, and which will have the effect, …

Any person, firm or corporation that violates any of the provisions of this article, or any of the rules of the State Board of Education or the State Textbook Committee adopted pursuant to the provisions of this article, the penalty for violation thereof not otherwise being provi…

The following words and phrases as used in Section 17-101 et seq. of this title, unless a different meaning is clearly required by the context, shall have the following meanings: 1. “Retirement system” shall mean the Teachers’ Retirement System of Oklahoma, as defined in Section …

Vocational Schools to Teachers' Retirement System. A. Except as otherwise provided for in this section, employees of the Oklahoma Board of Private Vocational Schools shall be members of the Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma. B. Employees of the Oklahoma Board of Private Voc…

A retirement system is hereby established and placed under the management of the Board of Trustees for the purpose of providing retirement allowances and other benefits under the provisions of this act for teachers of the State of Oklahoma. The Board of Trustees shall have the po…

(1) In the event a plan of the retirement system is terminated or partially terminated the right of all participants or in the event of partial termination the rights of the affected participants, whether retired or otherwise, shall become fully vested. (2) In the event of termin…

The retirement system shall satisfy the applicable qualification requirements for governmental plans as specified in Sections 401 and 414(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 or 1986, as amended from time to time and as appropriate for a governmental plan (hereinafter referred…

qualification - Termination. The Tax-Sheltered Annuity Program provided by Section 17-101 et seq. of this title shall satisfy the applicable qualification requirements for grandfathered governmental tax-sheltered annuity programs as specified in 26 U.S.C. Section 403(b) and the r…

Except as provided in the Alternate Retirement Plan for Comprehensive Universities Act, the membership of the retirement system shall consist of the following: A. All classified personnel shall become members of the retirement system as a condition of their employment. B. For the…

Service employees - Transfer to Teachers' Retirement System. Employees of the Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Service who are members of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System shall cease accruing benefits in the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement Syste…

A. The Board of Trustees of the Teachers’ Retirement System of Oklahoma shall fix and determine by appropriate rules and regulations how much service in any year is equivalent to one (1) year of service, but in no case shall more than one (1) year of service be creditable for all…

A. 1. Any member who has attained age fifty-five (55) or who has completed thirty (30) years of creditable service, as defined in Section 17-101 of this title, or for any person who initially became a member prior to July 1, 1992, regardless of whether there were breaks in servic…

beneficiary or estate. In the event the total retirement payments made to a retired member and the retired member’s joint annuitant, if any, are less than the member’s accumulated contributions with interest as credited at the time of retirement under Section 17-105 of this title…

A. A member who is eligible to retire with at least thirty (30) years of creditable service may elect to receive a partial lump-sum payment on the date of retirement and a reduced annuity. The partial lump-sum payment shall be an amount equal to the unreduced retirement benefit, …

(1) The general administration and responsibility for the proper operation of the retirement system and for making effective the provisions of the act are hereby vested in a Board of Trustees which shall be known as the Board of Trustees and shall be organized immediately after a…

Investment committee and managers - Custodial services – Reports - Cost of living adjustment. A. The Board of Trustees of the Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma shall discharge their duties with respect to the System solely in the interest of the participants and beneficiari…

A. A fiduciary with respect to the Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma shall not cause the System to engage in a transaction if the fiduciary knows or should know that such transaction constitutes a direct or indirect: 1. sale or exchange, or leasing of any property from the …

Warrants and vouchers. A. All employee and employer contributions and dedicated revenues shall be deposited in the Oklahoma Teachers’ Retirement Fund in the State Treasury. The Board of Trustees of the Teachers’ Retirement System of Oklahoma shall have the responsibility for the …

Any person aggrieved by any decision of the Board of Trustees may appeal from such decision by filing a petition in the Oklahoma County District Court within thirty (30) days from the date of such decision. All actions or proceedings directly or indirectly against the Teachers' R…

The interest earned on the investments in the Teachers’ Retirement System of Oklahoma shall be credited in the following manner: 1. There shall be deducted from the annual interest on investments an amount necessary for the amortization of bonds purchased and owned by the Teacher…

A. Each local school district, or state college or university, or State Board of Education, or State Board of Career and Technology Education, or other state agencies whose employees are members of the Teachers’ Retirement System of Oklahoma (“participating employers”), shall mat…

A. 1. Except as provided in paragraph 2 of this subsection, the employer of any member of the Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma shall make the following contributions to the System: a. beginning July 1, 1998, through June 30, 1999, eleven and one-half percent (11 1/2%) of t…

A. Beginning July 1, 2019, and for each plan year thereafter, a person employed by any school district or employed by a technology center school district, who holds a valid certificate issued by the State Department of Education or the State Board of Career and Technology Educati…

A. Except as otherwise provided by this section, the right of a person to an annuity or a retirement allowance, to the return of contributions, annuity, or retirement allowance itself, any optional benefit, or any other right accrued or accruing to any person under the provisions…

All information, documents and copies thereof contained in a member's retirement file shall be given confidential treatment and shall not be made public by the System without the prior written consent of the member to which it pertains, but shall be subject to subpoena or court o…

Any person who shall knowingly make any false statement or shall falsify or permit to be falsified, any record or records of this retirement system in any attempt to defraud such system as a result of such act shall be guilty of a Class D3 felony offense and shall be punished by …

The Treasurer of the State of Oklahoma shall upon becoming custodian of the Teachers' Retirement Fund, give a bond in the sum of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00); the Executive Director shall give bond in the sum of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00); and the Board of T…

It shall be the duty of the State Auditor and Inspector to audit annually the funds, accounts and assets of the Teachers' Retirement System. Laws 1969, c. 157, § 12, operative Aug. 2, 1969; Laws 1971, c. 281, § 24-122, eff. July 2, 1971; Laws 1978, c. 238, § 8, eff. July 1, 1978.

A. In determining annual increments for teacher salaries and in computing Foundation Aid, time spent in military service during a period of national emergency shall be counted, not to exceed five (5) years prior to the current year. No more than five (5) years of such military se…

A. Every annuitant receiving retirement benefits from the system as of June 30, 1986, shall receive, on July 1, 1986, a six percent (6%) increase in retirement benefits. B. Any member who retires during the period beginning July 1, 1986, through October 1, 1986, shall receive a s…

continued benefits. A. Subject to the requirements of Section 6-101.2 of this title and any other applicable requirements of law, a member may enter into postretirement employment with a public school of Oklahoma and still receive monthly retirement benefits subject to the follow…

A. A member of the Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma who has ten (10) or more years of full-time-equivalent employment with a participating employer, and who is terminated by a state agency or other state governmental entity because the member's position is eliminated throu…

benefits. A. Beginning July 1, 1998, a classified member who retired prior to July 1, 1997, shall have the member's retirement allowance calculated on the member's current average salary plus One Thousand Four Hundred Dollars ($1,400.00). B. Beginning July 1, 1998, a nonclassifie…

Effective July 1, 2000, a member of the Teachers’ Retirement System of Oklahoma who was employed in an adjunct position in an institution under The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education prior to becoming a member of the System, may purchase a maximum of five (5) years of cred…

A. Beginning July 1, 2000, a classified member who retired prior to July 1, 1999, who continues to receive benefits on or after July 1, 2000, shall have the member’s retirement allowance calculated on the member’s current average salary plus Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00). B. Beg…

A. Any person receiving retirement benefits from the Teachers’ Retirement System of Oklahoma as of June 30, 2001, who continues to receive benefits on or after July 1, 2002, shall, beginning in July 2002, receive an increase in retirement benefits equal to three percent (3%). B. …

A. Beginning July 1, 2004, any person receiving benefits from the Teacher’s Retirement System of Oklahoma as of June 30, 2003, who continues to receive benefits on or after July 1, 2004, shall receive a percentage increase in said benefits on July 1, 2004, as follows: Years of Se…

rates and benefits – Service credits. A. 1. Beginning July 1, 1987, and prior to July 1, 1995, a member who retires on or after the member's normal retirement age or whose retirement is because of disability shall receive an annual allowance for life, payable monthly, in an amoun…

A. Any person receiving benefits from the Teachers’ Retirement System of Oklahoma as of June 30, 2005, other than those benefits specified in subsection B of this section, who continues to receive benefits on or after July 1, 2006, shall receive a two-percent increase in said ben…

A. Any person receiving benefits from the Teachers’ Retirement System of Oklahoma as of June 30, 2007, other than those benefits specified in subsection B of this section, who continues to receive benefits on or after July 1, 2008, shall receive a two-percent increase in said ben…

A. Any person receiving benefits from the Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma as of June 30, 2019, other than those benefits specified in subsection B of this section, who continues to receive benefits on or after July 1, 2020, shall receive an increase in benefits as follows…

Employees of entities or institutions - Retroactive election or removal of maximum compensation level. A. Except as otherwise provided by this section, an active contributing member of the retirement system who performed membership service as an employee of a comprehensive univer…

Employees of entities or institutions - Amount of retirement benefits. A. Beginning July 1, 2004, a member who has any creditable service as an employee of an entity or institution within The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education on or after July 1, 1995, who retires on or af…

Pre-cap removal service - Payment of contribution deficit amount. A. As used in this section: 1. "Contribution deficit" means the amount of money computed for an eligible employee by multiplying the employee contribution rate in effect for any period of service performed on or af…

A. Any member of the System upon final conviction of, or pleading guilty or nolo contendere to, a felony in a state or federal court of competent jurisdiction shall forfeit all retirement benefits provided by law; however, the forfeiture of retirement benefits shall not occur if …

There is hereby created in the State Treasury a special fund which shall be designated the "Teachers' Retirement Reserve Fund". Said fund shall consist of such monies as the Legislature may transfer to such fund. The monies in said fund shall only be used to support or benefit pu…

A. After the effective date of this act, before entering into any type of contract that creates an unfunded liability and is for the purpose of enhancing pension benefits for employees beyond the provisions of the Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma, a state institution of hi…

A. The Board of Trustees shall adopt rules for computation of the purchase price for service credit. These rules shall base the purchase price for each year purchased on the actuarial cost of the incremental projected benefits to be purchased. The purchase price shall represent t…

Any member of the Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma, who taught kindergarten on public school property prior to the state- supported kindergarten, and who subsequently taught in the public schools and has met the necessary qualifications, may receive credit in the System fo…