(1) If a former member who has fewer than five years of credited service and who has been out of service for a period of four full calendar years or more after the year in which the former member left service, or if a former member who withdrew the former member’s accumulated contributions returns to service, the former member shall become a member in the same manner and under the same conditions as anyone first entering service; however, the former member may obtain membership service credit in the manner provided by applicable law for credited service that was forfeited by the member upon termination of the member’s previous membership. If the member did not withdraw the former member’s accumulated contributions prior to the former member’s return to service, the accumulated contributions shall be returned to the member as part of the process of enrolling the member in the system if the member’s accumulated contributions are $1,000 or less at the time of distribution. If the accumulated contributions for the service the member had when the member previously terminated employment are greater than $1,000 and the member does not make written application, prior to or contemporaneously with the member’s return to service, for return of the accumulated contributions, the member may not withdraw the member’s accumulated contributions, except as provided by § 88-96 or 88-341, until the member retires or attains age sixty-two. The member shall not be entitled to service credit by reason of the system’s retention of the member’s accumulated contributions for the service the member had when the member previously terminated employment.
To be eligible for any benefit, the member shall fulfill the membership service requirements for the benefit through membership service after again becoming a member, in addition to meeting any other eligibility requirement established for the benefit; provided that the membership service requirement shall be exclusive of any former service acquired in accordance with § 88-59 or any other section in part II, VII, or VIII;