A state highway patrol retirement system member who meets the following requirements may, at any time prior to applying for retirement under section 5505.16 of the Revised Code, elect to participate in the deferred retirement option plan established under section 5505.50 of the Revised Code:

(A) The member is younger than fifty-eight years of age.

(B) The member is eligible to apply for retirement under section 5505.16 of the Revised Code, except that eligibility to apply for a reduced pension under division (B) of that section does not make a member eligible to elect to participate in the deferred retirement option plan.

The member shall make the election by filing with the retirement system an election form provided by the system. The election is effective on the first day of the employer’s first payroll period immediately following the board‘s receipt of the notice of election.

At the time of making the election to participate in the deferred retirement option plan, the member also shall make an election under section 5505.162 of the Revised Code. Except as provided in that section, the election under section 5505.162 of the Revised Code is irrevocable from the date it is received by the retirement system.

A member electing to participate in the deferred retirement option plan must agree to terminate active service in the state highway patrol and begin receiving the member’s pension not later than the earlier of the member’s sixtieth birthday or the date that is eight years after the effective date of the election to participate in the plan. If the member refuses or neglects to terminate active service in accordance with the agreement, the state highway patrol retirement board shall deem the member’s service terminated.

While participating in the deferred retirement option plan, a member shall not be considered to have elected retirement under section 5505.16 of the Revised Code.