There is hereby established a System for the payment of retirement benefits and certain medical and hospital expenses of members of the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System. Such System shall constitute an amendment and continuation of the Retirement and Pension Plan of the Department of Public Safety and members in the Retirement and Pension Plan on June 30, 1980, shall continue as members of the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System. There is established in the State Treasury a special fund designated as the "Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement Fund" for the benefit of members of the System and certain dependents of deceased members of the System. Such fund shall be a continuation, under a new name, of the Retirement and Pension Fund of the Department of Public Safety.

There is hereby created the Retirement Medical Benefit Fund. The fund shall be maintained as a subaccount of the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement Fund. The Retirement Medical Benefit Fund is composed of all assets which may be contributed to this subaccount to pay the retirement system's portion of the monthly retiree health insurance premium benefit described by Section 1316.2 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes. All such allocated assets and any earnings thereon in the Retirement Medical Benefit Fund shall be held for the exclusive purpose of providing retiree medical benefits. The Retirement Medical Benefit Fund is to be administered in accordance with the requirements of Section 401(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended from time to time. The Board of Trustees may promulgate such rules as are necessary to implement the funding and administration of the fund pursuant to the provisions of this subsection.

Appointment to any position within a covered agency which comes under this System shall not jeopardize the rights of any person who has previously qualified for membership under this System, provided, that the individual contributions are continued, and such person remains a member of this System.

Laws 1961, HB 556, p. 330, § 2-301, eff. September 1, 1961; Amended by Laws 1967, SB 195, c. 56, § 1, emerg. eff. April 14, 1967; Amended by Laws 1980, SB 266, c. 357, § 3, emerg. eff. July 1, 1980; Amended by Laws 1981, HB 1130, c. 227, § 2, emerg. eff. July 1, 1981; Amended by Laws 1982, HB 1850, c. 328, § 2, emerg. eff. July 1, 1982; Amended by Laws 1988, HB 1588, c. 267, § 21, eff. July 1, 1988; Amended by Laws 1992, SB 568, c. 376, § 4, emerg. eff. July 1, 1992; Amended by Laws 1996, SB 889, c. 55, § 2, emerg. eff. July 1, 1996; Amended by Laws 2002, HB 2122, c. 238, § 2, emerg. eff. July 1, 2002 (repealed by Laws 2003, HB 1816, c. 3, § 30, emerg. eff. March 19, 2003).