Terms not specifically defined in this Section but defined in La. Rev. Stat. 11:403 shall have the meanings provided in La. Rev. Stat. 11:403 unless a different meaning is clearly required by the context. For purposes of this Subpart:

            (1) “Average compensation” means the average annual earned compensation of a member for the sixty highest months of successive employment, or for the highest sixty successive joined months of employment where interruption of service occurred; however, average compensation for part-time employees who do not use sixty months of full-time employment for average compensation purposes shall be based on the base pay the part-time employee would have received had he been employed on a full-time basis. The earnings to be considered for the thirteenth through the twenty-fourth month shall not exceed one hundred fifteen percent of the earnings of the first through the twelfth month. The earnings to be considered for the twenty-fifth through the thirty-sixth month shall not exceed one hundred fifteen percent of the earnings of the thirteenth through the twenty-fourth month. The earnings to be considered for the thirty-seventh through the forty-eighth month shall not exceed one hundred fifteen percent of the earnings of the twenty-fifth through the thirty-sixth month. The earnings for the final twelve months shall not exceed one hundred fifteen percent of the earnings of the thirty-seventh through the forty-eighth month. The limitations on the computation of average compensation contained in this Paragraph shall not apply to any twelve-month period during which compensation increased by more than fifteen percent over the previous twelve-month period solely because of an increase in compensation by a uniform systemwide increase adopted by the state Department of Civil Service and approved by the governor or because of a pay adjustment enacted by the legislature.

            (2) “Member” or “members” shall include the following persons whose first employment making them eligible for membership in one of the state systems occurred on or after January 1, 2011:

            (a) Wildlife agents of the enforcement division of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

            (b) Wardens, correctional officers, security personnel, and probation and parole officers employed by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

            (c) Employees of the bridge police section of the Crescent City Connection Division of the Department of Transportation and Development.

            (d) Full-time law enforcement personnel, supervisors, and administrators who are employed with the Department of Revenue, office of alcohol and tobacco control, who are P.O.S.T.-certified, who have the power to arrest, and who hold a commission from such office.

            (e) Peace officers, as defined by La. Rev. Stat. 40:2402(3)(a), employed by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of state police, other than state troopers.

            (f) Arson investigators employed by the office of state fire marshal who are P.O.S.T.-certified, who have the power to arrest, and who hold a commission from such office.

            (g) Park rangers employed by the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, office of state parks, who are P.O.S.T.-certified, who have the power to arrest, and who hold a commission from such office.

            (h) Campus police officers employed by any institution of postsecondary education who are P.O.S.T.-certified, who have the power to arrest, and who hold a commission as required for employment as such officers.

            (i) Hospital security officers employed by Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, who are P.O.S.T.-certified, who have the power to arrest, and who hold a commission as required for employment as such officers.

            (j) Investigators of the Department of Justice who are employed in positions required to be P.O.S.T.-certified.

            (k) Investigators of the office of state inspector general who are employed in positions required to be P.O.S.T.-certified.

            (l) All personnel employed in positions required to be P.O.S.T.-certified, who have the power to arrest, who hold a commission as required for employment in such positions, who are otherwise members of the Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System, and who are not members of any other retirement system.

            (m) Employees of the Department of Agriculture and Forestry who respond to wildfires and are trained as wildland firefighters, as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 3:4276(9).

            (n) Employees of the office of state fire marshal who are Firefighter I certified and who provide emergency response or conduct fire and emergency training.

            (o) The director of capitol security and security officers employed by the legislature upon recommendation of the director as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 24:681 et seq.

            (2.1) In addition to the definition provided in Paragraph (2) of this Section, the term “member” shall include any commissioned employee of the Harbor Police Department of the Port of New Orleans first hired on or after July 1, 2014.

            (3) “Plan” means the Hazardous Duty Services Plan created by this Subpart for certain hazardous duty services employees within the Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System.

            (4) “Qualified survivors” means a surviving spouse married to the decedent for at least two years prior to the decedent’s death, a minor child as defined in La. Rev. Stat. 11:403, and a handicapped or mentally incapacitated child.

            (5) “System” means the Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System.

            Acts 2010, No. 992, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2011; Acts 2014, No. 648, §1, eff. June 30, 2014; Acts 2018, No. 215, §1, eff. June 30, 2018; Acts 2019, No. 42, §1, eff. June 30, 2019; Acts 2022, No. 96, §1, eff. June 30, 2022; Acts 2022, No. 96, §2, eff. June 16, 2022.