Okla. Admin. Code § 715:10-11-1

Current through Vol. 42, No. 7, December 16, 2024

Section 715:10-11-1 - Withdrawal from membership by an eligible person

Any member who terminates employment in the public schools of Oklahoma may voluntarily withdraw from membership in TRS under the following conditions:

(1) 70 O.S. §17-105 provides that members who leave Oklahoma public education employment are eligible to withdraw the contributions made to their TRS account four (4) months after termination. A former employee may submit application for the proceeds of the account after the last day physically worked. There are no exceptions to this waiting period.

(2) Written verification from the school's payroll department of a member's termination of employment and/or non-resumption of teaching contract must be on file before processing the Application for Withdrawal. The requirement for written verification from the school's payroll department may be waived by written request to the Executive Director of TRS for good cause shown. Good cause may be shown through undue hardship in obtaining the verification due to length of time that has passed since the employment ended (typically greater than 12 months), unavailability of employee records by the school's payroll department or other circumstances deemed as good cause by the Executive Director.

(3) The years of membership shall be calculated as follows:

(A) For withdrawal purposes - from the date of the first contribution of the current membership to the date of withdrawal, except that member accounts closed in compliance with OAC 715:10-7-3 will be from the date of the first contribution to the date the account is closed.

(B) For payment of interest purposes - from the date of the first contribution of the current membership to the date of withdrawal, except that member accounts closed in compliance with OAC 715:10-7-3 will be from the date of the first contribution to the date the account is closed.

(4) Interest on withdrawals shall bear a rate equivalent to that of the actuarially assumed rate of return for the System as determined by the Board of Trustees from time to time, calculated according to the following schedule:

(A) July 1, 1968 through June 30, 1977 - four and one-half percent (4 1/2%), compounded annually.

(B) July 1, 1977 through June 30, 1981 - seven percent (7%), compounded annually.

(C) July 1, 1981, through June 30, 2019 - eight percent (8%), compounded annually.

(D) July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020 - seven and one-half percent (7 1/2%), compounded annually.

(E) July 1, 2020 to present (until changed by the Board of Trustees), seven percent (7%), compounded annually.

(5) Interest payment on withdrawals shall be paid as follows:

(A) If termination occurs within sixteen (16) years from the date membership began, fifty percent (50%) of the total accrued interest shall be paid.

(B) For members with at least sixteen (16) years but less than twenty-one (21) years of membership, sixty percent (60%) of the total accrued interest shall be paid.

(C) For members with at least twenty-one (21) years but less than twenty-six (26) years of membership, seventy-five percent (75%) of the total accrued interest shall be paid.

(D) For members with at least twenty-six (26) years of membership, ninety percent (90%) of the total accrued interest shall be paid.

(6) A person whose membership has not terminated due to five (5) years of absence from Oklahoma public education employment, but who has applied to withdraw all accumulated contributions, shall not have membership terminated until the withdrawal payment has been processed.

(7) Effective July 1, 1990, no member is eligible to withdraw contributions made on a pre-tax basis, unless the employee has terminated employment in the public schools for a period of four months.

Okla. Admin. Code § 715:10-11-1

Amended at 13 Ok Reg 3899, eff 8-5-96 through 7-14-97 (emergency)¹; Amended at 14 Ok Reg 3216, eff 7-25-97; Amended at 19 Ok Reg 2729, eff 7-11-02; Amended at 21 Ok Reg 3091, eff 8-21-03 through 7-14-04 (emergency)²; Amended at 21 Ok Reg 3099, eff 8-12-04; Amended at 29 Ok Reg 854, eff 8-1-12

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 36, Issue 22, August 1, 2019, eff. 8/11/2019

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 38, Issue 05, November 16, 2020, eff. 10/15/2020

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 38, Issue 23, August 16, 2021, eff. 8/26/2021

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 41, Issue 23, August 15, 2024, eff. 9/1/2024

1This emergency action expired before being superseded by a permanent action. Upon expiration of an emergency amendatory action, the last prior permanent text is reinstated. Therefore, on 7-15-97 (after the 7-14-97 expiration of the emergency action), the text of section 715:10-11-1 reverted back to the permanent text that was effective prior to enactment of the emergency action on 8-5-96, as last published in the 1996 Edition of the OAC, and remained as such until amended by permanent action on 7-25-97.

2This emergency action expired before being superseded by a permanent action. Upon expiration of an emergency amendatory action, the last prior permanent text is reinstated. Therefore, on 7-15-04 (after the 7-14-04 expiration of the emergency action), the text of section 715:10-11-1 reverted back to the permanent text that became effective 7-11-02, as was last published in the 2003 OAC Supplement, and remained as such until amended by permanent action on 8-12-04.