AGO 97018.

• Court: Nebraska

Nebraska Attorney General Opinions 1997. AGO 97018. DATE: March 11, 1997SUBJECT: State Employees Retirement System; Eligibility for Membership and Vesting RequirementsREQUESTED BY: James S. Cashin, Director Public Employees Retirement SystemsWRITTEN BY: Don Stenberg, Attorney General Fredrick F. Neid, Assistant Attorney General This is in response to the question (issues) you have raised regarding eligibility for membership and vesting requirements of participants in the State Employees Retirement System. You have related general facts describing membership in the Retirement System and further set out certain issues arising from the facts. Apparently, the questions you present are the "issues" you have set forth in your request. The FIRST issue set out is: [W]hether this individual has a legal right to the employer account despite the fact he has erroneously enrolled in the system while a temporary employee and excluding his time in the system while a temporary would result in this person having less than five years of participation in the system as required for vesting? For the most part, this issue is addressed by the provisions of the State Employees Retirement Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 84-1301 to 84-1333 (1994, Supp. 1995 and Cum. Supp. 1996). Members of the Retirement System who terminate their employment prior to retirement are entitled to certain termination benefits. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 84-1321 (Cum. Supp. 1996) provides: (1) Except as provided in section 42-1107, any member of the retirement system who ceases to be an employee before becoming eligible for retirement under section 84-1317 may, upon application to the board, receive: (a) If not vested, a termination benefit not to exceed the amount in his or her employee account payable in a lump sum or an annuity with the lump-sum or first annuity payment made at any time after termination but no later than the sixtieth day after the end of the year in which the member attains the age of seventy and one-half years; or (b) If vested, a termination benefit not to exceed (i) the amount in his or her employee account payable in a lump sum or an annuity with the lump-sum or first annuity payment made at any time after termination but no later than the sixtieth day after the end of the year in which the member attains the age of seventy and one-half years plus (ii) the amount of his...