§16-5V-18. Refunds to certain members upon discharge or resignation; deferred retirement; preretirement death; forfeitures.

(a) Any member who terminates covered employment and is not immediately eligible to receive disability or retirement income benefits under this article is, by written request filed with the board, entitled to receive from the fund the member's accumulated contributions. Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, upon withdrawal, the member shall forfeit his or her accrued benefit and cease to be a member.

(b) Any member who ceases employment in covered employment and active participation in this plan and who thereafter becomes reemployed in covered employment may not receive any credited service for any prior withdrawn accumulated contributions from either this plan or the Public Employees Retirement System unless following his or her return to covered employment and active participation in this plan, the member redeposits in the fund the amount of the accumulated contributions withdrawn from previous covered employment, together with interest on the accumulated contributions at the rate determined by the board from the date of withdrawal to the date of redeposit. Upon repayment he or she shall receive the same credit on account of his or her former covered employment as if no refund had been made.

The repayment authorized by this subsection shall be made in a lump sum within 60 months of the emergency medical services officer's reemployment in covered employment or, if later, within 60 months of the effective date of this article.

(c) A member of this plan who has elected to transfer from the Public Employees Retirement System into this plan pursuant to §16-5V-6(b) of this code, may not, after having transferred into and become an active member of this plan, reinstate to his or her credit in this plan any service credit relating to periods of nonemergency medical services officer service withdrawn from the Public Employees Retirement System prior to his or her elective transfer into this plan.

(d) Every member who completes 60 months of covered employment is eligible, upon cessation of covered employment, to either withdraw his or her accumulated contributions in accordance with this section or to choose not to withdraw his or her accumulated contribution and to receive retirement income payments upon attaining early or normal retirement age.

(e) In the event a member dies from any cause other than those specified in §16-5V-23 of this code and does not have 10 or more years of contributory service, the member's accumulated contributions may be paid to a named beneficiary or beneficiaries. If no beneficiary is named, then the accumulated contributions shall be paid to the estate of the deceased member.

(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, forfeitures under the plan may not be applied to increase the benefits any member would otherwise receive under the plan.