Does Arkansas State Police Retirement System Tier II require thirty years of actual participation to enter the DROP, or can reciprocal service from another state retirement system count?
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This page answers the general question as of 2018. Ezel answers yours: what it means for your facts, under current Arkansas law, with citations.
Plain-English summary
Gail Stone, the Executive Director of the Arkansas State Police Retirement System (ASPRS), asked the AG to settle a dispute over the eligibility threshold for the Tier II Deferred Retirement Option Plan ("Tier II DROP"). The Tier II plan applies to Arkansas state police officers who joined the system after a defined cutoff date and accrue benefits under sections 24-6-401 et seq. The DROP is a program that lets a Tier II member effectively "retire" while continuing to work, with the foregone retirement benefits credited to a notional DROP account.
Section 24-6-502(1)(B) makes a Tier II member eligible for the DROP only if the officer "has at least thirty (30) years of actual service as a member of the State Police Retirement System's Tier Two Benefit Plan."
The dispute arose because section 24-6-503, titled "actual service," defines that term to include both Tier II service and "reciprocal" service from other Arkansas retirement systems (Teacher Retirement, Highway Employees, the original State Police Retirement System, Judicial Retirement, Local Police and Fire Retirement, and certain alternative plans). Some Tier II troopers read section 24-6-503's definition as applying to section 24-6-502 and argued that reciprocal service should count toward the thirty-year threshold.
ASPRS had consistently interpreted the law the other way: thirty years of actual Tier II participation was required, and reciprocal service did not count for DROP eligibility.
AG Leslie Rutledge sided with ASPRS. Reciprocal service cannot be used to meet the thirty-year requirement to enter the Tier II DROP. Section 24-6-502 expressly requires "actual service as a member of the [ASPRS] Tier II Benefit Plan," and reciprocal service by definition is service credited under a different system, not service "as a member of" Tier II. The AG concluded that section 24-6-503's broader "actual service" definition applied to a different question (computing DROP benefits) rather than to the eligibility threshold.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 2018. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.
Background and statutory framework
The ASPRS Tier II benefit plan is governed by Ark. Code Ann. § 24-6-401 et seq. Tier II uses two distinct provisions to define "actual service":
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Section 24-6-403(2) (within the general Tier II subchapter) defines "actual service" as "the service credited to a member under this subchapter," with "service" further defined in section 24-6-403(16) as "service rendered to the department by a state police officer and . . . service . . . as an Arkansas state ranger." That definition does not include reciprocal service.
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Section 24-6-503 (within the Tier II DROP subchapter) defines "actual service" to include both (1) "service credit a member earns after April 3, 1997, as a member of the [ASPRS Tier II plan]" and (2) "the member's service credit from any reciprocal retirement system under § 24-2-401."
The Tier II DROP eligibility statute is Ark. Code Ann. § 24-6-502, which requires thirty years of "actual service as a member of the [ASPRS] Tier II Benefit Plan." Section 24-6-504(3) sets the DROP benefit at 72% of the monthly benefits that would otherwise have been payable, and section 24-6-406 governs how those benefits are computed based on years of service.
How the AG read the two provisions together
The AG's analysis turned on the qualifier "as a member of the [ASPRS] Tier II Benefit Plan" in section 24-6-502. That qualifier signaled that, for eligibility, the legislature wanted service rendered while the officer was a Tier II member, not service credited from a different retirement system through reciprocity.
Section 24-6-503's broader definition (which does include reciprocal service) cannot logically be applied to section 24-6-502, because reciprocal service is by definition not credited "as a member of" Tier II. Reading section 24-6-503's definition to override the "as a member of" language would render that qualifier meaningless.
The AG resolved the apparent overlap by giving the two definitions different jobs:
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For DROP eligibility, the more restrictive definition (section 24-6-403's Tier II "actual service") applies. Thirty years of "service rendered to the department by a state police officer" or as a state ranger is required.
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For computing DROP benefits, section 24-6-503's broader definition (which includes reciprocal service) applies. Once a member is in the DROP, reciprocal service can be folded into the year-count used to calculate benefits under section 24-6-406.
This reading is consistent with how reciprocity statutes typically work: prior service in another reciprocal system can affect benefit calculations and total years of service for vesting and computation purposes, but it does not transform that service into "Tier II membership" for eligibility purposes.
Common questions
Could a state trooper add years from prior service in another Arkansas retirement system to reach thirty years for DROP eligibility?
No. Under this opinion, only actual service rendered as a Tier II member counted toward the thirty-year DROP eligibility threshold.
Did reciprocal service have any effect on the DROP at all?
Yes. The AG read section 24-6-503's "actual service" definition to apply to the computation of DROP benefits, not eligibility. Once a member entered the DROP based on thirty years of Tier II service, reciprocal service could affect how the DROP benefit was calculated.
Why did the legislature use two different definitions of "actual service"?
The opinion read the two as serving different functions: section 24-6-403's narrower definition for Tier II eligibility provisions, and section 24-6-503's broader definition for DROP benefit computation. The AG noted that section 24-6-403's definition explicitly applies "for purposes of determining eligibility for benefits" and "for purposes of computing benefits," consistent with the eligibility/computation distinction.
Did this opinion affect Tier I (the older State Police Retirement System) members?
No. The opinion analyzed only the Tier II Benefit Plan's DROP. Tier I members are governed by separate statutory provisions and have a separate set of eligibility rules.
What was the practical effect on a Tier II trooper with reciprocal service from another system?
If the trooper had less than thirty years of Tier II service, the DROP was not yet available, even if combined years across all reciprocal systems totaled thirty or more. The trooper would have to keep accruing Tier II service or pursue normal retirement. Once eligible, prior reciprocal service might still be useful in the DROP benefit calculation.
Citations
Ark. Code Ann. § 24-6-401 et seq.; § 24-6-401(3); § 24-6-403(2); § 24-6-403(16); § 24-6-404(a)(2); § 24-6-406; § 24-6-406(a)(2)(A)(ii); § 24-6-501; § 24-6-502; § 24-6-502(1)(B); § 24-6-503; § 24-6-504(3); § 24-6-508; § 24-2-401.
Source
Original opinion text
STATE OF ARKANSAS
ATTORNEY GENERAL
LESLIE RUTLEDGE
Opinion No. 2018-026
August 1, 2018
Gail H. Stone, Executive Director
Arkansas Police Retirement System
One Union National Plaza
124 W. Capitol Ave., Suite 400
Little Rock, AR 72201
Dear Ms. Stone:
You have requested my opinion concerning the Arkansas State Police Retirement System's ("ASPRS") Tier II deferred retirement option plan ("DROP"), which is codified at Ark. Code Ann. § 24-6-501-508 (Repl. 2014). Your question, slightly re-worded, is as follows:
Does Ark. Code Ann. § 24-6-502 require thirty years of actual participation in the Tier II retirement system in order for a member to be eligible to enter the Tier II DROP?
As background for this question, you state that ASPRS has consistently interpreted section 24-6-502 as requiring 30 years of actual participation in the Tier II retirement plan for a Trooper to be eligible to enter the Tier II DROP. You report, however, that some Tier II Troopers have read another statute — section 24-6-503 — as allowing the use of reciprocal service to meet section 24-6-502's 30-year requirement.
RESPONSE
In my opinion, reciprocal service cannot be used to meet Ark. Code Ann. § 24-6-502's requirement of "thirty (30) years of actual service as a member of the State Police Retirement System's Tier Two Benefit Plan . . . ." Accordingly, the answer to your question is "yes." Section 24-6-502 requires thirty years of actual participation in the ASPRS Tier II retirement system in order for a member to be eligible to enter the ASPRS Tier II DROP.
DISCUSSION
The answer to your question turns on the proper interpretation of two statutes: Ark. Code Ann. §§ 24-6-502 and 24-6-503. Section 24-6-502 provides in relevant part that a state police officer who is a member of the ASPRS Tier II retirement plan may elect to participate in the ASPRS Tier II DROP if he "[h]as at least thirty (30) years of actual service as a member of the [ASPRS] Tier II Benefit Plan . . . ."
The statute provides in full:
In lieu of terminating employment and accepting a service retirement pension, a state police officer may elect to participate in the Arkansas State Police Officers' Tier Two Deferred Retirement Option Plan and defer the receipt of benefits in accordance with this subchapter if:
(1) The state police officer:
(A) Is a member of the State Police Retirement System's Tier Two Benefit Plan under § 24-6-401 et seq.;
(B) Has at least thirty (30) years of actual service as a member of the State Police Retirement System's Tier Two Benefit Plan under § 24-6-401 et seq.; and
(C) Is eligible to receive a service retirement pension; and
(2) The Board of Trustees of the State Police Retirement System approves the participation in the Arkansas State Police Officers' Tier Two Deferred Retirement Option Plan.
Section 24-6-503 defines "actual service":
For purposes of this subchapter, "actual service" includes:
(1) The service credit a member earns after April 3, 1997, as a member of the State Police Retirement System's Tier Two Benefit Plan under § 24-6-401 et seq.; and
(2) The member's service credit from any reciprocal retirement system under § 24-2-401.
As defined by section 24-6-503, therefore, "actual service" specifically includes both service "as a member of the [ASPRS Tier II plan]" and "reciprocal" service.
At first glance, section 24-6-503's definition of "actual service" seemingly applies to section 24-6-502, such that reciprocal service can be used to meet section 24-6-502's 30-year requirement for Tier II DROP eligibility. But at the same time, section 24-6-502 also requires "at least thirty (30) years of actual service as a member of the [ASPRS] Tier II Benefit Plan." (Emphasis added). And section 24-6-503 recognizes the distinction between service that is credited "as a member of the [ASPRS Tier II plan]" and service that is credited from a "reciprocal" system. Reciprocal service by definition is not credited to a state police officer "as a member of [Tier II]." Section 24-6-503's definition of "actual service" thus cannot logically apply under section 24-6-502.
Moreover, "actual service" is also a defined term under the general subchapter governing the ASPRS Tier II plan (Ark. Code Ann. § 24-6-401 et seq. (Repl. 2014)). Under section 24-6-403, "actual service" means "the service credited to a member under this subchapter." And importantly, "service" under the Tier II plan means "service rendered to the department by a state police officer and . . . service . . . as an Arkansas state ranger." As defined under the Tier II plan, therefore, "actual service" does not include reciprocal service. Additionally, "actual service" under Tier II applies in two contexts: 1) when determining eligibility for benefits, and 2) when computing benefits.
These statutes under the Tier II plan shed light on section 24-6-502's reference to "actual service" and section 24-6-503's definition of "actual service" for purposes of the Tier II DROP.
As noted, "actual service" under the Tier II plan means service to the Department of Arkansas State Police by a state police officer and previous service as a state ranger. I believe this is the meaning of "actual service" as referenced by section 24-6-502, regarding eligibility for the Tier II DROP. It explains section 24-6-502's requirement of "thirty (30) years of actual service as a member of the [ASPRS] Tier II Benefit Plan." It follows from this logical reading of the term "actual service" under section 24-6-502 in the context of the Tier plan as a whole that for purposes of determining eligibility to enter the Tier II DROP, reciprocal service cannot be included.
With regard to section 24-6-503's definition of "actual service," I believe this definition applies when computing the retirement benefits of a DROP member. The Tier II DROP benefit is 72% of the monthly benefits that would have been payable had the Tier II plan member elected a normal service retirement instead of enrolling in DROP. The DROP member's benefits are computed based on years of service. But unlike "actual service" under the general Tier II plan, "actual service" as specifically defined by section 24-6-503 plainly includes reciprocal service. The most logical reading of this definition is that it applies when computing a member's benefits under the DROP.
CONCLUSION
In sum, and in response to your particular question, it is my opinion that section 24-6-502 requires thirty years of actual participation in the ASPRS Tier II retirement system in order for a member to be eligible to enter the ASPRS Tier II DROP.
Sincerely,
LESLIE RUTLEDGE
Attorney General
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