§ 89-p. Optional twenty-five year retirement plan for certain
sheriffs, undersheriffs, deputy sheriffs and correction officers whose
employer elects to provide same. a. A member employed by a county shall
be eligible to retire pursuant to the provisions of this section if the
county elects to make the benefits provided herein available as provided
in subdivision j of this section and if he or she is (1) a sheriff or
undersheriff, or a deputy sheriff who is engaged directly in criminal
law enforcement activities; or (2) a correction officer. Such
eligibility shall be an alternative to the eligibility provisions
available under any other plan of this article to which such member is
subject. The comptroller shall have the authority to include positions
herein that comprehend the same duties and responsibilities, but are
named differently.

b. Such member shall be entitled to retire upon the completion of
twenty-five years of total creditable service by filing an application
therefor in the manner provided for in section seventy of this article.

c. Upon completion of twenty-five years of such service and upon
retirement, each such member shall receive a pension which, together
with an annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent of his
accumulated contributions at the time of his retirement and an
additional pension which is the actuarial equivalent of the
reserved-for-increased-take-home-pay to which he may then be entitled
shall be sufficient to provide him with a retirement allowance equal to
one-half of his final average salary.

d. As used in this section "creditable service" shall include (1) in
the case of a sheriff, undersheriff and/or correction officer, any and
all services performed as a sheriff, undersheriff and/or correction
officer of his or her employer that makes the election provided for
herein and all criminal law enforcement services performed as a deputy
sheriff of such county, provided, however, that criminal law enforcement
service shall only be creditable when it aggregates fifty per centum or
more of his service as a deputy sheriff and (2) in the case of a deputy
sheriff, all criminal law enforcement service shall only be creditable
when it aggregates fifty per centum or more of such service and any and
all services performed as a sheriff, undersheriff and/or correction
officer of such county.

e. Credit for service as a member or officer of the state police or as
a paid firefighter, police officer or officer of any organized fire
department or police force or department of any county, city, village,
town, fire district or police district, or as a criminal investigator in
the office of a district attorney, provided that service as such
investigator shall have been rendered prior to January first, nineteen
hundred sixty and that credit therefor shall not exceed five years,
shall also be deemed to be creditable service and shall be included in
computing years of total service for retirement pursuant to this
section, provided such service was performed by the member while
contributing to the retirement system pursuant to the provisions of this
article or article eight of this chapter.

f. The sheriff (or the chief executive officer where correction
officers are not employed in a sheriff's department) of a county that
makes the election provided for in subdivision j of this section shall
certify to the comptroller, periodically and at such intervals of time
as may be required of him and in such fashion as may be prescribed, the
identity of: (1) the deputy sheriffs in the sheriff's employ who are
engaged directly in criminal law enforcement activities; and (2) the
eligible correction officers.

g. A member contributing on the basis of this section at the time of
retirement shall retire after the completion of twenty-five years of
total creditable service. Application therefor may be filed in a manner
similar to that provided in section seventy of this article. Upon
completion of twenty-five years of such service and upon retirement,
each such member shall receive a pension which, together with an annuity
which shall be the actuarial equivalent of his accumulated contributions
at the time of his retirement and an additional pension which is the
actuarial equivalent of the reserved-for-increased-take-home-pay to
which he may then be entitled, shall be sufficient to provide him with a
retirement allowance equal to one-half of his final average salary.

h. In computing the twenty-five years of total service of a member
pursuant to this section full credit shall be given and full allowance
shall be made for service of such member in time of war after World War
I as defined in section two of this chapter, provided such member at the
time of his entrance into the armed forces was in the service of the
county of his or her employer that makes the election provided for
herein.

i. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent a member, who does not
retire pursuant to the provisions of this section, from utilizing
service which is creditable service pursuant to the provisions of this
section for service credit pursuant to the provisions of any other plan
of this article to which such member is subject.

j. (1) Each county that elects pursuant to the provisions of this
subdivision shall pay the cost attributable therefor.

(2) The benefits of this section shall be available only to those
members defined in subdivisions a and d of this section whose employer
elects on or before June thirtieth, nineteen hundred ninety-nine to
provide such benefits by adopting a resolution to such effect and filing
a certified copy thereof with the comptroller. Such resolution may also
contain an election that any past service cost be paid over either a
five-year or ten-year period. Such resolution shall be accompanied by
the affidavit of the chief executive officer of the county that the
county has received an estimate from the retirement system of the cost
of the benefit provided by this section.

(3) Such resolution shall apply to all members defined in subdivisions
a and d of this section, except those already subject to a retirement
plan which permits immediate retirement with a benefit upon a specified
period of service of twenty-five years or less without regard to age.

k. The provisions of this section shall be controlling notwithstanding
any other provision in this article to the contrary.