(a) Appointed Members. Each person who shall be appointed as a Department Member on or after December 8, 1980 through June 30, 1997 shall become a Plan Member upon graduation by such person from training at the Police or Fire Academies or equivalent facility imparting basic training as a firefighter or police officer and maintained as such by the City of Los Angeles. A Chief of Police or a Fire Chief who is appointed to that position without having graduated from such facility may become a Member upon appointment. Upon becoming a Plan Member, a person may elect to purchase Years of Service credit for the period of such training in accordance with rules adopted by the Board.
(b) Former Tier 1 & 2 Members. A person formerly a system member under the provisions of Tier 1 or 2 of this Article whose membership had previously terminated by reason of resignation or discharge shall upon again being appointed as a Department Member become a Plan Member as of the effective date of such appointment. In the event such person did not receive a refund of contributions upon his or her termination as a System Member, then the definition of “Years of Service” elsewhere contained in this Tier 3 shall be controlling with respect to such person’s entitlement to service credit; and further, such person need not make back contributions on account of such former service and does not have any right to have contributions formerly made by him or her under the provisions of Tier 1 or 2 refunded in the event he or she should subsequently terminate as a Plan Member. In the event such person received a refund of his or her contributions under the provisions of Tier 1 or 2 as a result of his or her termination, then such person’s entitlement to Years of Service credit for the period of such former service shall be conditioned upon such person electing to repay and having paid to the Fire and Police Pension Plan – Tier 3 the amount of previously refunded contributions, with interest thereon and an amount calculated as interest which would have been earned between the date of such termination and the date of entry into service as a Plan Member in accordance with rules adopted by the Board. In the event such member does not elect to so repay, the term Years of Service as elsewhere used in this Tier 3 shall not include any periods prior to his or her becoming a Plan Member, notwithstanding the definitions contained in Section 1502(m) and (n).
(c) Certain Former Tier 4 Members. Each person who irrevocably elects in accordance with this subsection to become eligible for the service, vesting and contribution provisions of this Tier 3 shall become a Tier 3 Plan Member.
(1) Election of Tier 4 Members to Become Tier 3 Members. Any Department Member hired under Section 1600(a) during the period July 1, 1997 through December 31, 1997 who became a Tier 4 Plan Member in accordance with Section 1600 shall have the option to make an irrevocable election, in writing, to become eligible for the service, vesting and contribution provisions of Tier 3 and thereby become a Tier 3 Plan Member.
(2) Election Period. The election period shall commence no later than sixty (60) days following the operative date of this subsection and shall remain in effect for six months from such date.
(3) Tier 4 Members on Disability. Any Tier 4 Plan Member hired during the period of July 1, 1997 through December 31, 1997 and who as a member of Tier 4 is receiving a disability pension pursuant to Section 1606 and who, thereafter, is restored to active duty as a Department Member after the end of the election period provided in subsection (c)(2), shall not be eligible to elect to become a Tier 3 Plan Member.
(4) Members on Military Leave. Persons who are not active members during the election period provided in subsection (c)(2) due to service in the armed forces shall have 90 days following their return to active duty or the expiration date of the election period, whichever is later, to make an election to become a Tier 3 Plan Member.
(5) Release of Liability. The Board shall have the authority to establish rules requiring a full and complete release from liability from members and their spouses or domestic partners upon the Plan Member’s election to transfer from Tier 4 to Tier 3.
(d) Paramedics and Civilian Ambulance Employees. In addition to those Department Members described in subsection (a) of this section, paramedics or civilian ambulance employees shall become Plan Members upon the effective date of this subsection, except that persons employed as paramedic trainees shall become Plan Members only upon their certification, as provided by law, as mobile intensive care paramedics or equivalent. Upon certification, Plan Members may elect to purchase Years of Service credit for the period of such training in accordance with rules to be adopted by the Board.
If such a Plan Member had periods of membership in the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System while he or she was a paramedic or civilian ambulance employee, such Plan Member shall be entitled to elect to acquire Years of Service credit for such periods of membership in the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System. Upon such election his or her contributions, plus interest credited thereon, and his or her City service credit shall be transferred to the Fire and Police Pension Plan – Tier 3 in accordance with rules to be adopted by the Board.
(e) Purchase of Credit by Surviving Spouse. A surviving spouse of a Plan Member may complete the purchase of Years of Service credit elected by the Plan Member.
(f) Prohibition of Double Benefits. No Plan Member may receive double benefits by receiving credit for Years of Service for the same periods of City service from the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System and under the provisions of this Tier 3. Further, no Plan Member may transfer credit received from the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System while employed in a capacity other than paramedic or civilian ambulance employee.
(g) Transfer of Released Liability. Upon the election by a Plan Member to acquire Years of Service credit, the released liability of the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System shall be transferred to the Fire and Police Pension Plan – Tier 3. For the purposes of this subsection, the phrase Released Liability means the City’s share of the actuarially determined present value of benefits under the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System as of the date of transfer.