(a) Any former member who left the service of a local agency with established reciprocity, and who became a member of a county retirement system, a retirement system established under the Public Employees’ Retirement Law, or another reciprocal retirement system and who did not elect to, or was not eligible to, leave his or her contributions on deposit, may elect to redeposit those contributions if he or she is an active member of a reciprocal retirement system or the Public Employees’ Retirement System at the time of redeposit. A former member may exercise this right by redepositing in the retirement fund of the local agency he or she left, the amount of accumulated contributions and interest that he or she withdrew from that retirement fund plus regular interest thereon from the date of separation.

(b) A former member who redeposits under this section shall have the same rights as a member who elected to leave his or her accumulated contributions on deposit in the local agency’s fund. The deferred retirement allowance of the member shall be determined in accordance with provisions applicable to a member retiring directly from local agency employment on the date of his or her retirement.

(c) A former member who redeposits under this section shall be entitled to a reduced age at entry, commencing with contributions payable the first day of the month following the date the local agency receives notice of the redeposit, if applicable.

(d) This section does not apply to either of the following:

(1) A member or former member who is retired.

(2) A former member who is not in the service of an employer making him or her a member of a county retirement system, a retirement system established under the Public Employees’ Retirement Law, or another reciprocal retirement system.

(e) This section only applies to either of the following:

(1) A former member who is in the service of an employer as an officer or employee of a law enforcement agency or fire department whose principal duties consist of active law enforcement or firefighting and prevention service, but excluding one whose principal duties are those of a telephone operator, clerk, stenographer, machinist, mechanic, or otherwise, and whose functions do not clearly come within the scope of active law enforcement or firefighting and prevention service, even though the officer or employee is subject to occasional call, or is occasionally called upon, to perform duties within the scope of active law enforcement or firefighting and prevention service.

(2) A former member who is in the service of an employer and seeks to redeposit contributions for past employment as an officer or employee of a law enforcement agency or fire department in this system whose principal duties consisted of active law enforcement or firefighting and prevention service, but excluding one whose principal duties were those of a telephone operator, clerk, stenographer, machinist, mechanic, or otherwise, and whose functions did not clearly come within the scope of active law enforcement or firefighting and prevention service, even though the officer or employee was subject to occasional call, or was occasionally called upon, to perform duties within the scope of active law enforcement or firefighting and prevention service.

(f) For purposes of this section, a “former member” is a member who left service under a retirement system established under this article and who did not elect to, or was not eligible to, leave his or her contributions on deposit.

(g) Each retirement system subject to this section shall establish criteria to determine the eligibility of a former member to redeposit contributions, and the amount of contributions that may be redeposited, in those cases in which the system no longer maintains complete records with respect to the former member.

(h) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section to recognize a statewide public obligation to all those whose duties as local public safety officers expose them to more than ordinary risks through their contribution to ensuring public safety and to ensure that those who do serve or have served as local public safety officers shall have the ability to receive pension benefits for past public service in other jurisdictions within the state.

(Added by renumbering Section 53216.8 (as amended by Stats. 2003, Ch. 62, Sec. 156) by Stats. 2015, Ch. 303, Sec. 226. (AB 731) Effective January 1, 2016.)