§ 1000. Military service credit. Notwithstanding any law to the
contrary, a member of a public retirement system of the state, as
defined in subdivision twenty-three of section five hundred one of this
chapter, shall be eligible for credit for military service as
hereinafter provided:

1. A member, upon application to such retirement system, may obtain a
total not to exceed three years of service credit for up to three years
of military duty, as defined in section two hundred forty-three of the
military law, if the member (a) was honorably discharged from the
military, or (b) has a qualifying condition, as defined in section three
hundred fifty of the executive law, and has received a discharge other
than bad conduct or dishonorable from such service, or (c) is a
discharged LGBT veteran, as defined in section three hundred fifty of
the executive law, and has received a discharge other than bad conduct
or dishonorable from such service.

2. A member must have at least five years of credited service (not
including service granted hereunder) to be eligible to receive credit
under this section.

3. To obtain such credit, a member shall pay such retirement system,
for deposit in the fund used to accumulate employer contributions, a sum
equal to the product of the number of years of military service being
claimed and three percent of such member's compensation earned during
the twelve months of credited service immediately preceding the date
that the member made application for credit pursuant to this section. If
permitted by rule or regulation of the applicable retirement system, the
member may pay such member costs by payroll deduction for a period which
shall not exceed the time period of military service to be credited
pursuant to this section. In the event the member leaves the employer
payroll prior to completion of payment, he or she shall forward all
remaining required payments to the appropriate retirement system prior
to the effective date of retirement. If the full amount of such member
costs is not paid to the appropriate retirement system prior to the
member's retirement, the amount of service credited shall be
proportional to the total amount of the payments made prior to
retirement.

4. In no event shall the credit granted pursuant to this section, when
added to credit granted for military service with any retirement system
of this state pursuant to this or any other provision of law, exceed a
total of three years.

5. To be eligible to receive credit for military service under this
section, a member must make application for such credit before the
effective date of retirement.

6. All costs for service credited to a member pursuant to this
section, other than the member costs set forth in subdivision three of
this section, shall be paid by the state and all employers which
participate in the retirement system in which such member is granted
credit.

7. A member who has purchased military service credit pursuant to
section two hundred forty-four-a of the military law shall be entitled
to a refund of the difference between the amount paid by the member for
such purchase and the amount that would be payable if service had been
purchased pursuant to this section.

8. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the event of death
prior to retirement, amounts paid by the member for the purchase of
military service credit pursuant to this section shall be refunded, with
interest, to the extent the military service purchased with such amounts
does not produce a greater death benefit than would have been payable
had the member not purchased such credit.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the event of
retirement, amounts paid by the member for the purchase of military
service credit pursuant to this section shall be refunded, with
interest, to the extent the military service purchased with such amounts
does not produce a greater retirement allowance than would have been
payable had the member not purchased such credit.

9. Anything to the contrary in subdivision three of this section
notwithstanding, to obtain such credit, a member who first joins a
public retirement system of the state on or after April first, two
thousand twelve shall pay such retirement system, for deposit in the
fund used to accumulate employer contributions, a sum equal to the
product of the number of years of military service being claimed and six
percent of such member's compensation earned during the twelve months of
credited service immediately preceding the date that the member made
application for credit pursuant to this section.