f you have received a refund of your contributions from LRS, you may purchase the withdrawn creditable service if you become a member of LRS at a later date by paying a lump sum equal to 7 percent of your highest monthly legislative compensation for each month of creditable service to be purchased plus an administrative fee of $25. If the withdrawn service is not purchased within two years after becoming a member of LRS again, the cost will be substantially higher for most members.

Your active duty in the United States military up to the time you were first eligible for a discharge that is not dishonorable counts as creditable service at no cost to you if you were a member of LRS when you entered active duty, and: 

• You return to employment as a member of LRS within two years after your earliest discharge (under this provision, your employer is required to pay the employer and employee contributions for the full period you were in active duty).
• You return to employment as a member of LRS at any time after discharge and complete at least 10 additional years of service as a contributing member. If you are not allowed credit for military service according to the rules shown on the previous page, you may be able to buy credit for your periods of active duty. 

You must have contributed to LRS for five years. Your cost will be equal to the full actuarial liabilities created from the additional credit purchased. You must furnish a copy of your service record to LRS to receive any credit for military service. If your military service is creditable in another retirement system, generally you will not be eligible to purchase credit in LRS.

Prior service is defined as service rendered prior to becoming a member of LRS, not including service transferred from the former Legislative Retirement Fund. Prior service as a member of the General Assembly may be purchased by the payment in a lump sum equal to 7 percent of your highest monthly legislative compensation for each month of legislative service purchased, plus an administrative fee of $25 if your last legislative term was during or after the 1975 Regular Session.

We will accept pre-tax money from an eligible retirement plan or an eligible IRA via rollover or in-service, plan-to-plan transfer to purchase creditable service. For more information and instructions, see Form 398 (Using a Distribution of Tax-Sheltered Savings to Purchase Retirement Credit), available in ORBIT.