Virginia Code 51.1-161: Withdrawal of contributions before retirement
A. 1. Any member who has five or more years of creditable service, who ceases to be an employee, other than by death or retirement, may receive a refund of his accumulated contributions reduced by the amount of any retirement allowance previously received by him under any of the provisions of Chapter 1 (§ 51.1-124.1 et seq.), 2 (§ 51.1-200 et seq.), 2.1 (§ 51.1-211 et seq.), or 3 (§ 51.1-300 et seq.) or the abolished system.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 51.1-161
- Abolished system: means the Virginia Retirement Act, §§ 51-30 through 51-111, repealed by Chapter 1 of the Acts of Assembly of 1952. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
- Accumulated contributions: means the sum of all amounts deducted from the compensation of a member and credited to his individual account in the member's contribution account, all amounts the member may contribute to purchase creditable service, all member contributions contributed by the employer on behalf of the employee, on or after July 1, 1980, except those amounts contributed on behalf of members of the General Assembly who are otherwise retired under the provisions of this chapter, and all interest accruing to these funds. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
- Creditable service: means prior service as set forth in § 51. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
- Employee: means any teacher, state employee, officer, or employee of a locality participating in the Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
- Employer: means the Commonwealth in the case of a state employee, the local public school board in the case of a teacher, or the political subdivision participating in the Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
- Member: means any person included in the membership of the Retirement System. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
- Retirement allowance: means the retirement payments to which a member is entitled. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
- Service: means service as an employee. See Virginia Code 51.1-124.3
2. Any member who has less than five years of creditable service, who ceases to be an employee other than by death or involuntary separation due to causes other than job performance or misconduct, as determined by the employer in its sole discretion, shall have such refund reduced by that portion of his accumulated contributions that were paid by his employer on his behalf on or after July 1, 2010. Such reduction shall be transferred to the retirement allowance account of each employer who paid such contributions on a pro rata basis.
B. Accumulated contributions shall be refunded to a member upon retirement for disability only from a cause that is compensable under the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act (§ 65.2-100 et seq.) or to his designated beneficiary upon the death of the member from a cause that is compensable under the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act.
C. If a member becomes covered by an optional retirement plan established under § 51.1-126, 51.1-126.3, 51.1-126.5, or 51.1-126.6, the member may elect to have the balance of his accumulated contributions, as determined under subsection A, transferred directly to such optional retirement plan as a credit to his account in such plan. No portion of the transferred amount shall be available to the member until benefits under the optional retirement plan are otherwise available for distribution. An election to transfer the accumulated contributions to an optional retirement plan shall be treated as a withdrawal of the member’s accumulated contributions for purposes of § 51.1-128, except that the member’s creditable service shall be taken into account for purposes of Chapter 14 (§ 51.1-1400 et seq.).
1952, c. 157, § 51-111.58; 1960, c. 604; 1970, c. 476; 1986, c. 474; 1988, c. 809; 1990, c. 832; 2001, c. 691; 2006, c. 403; 2010, c. 758; 2012, c. 696.