1. A. A member shall be certified to have acquired allowed service credit pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for those periods of time when the member was:

   1. (1) employed prior to July 1, 1967 in a federal educational program within New Mexico, including United States Indian schools and civilian conservation corps camps. This service credit shall be allowed without contribution;
   2. (2) engaged in military service that interrupted the member's employment in New Mexico if the member returned to employment within eighteen months following honorable discharge. This service credit shall be allowed without contribution;

   3. (3) engaged in United States military service or the commissioned corps of the public health service from which the member was honorably discharged; provided that:

      1. (a) the member shall have five years or more of contributory employment to be eligible to purchase allowed service credit pursuant to this paragraph;
      2. (b) the member shall contribute to the fund, for each year of service credit the member elects to purchase, a sum equal to the member's average annual actual salary for the five years preceding the date of the contribution multiplied by the sum of the member contribution rate and the employer contribution rate in effect at the time of the member's written election to purchase, subject to the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994;
      3. (c) full payment shall be made within ninety days of the date that the member is informed of the amount of the payment; and
      4. (d) the portion of the purchase cost derived from the employer's contribution rate shall be credited to the fund and, in the event that a member requests a refund of contributions pursuant to Section 22-11-15 NMSA 1978, the member shall not be entitled to a refund of that portion of the purchase cost derived from the employer contribution rate; or

   4. (4) employed:

      1. (a) in a public school or public institution of higher learning in another state, territory or possession of the United States;
      2. (b) in a United States military dependents' school operated by a branch of the armed forces of the United States;
      3. (c) as provided in Paragraph (1) of this subsection after July 1, 1967; or
      4. (d) in a private school or institution of higher learning in New Mexico whose education program is accredited or approved by the department at the time of employment.
2. B. Effective July 1, 2001, the member or employer under Paragraph (4) of Subsection A of this section shall contribute to the fund for each year of allowed service credit desired an amount equal to the actuarial value of the service purchased as defined by the board. No allowed service credit shall be purchased pursuant to Paragraph (4) of Subsection A of this section unless the member is currently employed by a local administrative unit.

3. C. No member shall be certified to have acquired allowed service credit:

   1. (1) under any single paragraph or the combination of only Paragraphs (1) and (4) or only Paragraphs (2) and (3) of Subsection A of this section in excess of five years; or
   2. (2) in excess of ten years for any other combination of Paragraphs (1) through (4) of Subsection A of this section.
4. D. A member receiving service credit under Paragraph (3) or (4) of Subsection A of this section who enrolls in the retiree health care authority shall make contributions pursuant to Subsection C of Section 10-7C-15 NMSA 1978.

History: 1953 Comp., § 77-9-34, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 16, § 157; 1975, ch. 321, § 1; 1977, ch. 331, § 2; 1981, ch. 291, § 1; 1986, ch. 48, § 1; 1989, ch. 30, § 2; 1993, ch. 69, § 10; 1997, ch. 103, § 1; 1998, ch. 38, § 3; 2003, ch. 39, § 10; 2009, ch. 288, § 18; 2017, ch. 21, § 14; 2025, ch. 6, § 4.

ANNOTATIONS

Cross references. — For reciprocal service credits under Public Employees Retirement Reciprocity Act, see 10-13A-4 NMSA 1978.

For the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, see 38 U.S.C.S. § 4301 et seq.

For the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, see 26 U.S.C.

The 2025 amendment, effective June 20, 2025, removed a requirement that the purchase of service credit must be made in a lump sum payment, and expanded the time a member has to submit payment for the purchase of service credit; and in Subsection A, Subparagraph A(3)(c), after "shall be made" deleted "in a single lump sum" and after "within" deleted "sixty" and added "ninety".

The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, removed the provision that allowed the educational retirement board to accept installment payments for allowed service credit; in Subsection B, after the first sentence, deleted the next two sentences which related to the purchase of allowed service credit by installments; and deleted Subsection E, which related to the applicability dates of the provisions of this section.

The 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2009, in Paragraph (3) of Subsection A, deleted the former language of the paragraph which provided for credit if the member contributed a sum equal to ten and one half percent of average annual salary for the time the member acquired earned service credit; added Subparagraphs (a) through (d) of Paragraph (3) of Subsection A; and added Subsection D.

The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, substituted "July 1, 1967" for "the effective date of the Educational Retirement Act" following "employed prior to" near the beginning of Paragraph A(1); substituted "July 1, 1967" for "the effective date of the Educational Retirement Act" near the end of Subparagraph A(4)(c); in Subsection B deleted "The member or employer under Paragraph (4) of Subsection A of this section shall contribute to the fund for each year of allowed service credit desired an amount equal to twelve percent of the member's annual salary at the time payment is made if the member is employed or twelve percent times the member's annual salary during the member's last year of employment if the member is not employed at the time of payment. Contributions paid for the member who is not employed shall bear interest at the average rate earned by the fund during the five-fiscal-year period immediately preceding the date of payment. Such interest shall run from the date the member last terminated employment to the date of payment." at the beginning, and substituted "by that act. No allowed service credit shall be purchased pursuant to Paragraph (4) of Subsection A of this section unless the member is currently employed by a local administrative unit." for "thereby" at the end.

The 1998 amendment, effective May 20, 1998, inserted "pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986" near the middle of Subsection A; substituted "a" for "any" throughout the section; in Paragraph A(3), substituted "pursuant to" for "under" and inserted "and subject to the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994" near the end of the first sentence, and substituted "on" for "upon" in the second sentence; and in Subsection B, deleted "of" following "over a period" and substituted "that" for "which" in the fifth sentence.

The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, in the last sentence of Paragraph A(3), deleted "prior to July 1 1992 or" preceding "three years" and deleted "whichever is later" following "service", and added the fourth sentence in Subsection B.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, rewrote Subparagraph (4)(d) of Subsection A which read "in any private school in New Mexico accredited by the state board of education"; inserted "or employer" in the first sentence and substituted "paid for the member" for "paid by the member" in the second sentence of Subsection B; substituted "Paragraphs (1) through (4) of Subsection A of this section" for "those Paragraphs" in Paragraph (2) of Subsection C; and made a minor stylistic change in Subsection A.

The 1989 amendment, effective July 1, 1989, in Subsection A(1) substituted "employed" for "serving as a teacher or administrator" in the first sentence; in Subsection A(3) inserted "or the commissioned corps of the public health service" in the first sentence, substituted "1992" for "1987" in the last sentence, and deleted "military" preceding "service" throughout the subsection; in Subsection A(4) deleted "a teacher or administrator" at the beginning of Subparagraphs (a) through (c) and deleted "a certified teacher or certified administrator" at the beginning of Subparagraph (d); and in Subsection B substituted all of the present language of the first sentence following "equal to" for "the prevailing combined percentage of contributions of members and local administrative units in effect at the time of application for allowed service-credit times the member's annual salary if the member is employed, or time the member's annual salary during the member's last year of employment if the member is not employed at the time of the application" and inserted "at the discretion of the board" in the fourth sentence.

Public health service officers. — Active duty as a uniformed commissioned officer in the United States public health service qualifies as "military service" pursuant to Subsection (A)(3) in the following situations: (1) When the service was performed while the commissioned corps was declared to be a military service pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 217, or (2) when the officer was detailed to a branch of the armed services, as 10 U.S.C. § 101(4) defines that term. 1987 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 87-73.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — Services included in computing period of service for purpose of teachers' seniority, 2 A.L.R.2d 1033.