| (a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section,
a person who has elected ORP participation must become a member of
TRS if the person later becomes an employee of any Texas public educational
institution other than in a ORP-eligible position with an institution
of higher education. The following persons are generally required
to become TRS members under this subsection:
(1) ORP participants who become employed in a public
school in a position eligible for TRS membership; and
(2) ORP participants with less than one year's participation
in ORP who become employed in a TRS-eligible position in an institution
of higher education that is not ORP-eligible.
(b) A person who has elected ORP participation but
who is later required to become a member of TRS under subsection (a)
of this section is ineligible for further active ORP participation
even if that person again becomes employed in an ORP-eligible position
with a Texas public institution of higher education.
(c) Subsection (a) of this section does not apply when:
(1) an ORP participant is simultaneously employed both
in an ORP-eligible position with a Texas public institution of higher
education and in a position in a Texas public educational institution
otherwise eligible only for TRS membership;
(2) a person, after a valid ORP election, becomes employed
in an institution of higher education in a position that is not ORP-eligible
if the person:
(A) participated in ORP for one year in an ORP-eligible
position with a Texas public institution of higher education; and
(B) had no intervening employment that required TRS
membership; or
(3) a person, after a valid ORP election, becomes employed
in a state agency that is not a TRS-covered employer and later becomes
employed in an institution of higher education.
(d) A person, including a person described in subsection
(c) of this section, will not be eligible for TRS membership or credit
for any employment that occurred while the person was an ORP participant,
even if the person later returns to TRS membership as required by
subsection (a) of this section. A person described in subsection (c)(1)
of this section is not eligible for state ORP retirement contributions
for simultaneous employment in institutions covered by TRS that are
not institutions of higher education.
(e) A person who elects ORP participation chooses ORP
in lieu of TRS membership and benefits. Upon election of ORP, a member
of TRS loses all benefit rights in TRS other than a right to the return
of annual contributions, even if the member has five or more years
of creditable service under TRS. However, a member who returns to
TRS membership under the provisions of law is entitled to any TRS
benefits which may accrue thereafter in addition to any ORP benefits
to which he may have become entitled. ORP participants returning to
TRS membership may establish service credit, under applicable rules
governing reinstatement of accounts, for all years of service in public
educational institutions except for those years when the person participated
in ORP.
(f) A person who fails to elect ORP participation during
the statutory election eligibility period may not subsequently elect
participation.
|
| Source Note: The provisions of this §25.172 adopted to be effective September 26, 1976, 4 TexReg 3306; amended to be effective October 20, 1986, 11 TexReg 4215; amended to be effective October 4, 1989, 14 TexReg 4920; amended to be effective April 1, 2011, 36 TexReg 1838; amended to be effective June 8, 2023, 48 TexReg 2859 |
